Haiku Society of America

Haiku Society of America Haiku Award
in Memorial of Harold G. Henderson

Complete Archive Collection

---

2024

P.H. Fischer & Annette Makino
See commentary by 2024 judges.

~ First Place ~

blue skies—
finding the nowhere
I'd rather be

Matthew Markworth, OH, USA

 

~ Second Place ~

first fireflies
the little boy
in my voice

Frank Hooven, PA, USA

 

~ Third Place ~

spring equinox
a canoe flipped
upside up

Matthew Markworth, OH, USA

 

~ Honorable Mention ~

deep into summer . . .
eating the seeds
with the melon

Barrie Levine, MA, USA

 

~ Honorable Mention ~

receiving my sign name—
a painted lady
brushes my cheek

Kelly Sargent, VT, USA

 

---

2023

Brad Bennett & Caroline Skanne
See commentary by 2023 judges.

~ First Place ~

milkweed husks
the dusk greens
with dragonflies

Joshua Gage, OH, USA

 

~ Second Place ~

unable to fit it
on one sketchbook page
the young hawk’s circle

paul m., Florida, USA

 

~ Honorable Mention ~

where the bufflehead
entered dark water
bubbles of light

John Barlow, Ormskirk, UK

 

~ Honorable Mention ~

one log left
beside the log-splitter
a sliver of moon

Temple Cone, MD, USA

 

~ Honorable Mention ~

desert dawn an ash-throated flycatcher

M F Drummy, CO, USA

 

~ Honorable Mention ~

maple stump
the sky still holding
the old treehouse

Jacquie Pearce, BC, Canada

 

---

2022

 

Kat Lehmann & Matthew Paul
See commentary by 2022 judges.

~ First Place ~

harvest festival
jars of fig jam
full of galaxies

Alison Woolpert, California, USA

~ Second Place ~

nights drawing in—
wondering how Dad is
in his patch of earth

Sean O'Connor, Ireland

~ Third Place ~ tie

empty vase the last of the baby's breath

Lorraine A Padden, California, USA

~ Third Place ~ tie

autumn pond . . .
spending just-us time
with my thoughts

Scott Mason, New York, USA

~ Honorable Mention ~

stalks of corn
in their own language
evening breeze

Alan S. Bridges, Massachusetts, USA

~ Honorable Mention ~

September twilight—
a honeybee's slow descent
into goldenrod

Julie Bloss Kelsey, Maryland, USA

~ Honorable Mention ~

where the fox kits
     last frolicked
          wisps of fog

Scott Mason, New York, USA

---

2021

Julie Warther Schwerin & George Swede
See commentary by 2021 judges.

~ First Place ~

a year at most . . . 
we pretend to watch 
the hummingbirds

Tom Bierovic, Florida, USA

~ Second Place ~

Mars landing
cardboard softens
the subway grate

Scott Mason, New York, USA

~ Third Place ~ tie

daisies—
learning to live
in a crowd again

Tony Williams, Scotland, UK

~ Third Place ~ tie

open meadow
a monarch hinges 
on a milkweed

Brad Bennett, Massachusetts, USA

~ Honorable Mention ~

blossom to blossom 
a bee tips the fate 
of the world 

June Rose Dowis, Louisiana, USA

~ Honorable Mention ~

sand dollars
all that’s left of 
her summer job

Margaret Tau, North Carolina, USA

~ Honorable Mention ~

whether or not you forgive me—forget-me-nots 

Laurie D. Morrissey, New Hampshire, USA

---

2020

Deborah P Kolodji & Bryan Rickert
See commentary by 2020 judges.

~ First Place ~

the heft
of a cast-iron skillet
autumn deepens

Mary Stevens, Hurley, NY

~ Second Place ~

evening news
junipers consume
the moon

Kat Lehmann, Guilford, CT

~ Third Place ~

whether or not
you come home
spring peepers

Carol Ann Palomba, Wanaque, N

~ Honorable Mention ~

gibbous moon
she circles the baby’s
due date

Marilyn Appl Walker, Madison, GA

~ Honorable Mention ~

casting off
all self-doubt—
prize trout

Clifford Rames, Freehold, NC

---

2019

Judges: Carole MacRury & Christopher Herold
See commentary by 2019 judges.

~ First Place ~

ultrasound
the thump of a bee
against the window

Raquel D. Bailey, Jamaica

~ Second Place ~

high summer
the slow drift
of a heron’s landing

Michael Morell, Havertown, PA

~ Third Place ~

fireflies rearranging bedtime

Michele L. Harvey, Hamilton, NY

~ Honorable Mention ~

downpour
       alone together
              with our phones

Paul Kulwatno, Falls Church, VA

~ Honorable Mention ~

dawn chorus
all the birds
he used to know

Jacquie Pearce, Vancouver, BC, Canada

~ Honorable Mention ~

frosty night . . .
the horse’s breath
melts a star

Martha Magenta, Bristol, UK

~ Honorable Mention ~

barn owl’s cry:
the darkness
pierced with wounds

Temple Cone, Hyattsville, MD

~ Honorable Mention ~

it ends
with a text
april rain

Matthew Markworth, Mason, OH

~ Honorable Mention ~

crack house
even the shadows
have shadows

Roland Packer, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada

~ Honorable Mention ~

to lead a life
of such purpose . . .
ants in a line

Annette Makino, Arcata, CA

 

---

2018

Judges: Lorin Ford & Lee Gurga
See commentary by 2018 judges.

~ First Place ~

sun-bleached billboard
the gravel road ends
at peaches

Joe McKeon, Strongsville, Ohio

~ Second Place ~

    flute notes
fluttering
       petals

Brett Brady, Haiku, Hawaii

~ Third Place ~

the rill's trick
a greenfinch moves
its green around

Alan Summers, Chippenham, Wiltshire, England

~ Honorable Mention ~

the first stroke
of the ink brush . . .
ravens in snow

Ron C. Moss, Tasmania, Australia

~ Honorable Mention ~

evening prayer
the sediment
begins to settle

Jayne Miller, Hazel Green, Wisconsin

~ Honorable Mention ~

a turnstile
going around by itself—
winter rain

Barry George, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

~ Honorable Mention ~

winter solitude
lost in the hum
of my computer

Sam Bateman, Everett, Washington

 

---

2017

Judges: Robert Gilliland & Cherie Hunter Day
See commentary by 2017 judges.

~ First Place ~

       light
for their world
     fireflies

Gary Hotham

~ Second Place ~

gathering dusk
all the colored pencils
back in their cup

Michele Root-Bernstein

~ Third Place ~

the dogs
shake it loose
—summer sea

Alison Woolpert

~ Honorable Mention ~

watermelon flesh deep in summer

Tigz DePalma

~ Honorable Mention ~

trial separation
another inch of snow
on the gin bottles

Lew Watts

~ Honorable Mention ~

summer holiday
walking the dogs
where they want to go

Corine Timmer

 

---

2016

Judges: Cor van den Heuvel & Scott Mason
See commentary by 2016 judges.

~ First Place ~

window . . . to window . . . and back . . . the cat

Celia Stuart-Powles, Tulsa, Oklahoma, U.S.A.

~ Second Place ~

spindrift . . .
I go where
the story takes me

Francine Banwarth, Dubuque, Iowa, U.S.A.

~ Third Place ~

drifting snowflakes
the police car’s ascent
up our driveway

Christina Sng, Singapore

~ First Honorable Mention ~

evening breeze
through the barnboards
final bid

Roland Packer, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada

~ Second Honorable Mention ~

our easy silence
every puddle
sky-deep

Annette Makino, Arcata, California, U.S.A

~ Third Honorable Mention ~

wedding invitations
the press and release
of the nib

Robyn Hood Black, Beaufort, South Carolina, U.S.A.

~ Fourth Honorable Mention ~

paddling through stars
the wake of a boat
long passed

Julie Warther, Dover, Ohio, U.S.A.

~ Fifth Honorable Mention ~

pride parade
from behind a cloud
the sun comes out

Olivier Schopfer, Geneva, Switzerland

 

---

2015

Judges: George Dorsty & Tom Painting
See commentary by 2015 judges.

First Place

stone cairns
a faded cap drifts
downriver

Debbie Strange, Winnipeg, MB

Second Place

jasmine beyond
the honeycombed lattice
          a call to prayer

Scott Mason, Chappaqua, NY

Third Place

sand dunes
by morning
a different dream

Renée Owen, Sebastopol, CA

Honorable Mentions (no particular order)

early morning
mist reunites
the hills

Kevin Goldstein-Jackson, Poole, England

•

the underside of leaves
her back story
changes everything

Michele Root-Bernstein, East Lansing, MI

•

snow crocus
my grandson asks
if I have dreams

Joe McKeon, Strongsville, OH

 

---

2014

Judges: Tanya McDonald & Michael Dylan Welch
See commentary by 2014 judges.

First Place

county fair
second place ribbon
in an empty stall

Joe McKeon, Strongsville, OH

Second Place

junk car
the hum of bees
beneath the hood

John Stevenson, Nassau, NY

Third Place

   the Christmas
after we told them
    artificial tree

Joe McKeon, Strongsville, OH

Honorable Mentions (no particular order)

a bit of rust
on the Chevy's fender
harvest moon

Terri L. French, Huntsville, AL

a lightning strike gives up a flower

Rob Dingman, Herkimer, NY

   forest clearing
     a scapula
left for the moon

Scott Mason, Chappaqua, NY

that time of year
moonlight fills
his empty chair

Phyllis Lee, Sebring, OH

birding . . .
the unfamiliar path
home

Julie Warther, Dover, OH

winter solstice
the tilt
of her hospital bed

Carolyn Hall, San Francisco, CA

first morning
firecracker papers
wander the streets

Josephy Robello, Novato, CA

 

---

2013

Judges: Margaret Chula and Johnny Baranski
See commentary by 2013 judges.

First Place

flies wait it out
under a cow’s chin
spring shower

Temple Cone

Second Place

heartwood
the saw changes
its tune

Michele L. Harvey

Third Place

snow field
the earth marked
by fallen angels

Elizabeth Steinglass

Honorable Mentions (unranked)

setting sun
an accordion squeezes
the night air

June Dowis

no moon
the click of stilettos
on cobblestones

Ernest Berry

flowing estuary
native languages
long gone

Mike Blottenberger

in the hot tub
my eyes on her floating breasts
Hunters Moon

Neal Whitman

rosebud unfolding
the seed packet left behind
in Revelations

Scott Mason

 

---

2012

Judges: Mark Harris and Peter Yovu.
See commentary by 2012 judges.

First Place

no escaping
this moonlight—
Pompeii

Scott Mason

Second Place

river mud
the shape
of boys

Jayne Miller

Third Place

somewhere becoming rain becoming somewhere

Jim Kacian

Honorable Mentions (unranked)

desert twilight
a map with many creases
nailed to a cross

Garry Gay

we huddle
over mother’s open grave—
lawless winter

Anita Curran Guenin

a long bus ride
the prophetic language
of the stops

Michael McClintock

 

---

2011

Judges: Jim Kacian & Billie Wilson.
See commentary by 2011 judges.

First Place

Navajo moon
the coyote call
not a coyote

Garry Gay

Second Place

deleting words
from the eulogy
falling leaves

Mark Smith

Third Place

calla lily
the sound of a ladder
lengthening

Cherie Hunter Day 

Honorable Mentions (unranked)

tasting the well
in the water—
summer stars

Marjorie Buettner

Mother’s Day
the expiration date
on wildflower seeds

Carolyn Hall 

northern lights . . .
the scratchy play
of seventy-eights

Michele L. Harvey 

a recurring escape from my father’s dream

Christopher Patchel

     the big dipper
no matter where I stand
      mountain sky

Michelle Schaefer

summer passing
the yard flamingo’s
rusty legs 

Michelle Schaefer

glint of sunlight:
the respirator carries on
alone

Charles Trumbull

 

---

2010

Judges: Fay Aoyagi & Lenard D. Moore.
See commentary by 2010 judges.

First Place

All Souls Day...
my name called
from the front gate

Michele L. Harvey, New York

Second Place

autumn
an empty booster seat
in the barber's window

Tish Davis, Ohio

Third Place

hunter's cabin:
of the woods
not of it

Michele L. Harvey, New York

First Honorable Mention

end of the walk
returning the crow's feather
where I found it

Margaret Chula, Oregon

Second Honorable Mention

cafe for sale—
outdoor tables rusting
into autumn

Adelaide B. Shaw, New York

Third Honorable Mention

day lilies
another death date added
to the family tree

Carolyn Hall, California

 

---

2009

Judges: Marian Olson and Peggy Willis Lyles.
See commentary by 2009 judges.

First Place

The house finch
has a song for it,
morning after snow

Stephen Gould (Denver, CO)

Second Place

crescent moon
a bone carver sings
to his ancestor

Ron Moss (Tasmania, Australia)

Third Place

close enough to touch—
I let the junco lead me
away from its nest

C. R. Manley (Bellevue, WA)

Honorable Mention

Blowing leaves
tempt the old cat,
but not enough

Bruce England (Santa Clara, CA)

Honorable Mention

ancient mountains . . .
runners clearing hurdles
on the practice field

Michael McClintock (Fresno, CA)

 

---

2008

Judges: Jennie Townsend, Missouri & Christopher Patchel, Illinois.
See commentary by 2008 judges.

First Place

Thanksgiving—
fifteen minutes
of mince pie

John Stevenson, New York

Second Place

blossoms . . .
the baby’s bare feet
pedal the air

Kristen Deming, Maryland

Third Place

butterfly
my attention
attention span

John Stevenson, New York

Honorable Mention:

one moth
a thousand candles
light the darkness

Garry Gay, California

Honorable Mention

trail’s end—
my pebble
settles the cairn

Linda Jeannette Ward, North Carolina

 

---

2007

First Place

family reunion—
some of the beached kelp
in knots

Claire Gallagher

Second Place

a jar of pennies
on the lemonade stand
evening cool

Roland Packer

Third Place

lightning . . .
the scarecrow's coat sleeve
caught in mid-wave

Ken Hurm

Honorable Mention:

summer's end
the hammock turned in
on itself

Marjorie Buettner

Honorable Mention

Charcoal Alley—
children flick marbles
into the light

Ron Moss

 

---

2006

Judges: an'ya and Michael Rehling.
See commentary by 2006 judges.

First Place:

season of lights
the postman
leans to the wind

Ellen Compton

Second Place:

having no thought
we've come to see them—
dogwoods in bloom

Michael McClintock

Third Place:

turning tide—
placing intact clams
back in the water

C. R. Manley

Honorable Mention:

mallard pair
he rocks
on her wake

Alice Frampton

Honorable Mention

filtering in
with the night air
a skunk's warning

Lois J. Funk

Honorable Mention:

stone in my pocket—
the brook cuts deeper
into the mountain

Merrill Ann Gonzales

Honorable Mention

a bee chose
the rose I meant to pluck . . .
empty vase

Joan M. Murphy

Honorable Mention

soba noodles . . .
the new year
slips in

Sandra Nickel

Honorable Mention

hazy dusk . . .
no one bothered to plow
the graveyard road

Bruce Ross

 

---

2005

Judges: Francine Porad and Billie Wilson

First Place:

child's wake
the weight
of rain

Francine Banwarth

Second Place:

gunshot the length of the lake

Jim Kacian

Third Place:

a stick caught
on the lip of the dam
winter's end

Rick Tarquinio

Honorable Mention:

summer stars . . .
the old violin goes
to the highest bidder

Francine Banwarth

Honorable Mention:

winter drags on . . .
I squeeze the last drops
from a teabag

Kirsty Karkow

Honorable Mention:

distant thunder—
a titmouse gives one chirp
and falls silent

Origa

Honorable Mention:

Alzheimer's birthday
each slice of the cake
takes part of her name

Bill Pauly

Honorable Mention:

March winds
a decade has passed
by your grave

Marie Summers

 

---

2004

Judges: William Cullen Jr. & Brenda J. Gannam

First Place:

Indian summer
a spent salmon
washes ashore

w.f. owen

Second Place:

after the funeral
whiskers still
in his razor

Becky Barnhart

Third Place:

the page-finders
of my father’s Daily Missal
losing their colors

Michael Fessler

Honorable Mention:

first buds of spring
   I change the washer’s setting
      to delicate

Marjorie Buettner

Honorable Mention:

Among the gravestones
with names worn away
children play hide ‘n seek

George Swede

 

---

2003

Judges: paul m. and Patrick Gallagher

First Place:

whalebone
from a beach near Savoonga—
winter rain

Billie Wilson

Second Place:

All Saints morning
a path
of trodden leaves

John Stevenson

Third Place:

cremated
in her favorite kimono—
small green plums

Carolyn Hall

Honorable Mention:

             spring rain—
the gravedigger latches the door
             of his backhoe

Timothy Russell

Honorable Mention:

spring rain the cat's pink nipples

Carolyn Hall

 

---

2002

Judges: Larry Kimmel and Carol Purington

First Place:

loon calls
my daughter drawing circles
near the fire

Marjorie Buettner

Second Place:

summer evening—
from across the meadow
a call to supper

Billie Wilson

Third Place:

shivering on the roof
I rub my palms together
meteor shower

Michael Fessler

Honorable Mention:

    ocean breeze—
a strand of seaweed
    steadies the kite

John Thompson

Honorable Mention:

autumn rose—
     even as I sketch the wind
        more petals fall

Ross Figgins

Honorable Mention:

Humid July—
from the stove the smell
of old fires

Doug Hunt

Honorable Mention:

the wind of autumn
a homeless man warms himself
hand to mouth

Harvey Hess

 

---

2001

Judges: Yu Chang and Ferris Gilli

First Place:

broken easel—
the front yard blue
with wildflowers

Kathy Lippard Cobb

Second Place (tie):

heat waves—
the hitchhiker shifts her child
to the other hip

Linda Jeannette Ward

Second Place (tie):

land's end—
sand in each bite
of my apple

Leatrice Lifshitz

Third Place:

Indian summer
a fish slips through
the gill net

W. F. Owen

Honorable Mention:

     her 18th birthday—
for the first time she notices
       my silences

Jeanne Emrich

Honorable Mention:

spring sunshine
      the climbing ivy
      filled with sparrows

A. C. Missias

 

---

2000

First Place:

 meteor shower—
    a gentle wave
wets our sandals

Michael Dylan Welch

Second Place:

      mountain hike
we drink from the beginning
      of a great river

Yvonne Hardenbrook

Third Place (shared):

spring sun—
       high in his arms
             the newborn is shown

Tom Clausen

Third Place (shared):

      snail—
to know
           its heart beats too

Marian Olson

Honorable Mention:

   lethal injection
unable to shut
the blind dog's eyes

LeRoy Gorman

Honorable Mention:

     end of summer
the shape of his feet
    in his sneakers

Peggy Heinrich

Honorable Mention:

   Geronimo's grave
someone has left
   plastic flowers

Linda Jeannette Ward

 

---

1999

First Place:

new in town
the scent
of unknown flowers

Yu Chang

Second Place:

foghorns . . .
we lower a kayak
into the sound

Christopher Herold

Third Place:

catalog time
the garden begins
without a seed

Celia Stuart-Powles

Honorable Mention:

new butterfly . . .
folded wings
lean into the wind

Ferris Gilli

Honorable Mention:

morning overcast
a few seeds still dangle
from the dandelion

Christopher Herold

Honorable Mention:

break up
I leave behind
her butterfly net

R.A. Stefanac

Honorable Mention:

walking home barefoot,
we enter the shadow
of the hill

John Stevenson

Honorable Mention:

autumn evening . . .
a page of the old book
separates from the spine

Tom Tico

 

---

1998

First Place:

funeral procession . . .
snowflakes blowing
into the headlights

Randy Brooks

Second Place:

autumn evening
my hospital window
becomes a mirror

Zinovy Vayman

Third Place:

storm clouds
the cry of a shearwater
circles the sky

Ernest Berry

Honorable Mention:

late into the night
we talk of revelations
moon through the pines

Margaret Chula

Honorable Mention:

the kettle whistles . . .
           a blur of garden color
           on the window

Christopher Herold

Honorable Mention:

winter beach
a piece of driftwood
charred at one end

John Stevenson

Honorable Mention:

riveredge old growth:
a towering window
of stars

Ruth M. Yarrow

 

---

1997

First Place:

I'm caught in it too—
the blossom-loosening wind

June Moreau

Second Place:

Over the railroad tracks
the slow motion
of a snake

Gary Gay

Third Place:

The beetle I righted
flies straight into
a cobweb

George Swede

Honorable Mention:

leaf in my palm
its stem extends
my lifeline

Helen Davie

Honorable Mention:

about the tree
over my small son's grave
—tell me

Susan Gaston

Honorable Mention:

musty smell
forgotten . . . deep
into the text

William J. Higginson

Honorable Mention:

that Venus!
leading the cupped moon
through every turn of the road

Connie Meester

Honorable Mention:

"grabs" and "opens"
the fist
sowing seeds

Kohjin Sakamoto

 

---

1996

First Place:

the river—
coming to it with nothing
in my hands

Leatrice Lifshitz

Second Place:

deep silence
          the orphaned nestlings
          this third morning

Kay F. Anderson

Third Place:

summer solstice—
the long tips of lavender
bent by bees

Jeffrey Witkin

Honorable Mention:

snowbound
coloring inside
the lines

Sandra Fuhringer

Honorable Mention:

the dumproad pond
tadpoles exit
a birdhouse

LeRoy Gorman

Honorable Mention:

still sun-warmed . . .
the pulled-out scarecrow
in my arms

Kohjin Sakamoto

Honorable Mention:

Changing the swallowtail
      changed by it
           the spring wind

vincent tripi

 

---

1995

First Place:

letting the branch go
a shower of petals falls
on the old woman

Leatrice Lifshitz

Second Place:

toll booth lit for Christmas
from my hand to hers
warm change

Michael Dylan Welch

Third Place:

winter seclusion
tending all day
the small fire

Jim Kacian

Honorable Mention:

on the path
only one of us
touched by a falling leaf

Helen K. Davie

Honorable Mention:

winter, bedtime
   static flickers
       through a white sleeve

John Stevenson

Honorable Mention:

warm river—
up to our necks
in sunset

Ruth Yarrow

Honorable Mention:

beneath the ice
the waterfall
                    still falling

Jeanne Emrich

 

---

1994

First Place:

Old garden chair
sagging with the weight
of a single leaf.

Alice Mackenzie Swaim

Second Place:

after the stroke. . .
watching only the half of your face
that smiles

Helen K. Davie

Third Place:

City window
mountains and pines
etched in frost

Peggy Heinrich

Honorable Mention:

Autumn deepens
an empty snail shell
explored by an ant

Garry Gay

Honorable Mention:

early morning sun
     scattered on the table
          several grains of salt

Christopher Herold

Honorable Mention:

snowflakes
no one will miss
melt in her hand

Gary Hotham

Honorable Mention:

bright leaves
    blow through
       her dream house

John Stevenson

 

---

1993

First Place:

scattering his ashes
     the moon
          in bits and pieces

Sylvia Forges-Ryan

Second Place:

on the river
      of many names, one cloud
      floating

Virginia Brady Young

Third Place:

learning too late
he didn't like bubinga wood—
sun strikes the urn

Elizabeth Searle Lamb

Honorable Mention:

the war memorial—
migrating butterflies
cover the names

Penny Harter

Honorable Mention:

falling leaves
the house comes
out of the wood

Jim Kacian

Honorable Mention:

leaving you—
fog on either side
of the white heron

Leatrice Lifshitz

Honorable Mention:

Below zero
all curled up in the woodpile
the skin of a snake

June Moreau

 

---

1992

First Place:

deep winter.
                     the armload of firewood
                     chills the kitchen

Carol A. Purington

Second Place:

mourning dove calls . . .
     my elderly neighbor stills
          the sound of her hoeing

James Chessing

Third Place:

August morning—
a window washer wiping dust
from his sunglasses

Lenard D. Moore

 

---

1991

First Place:

snowmelt . . .
     she enters
     the earth on her knees

Bill Pauly

Second Place:

an old woolen sweater
          taken yarn by yarn
                    from the snowbank

Michael Dylan Welch

Third Place:

a white horse
drinks from the acequia
          blossoming locust

Elizabeth Searle Lamb

Special Award:

sunlight shines red
through my father's thumb
on the steering wheel

Alyson Pou

Special Award:

          two women crying
one giving birth
          the other being born

John Thompson

Special Award:

Approaching the family plot . . .
my furled umbrella
turns into a cane.

vincent tripi

Honorable Mention:

Chernobyl victim—
fingers pressing the plastic
to his wife's caress

Marc Arvid White

Honorable Mention:

                        cloud shadow
           long enough to close
the poppies

Christopher Herold

Honorable Mention:

The thick clang
of a cowbell
the sun deepens

June Moreau

Honorable Mention:

Roses
in the smaller room
more fragrant

Sydney Bougy

Honorable Mention:

Ninety winters
          Spellbound
                     Again

Vicki Silvers

 

---

1990

First Place:

silent cathedral
     stained-glass apostles
     dimming with dusk

Charles B. Dickson

Second Place:

          up the path
to touch that one oak
in last night's dream

R. J. Trayhern

Third Place:

dry leaves
the old archer
curves his eyebrow

Jim Boyd

Honorable Mention:

soft rain—
the new grave
looks old

William Cullen, Jr.

Honorable Mention:

morning sneeze—
the guitar in the corner
resonates

Dee Evetts

Honorable Mention:

dusk
a lone car going the same way
as the river

George Swede

Honorable Mention:

First days of summer . . .
     already the leaves gather
         beneath the sycamores

Tom Tico

Honorable Mention:

fall leaves the trees the winter sky

Lee Gurga

 

---

1989

First Place:

so many ways
within the waterfall
for water to fall

John Thompson

Second Place:

after the rain
on my vegetable patch
a new crop of stones

Dee Evetts

Third Place:

frozen in mud
by the vacant shanty:
lottery ticket

Joe Nutt

Honorable Mention:

the potter's hands
gently shape the vase
     out of himself

Frederick Gasser

Honorable Mention:

Watermelon rind,
sitting in its own juice
the summer sun

Garry Gay

Honorable Mention:

figure drawing class—
in the model's deepest shadows
a stark white string

Lee Gurga

Honorable Mention:

Ebb tide . . .
    a little sea
         in the shell

Robert Mainone

Honorable Mention:

watching rain
pouring down . . . pouring down
just watching

Joan Bulger Murphy

Honorable Mention:

abandoned store—
     large sign reading
          WE NEVER CLOSE

Denver Stull

 

---

1988

First Place:

a single strand
of spider silk
     stops her

Dan Burke

Second Place:

endlessly becoming,
clouds

Lesley Einer

Third Place:

mime
lifting
fog

Jerry Kilbride

Senryu Award:

taking time . . .
listening
to the grocery clerk

Carolyn Talmadge

Senryu Award:

in the Yukon
sleeping with one eye shut
the summer night

Elizabeth St Jacques

Senryu Award:

in soap bubbles
again and again
his face is broken

Bill Pauly

 

---

1987

First Place:

yard sale,
sunlight filling
mason jars

Jerry Kilbride

Second Place:

leaving home . . .
the smell of smoke
from old brick chimneys

Kathleen Burgy

Third Place:

frozen pond—
white antlers rise
through the ice

Ross Figgins

Honorable Mention:

June night
my mother alone with
her cancer

Steven D. Dalachinsky

Honorable Mention:

     at dinner
biting into the roast beef . . .
     the butcher's thumb nail

Sister Mary Thomas Eulberg

Honorable Mention:

phoning the neighbors
their real voices
through the open window

Dee Evetts

Honorable Mention:

repeating the lecture
his eyes following
the window-cleaner's blade

Dee Evetts

Honorable Mention:

Tools rusting
Unused on the work bench
A faucet dripping

Esther Harris

Honorable Mention:

full moon

      peering into
the half-built house

H. F. Noyes

Honorable Mention:

dusk
drawing the pond's depth
to the surface

Donald E. McLeod

Honorable Mention:

old woman, wrapping
her cat's gifts
—centering the bows

Carol Montgomery

Honorable Mention:

on the way to work
a hot air balloon
up in the mist

Lynn G. Moore

Honorable Mention:

this heat;
     the dog's tail
          the only breeze

Denver Stull

 

---

1986

First Place:

                light
up under the gull's wing:
              sunrise

Ruth M. Yarrow

Second Place:

second husband
painting the fence
the same green

Carol Montgomery

Third Place:

such coolness
the snail stretches
its neck

Clark Strand

Honorable Mention:

the one legged bird
that deep bend before
taking off

David E. LeCount

Honorable Mention:

bird song
lost
in bird song

Peggy Willis Lyles

Honorable Mention:

walking in on her
dead eyes reflecting
          snowfall

Bill Pauly

Honorable Mention:

in the sea
the fireworks
rising

Rebecca Rust

Honorable Mention:

bird feeder untouched . . .

     alone again

Ruby Spriggs

Honorable Mention:

circling each thigh
     cool
of the night river

Ruth M. Yarrow

Senryu Award:

     small child
afraid to throw away
    his Church Bulletin

Carol Montgomery

 

---

1985

First Place:

     in utter stillness
the incense
          changes direction

Stephen Hobson

Second Place:

early spring sun—
the spinster combs out her hair
for nesting birds

David E. LeCount

Third Place:

canyon:
at the very edge
          riversound

Ruth Yarrow

Honorable Mention:

Out of its slipper
     her bare foot talking
          under the table

Robert F. Mainone

Honorable Mention:

      Burial prayers
grandson playing hide and seek
      behind the stones

David Elliott

Honorable Mention:

between the fireflies
the changing shape of darkness

Robert Kramer

Honorable Mention:

My father's hammer
warm again
in my hand

Dorothy McLaughlin

Honorable Mention:

under trees and sky
     the baby studies
     her hands

Margarita Mondrus Engle

 

---

1984

First Place:

migrating geese—
once there was so much
to say

Adele Kenny

Second Place:

sound of her voice
carrying eggs
across the ice

Bill Pauly

Third Place:

moving
with the clock tower's shadow
the flower lady

Alexis K. Rotella

 

---

1983

First Place:

heart drawn in dust
by the old Indian . . .
rain

Bill Pauly

Second Place:

whispered dusk—
      a fox picks its way
           across the ice

Ross Figgins

Third Place:

mist
lifting
the loon's cry

Ruth M. Yarrow

Honorable Mention:

snowman's eye
sinking in
the spring rain

Ruth M. Yarrow

Honorable Mention:

Autumn afternoon:
I stand on the shadow
of the sparrow

Joyce Walker Currier

Honorable Mention:

ten below zero:
man and boy walk through their breath
to read old tombstones

Bill Pauly

Honorable Mention:

hot wind
the roadrunner's beak
opens and closes

Margarita Mondrus Engle

Honorable Mention:

Blackbirds descend
through the floaters
in this eye

Charles L. Cutler

Honorable Mention:

the old man
closes the shadow
in his hand

Darold D. Braida

Honorable Mention:

spring drizzle
rounding the thorn
a drop of light

Ruth M. Yarrow

 

---

1982

First Place:

              horizon
wild swan drifting through
      the woman's body

Raymond Roseliep

Second Place:

deserted wharf
the mime bows
to the moon

Chuck Brickley

Third Place:

a spider's web
across the windharp
the silence

Elizabeth Searle Lamb

Honorable Mention:

under the back steps
     catfish still flop in the pail—
          the long August night

Rita Z. Mazur

Honorable Mention:

horns fold
at my shadow's touch;
brown slug

Darold D. Braida

Honorable Mention:

      early April rain
that woman fills every jar,
    seals them forever

Sister Mary Thomas Eulberg

Honorable Mention:

dead mynah bird . . .
with each passing car
its wing flaps

Darold D. Braida

Honorable Mention:

Picking cotton—
      the memory
           of birdtracks in the snow

Edward P. Willey

Honorable Mention:

Old tea bag;
     tints the moon
          slightly

Garry Gay

Honorable Mention:

blackened walnut
left unopened—
winter solstice

David E. Evans

Honorable Mention:

Distant woodchopper
inside the cabin
axbite echoes

Thelma Murphy

Honorable Mention:

    The grey cranes at dusk—
bending in a line along
     the crooked fenceposts

Richard Bodner

Honorable Mention:

checking for water
the woman finds a full moon
trapped in the cistern

L.A. Davidson

 

---

1981

First Place:

Old woman,
rain in the eye
of her needle

Bill Pauly

Second Place (tie):

The path shorter now,
underfoot the crumbling leaves;
the child runs ahead

Gloria Buckner

Second Place (tie):

cry of the peacock widens the crack in the adobe wall

Elizabeth Searle Lamb

 

---

1980

First Place:

fields of snow
     not only moonlight
          but the moon

Robert F. Mainone

Second Place:

cold morning sea—
an old man towels
himself in the sunlight

Chuck Brickley

Third Place:

fields of corn stretching
as far as the eye can see
within            a lost child

Sister Mary Thomas Eulberg

Honorable Mention:

  crossing the bright sky
of a near-sighted swimmer,
     the song of a bird

L.A. Davidson

Honorable Mention:

and yet
perishable is flesh—
a mountain plum

Furuta Soichi

Honorable Mention:

what thing cries out
deep inside us
cooking the turtle?

Bill Pauly

Honorable Mention:

Lights out
. . . the firefly
inside

Peggy Willis Lyles

Honorable Mention:

the wind
somewhere else—
bird tracks in a light snow

Gary Hotham

Honorable Mention:

apples cooking:
in the aroma
pictures of my mother canning

Sister Mary Thomas Eulberg

Honorable Mention:

Dawn
     another parting
with the moon

Stephen Gould

Honorable Mention:

back and forth goldfish hot & humid afternoon

Gary Hotham

 

---

1979

First Place:

the child
points at the moon
and says, "bird"

James O'Neil

Second Place:

one seagull
on a shaft of air;
dawn

Darold D. Braida

Third Place:

Lean man
Carving
The tree's dream.

Kirsten Stromberg

Honorable Mention:

morning-glory folds into herself into her folds

Marlene Wills

Honorable Mention:

from behind me
the shadow of the ticket-taker
comes down the aisle

Cor van den Heuvel

Honorable Mention:

Walking to Work

Pages lap at your feet
The quick eye holds up the news to the day

Michael O'Brien

Honorable Mention:

Part of a dog
walking by upside down
in the roadside puddle

Tal Streeter

Honorable Mention:

Where the ripple was
the fisherman casts his line;
another ripple

Garry Gay

Honorable Mention:

Quiet strokes
of night swimmer: the slap
of beaver tails . . .

Virginia Brady Young

Honorable Mention:

never expecting
the lilies in November
nor the small coffin

Raymond Roseliep

Honorable Mention:

      the room's smallness
fills with light
      this morning of snow

Michael McClintock

Honorable Mention:

The way of the conch—
blueing in the sea, and
echoing in the wind

Joyce Walker Currier

 

---

1978

First Place:

leaving      all the morning glories      closed

Elizabeth Searle Lamb

 

---

1977

First Place (tie):

Old frog
    up to his ears
        in moonlight

Robert F. Mainone

First Place (tie):

reaching into sky
the girl breaks the wish—
bone of geese

Raymond Roseliep

 

---

1976

First Place:

in a dark bag
    onions
          sprouting

Jennifer Virgil

Second Place:

still lake—
a hawk makes off
with its image

R.E.T. Johnson

Third Place:

   skiers!
  standing
on the wind

Larry E. Martin

 

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