Posts Tagged ‘haiku’

Hexapod Haiku 2012 – honorable mention (poet over 13)

Thursday, April 26th, 2012

The following five haiku, in no particular order, earned honorable mention in this year’s Hexapod Haiku Challenge. We thank the poets for sharing their artistry and congratulate them on their works:

spring rain
aphids busy
being green
Ernest J. Berry
Picton, New Zealand
dying bumblebee
my friend bends over and asks
are you all right?
Gail Ingram
Christchurch, New Zealand
all the insects
I’ve killed–waiting
in the other world
Dave Russo
Cary, NC
Molting is a must
The vehicle is renewed
Same old heavy soul
Anish Thakkar
Raleigh, NC
roach legs
by the cat bowl
long winter night
Dave Russo
Cary, NC

Hexapod Haiku 2012 – honorable mention (poet under 13)

Thursday, April 26th, 2012

We had two honorable mention entries from the poets under 13 this year, which I present below (a bit late – sorry!) in no particular order. Congratulations!

Tree Lobster

Big as a man’s arm
Living on a little bush
Not knowing they’re there

Smriti Sridharan
Raleigh, NC

(the above poem is about the Lord Howe Island stick insect, Dryococelus australis, which was recently rediscovered on Ball’s Pyramid; the judges appreciated the relevance of this poem and the contrast between large and small)

Insects flying in
Summer sun searching
for anything they want
Harmen Alleyne
Urbana, IL

(the judges liked the freedom expressed in this poem; as a child you’re always told what to do, but insects have the freedom to do whatever they want!)

Hexapod Haiku 2012 – runner-up (poet under 13)

Thursday, April 19th, 2012
Stinkbugs like to stink
Please, never squish a stinkbug!
Also, don’t catch them
Mary-Katherine Thompson
Raleigh, NC

Judges’ Comments: We delighted in reading this whimsical plea, which captures the spirit of youthful conversation: insistent and awkwardly constructed, yet humorous. The request in line two (we can almost hear the *crunch* of that poor insect in some unsuspecting hand) is almost negated by the non sequitur in line three. Don’t squash that bug! In fact, don’t even catch it in the first place. The protagonist longs to share her knowledge of these offensive insects, and we are captivated by her enthusiasm and the promise of relevant advice.

Hexapod Haiku 2012 – runner-up (poet over 13)

Wednesday, April 18th, 2012
separated
i wake
to cicadas
Ernest J. Berry
Picton, New Zealand

Judges’ Comments: The judges were mesmerized by the loneliness of this poem. The soft melody of a lover’s morning ritual – muffled yawns, percolating coffee, hissing bacon – replaced by the grinding, reverberating drone of cicadas. What a cruel way to wake up… We thought of those moments in bed, when we are shocked back into consciousness, wondering what is real and what is a dream. Is my lover still here? Are we together again, relaxing in bed? The harsh, sawing buzz of so many lonely males tears us from the comfort of our dreams and screams, “No, you’re alone, like the rest of us.” And yet, without their dissonant, irritating voices, would we have remembered the dream at all? And is that moment of pleasure caught in a memory worth the inevitable realization that we are truly alone?

Through active voice and a vivid auditory image this poem reminds us that loneliness is more than just a state; it’s a real place, replete with unwelcome thoughts and sounds. The last line is a masterful surprise that catalyzes the haiku’s delivery and leaves us wishing to read more from this writer.

Hexapod Haiku 2012 – best in show (poet under 13)

Tuesday, April 17th, 2012
I hear some crickets
They soon will be lizard food
I am sure of that
Willem Alleyne (age 7)
Urbana, IL

Judges’ Comments: This short poem describes a scene – states a fact, really – with unfiltered honesty and precision, almost in defiance of the allegory typically demanded by adult literature. Its legitimacy, both of the protagonist’s thought process and of the crickets’ fate, was refreshing. Though the setting is ambiguous – did he buy crickets at the pet store to feed to his brother’s lizard? Is he listening to crickets in his yard and projecting on their fate? – we are comforted by his assurance that, indeed, these crickets will be silenced soon … The poet wades through multiple literary themes, in just three short lines: omniscient narrator, tragedy of life and death, the fate of the weak in the face of a predator. Despite the maturity of his words, though, we were reminded of our childhoods, when the world is filled, at once, with surety and imagination.

We congratulate the poet on penning this extraordinary piece and thank him for sharing it.

Hexapod Haiku 2012 – best in show (poet over 13)

Monday, April 16th, 2012
dying wind
hum of insects
on the battlefield
Joanne Morcom
Calgary, Alberta, Canada

Judges’ Comments: This poem, the unanimous choice for best in show from a poet over the age of 13, opens itself for broad interpretation, and we were all moved by the visceral nature of the setting. Some of us saw lines of soldiers, tense and primed for war. As the air becomes still, the sounds of insects – cicadas, crickets, katydids, grasshoppers, buzzing flies; we imagined numerous scenarios – replace the whir of the wind and increase our anxiety. The hum accentuates the proverbial calm before the storm or perhaps even represents an arthropodean war cry. Some of us were also reminded of the tragic images of WWI trench warfare: smoking, brown and gray landscapes, stripped of virtually all nature, save for the humming insects (calliphorids, mainly) cleaning up our dead. Despite unbelievably fiery and bloody warfare the insects survive – and thrive.

The judges thank the poet for sharing this emotional, thought-provoking poem.