Haiku Society of America Rengay Award
in Honor of Garry Gay
2021
Judged by
John Thompson and Jacquie Pearce
Judges Commentary
2021 First Place
Plein Air
first rays of light
through ripening raspberries
mixing colorspalette of blue
six eggs in a robin's nestthunder showers
stippled droplets on roses
watercolor scentcharcoal smudges
in sunlit storm clouds
a fingerprintstaccato reflections
beneath my brush sounds of rainso full
the moon among shadows
my inkwell spillsby Joan Fingon and Orense Nicod
2021 Second Place
Bending the Light
holding back tears
the fullness
of a gibbous moonthose ghosts I know
I have to live withthe orchid stems
after the bloom
longest nighteach star
as if second chances
were realthe bend of light
through watermorning as it opens
a new window
of hopeby Julie Schwerin and Angela Terry
2021 Third Place
Perseverance
backyard bird call
Perseverance
lands on Marsblast of solar wind
the dank of withered reedsVenusian clouds
a biplane circles
the sky above methe half-moon betta
sipping air
Europa’s hidden seascardinals at the feeder
snowfall on PlutoKepler’s star
the iron in my blood
blood redby Deborah P Kolodji and Billie Dee
2021 Honorable Mentions (unranked)
A Fading Memory
pen and paper
not where i left them
forget-me-notsa word for maple seeds
takes flighther face
so familiar
rosemary or lavenderour day
to visit cherry blossoms
missing keysdandelion clock
time drifts awaythieving sprites
borrow my bouquets
twilight thickensby Marilyn Ashbaugh and Jeanne Cook
Embodiment
solstice moon
his planchette roams
my ouija boardeach kiss summons ghosts
from the secrets of her curvesendless moans
the rise and fall
of our sheetdeepening shadows
the lights flicker
to our rhythmson the wall
handprints lingershuddering orgasms . . .
we exorcise
our inhibitionsby Lori A Minor and Joshua Gage
Golden Joinery
the path we follow
marked with deer droppings
first moccasin flowersseed bombing
a vacant lotrosy sunset
clouds above the smokestacks
just cloudsthe warmth
of the Earth on our backs
Lyrid meteorsa trash bag bulging
with roadside returnableskintsugi
piecing our broken world
back togetherby Kristen Lindquist and Alan S. Bridges
Letting Go
apron strings
the tender undoing
of knotshis kite unfurls
in the windspring break
sailboats on the bay
meander at cruising speedmacrame hammock
the shape of a day
measured in margaritaswater rings
on the burlwood tableenough for dinner
he loosens the slipknot
on the smallest perchby Carol Judkins and Lorraine A. Padden
The Eye of a Loon
spring in the blood
a spruce grouse drums
on a mossy logabandoned orchard
sap wells ring an apple treewild strawberries
the waxwings have left
a mouthfulin breeding plumage
a scarlet tanager sings
in the canopytwo cranes bend their heads
to the fresh-cut hayfielda long yodel
the autumn sun sets
in the eye of a loonby Kristen Lindquist and Alan S. Bridges
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