Haiku Society of America Renku Awards
in Memorial of Bernard Lionel Einbond
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HSA Renku Awards for 2012
Yu Chang, Schenectady and Paul Miller
judges
Grand Prize
Stolen Pearls
Ron C. Moss, Tasmania, Australia
Paul W. MacNeil, Onawa, Maine
Matthew Paul, London, England
Ferris Gilli, Marietta, Georgia~ ~ ~
Stolen Pearls
oh frogs!
you sang all through
the frosty nightRon
Adeste Fideles loudly
from the shower stallPaul
along the pavement
the old bull terrier
strains on the leashMatthew
confetti and high-fives
as Wall Street celebratesFerris
a boy and his dad
burn leaf piles under
a southern moonRon
I pack up for the day
in cover of darknessMatthew
hunks of husks
ripped to get precious kernels
wrapped in silkPaul
when she unlaces her bodice
the stolen pearls drop outFerris
greeting me with
“the kids are staying with friends”
and a kissPaul
last ride in the Tunnel of Love
free with spooky horrorRon
Mother maintains
there’s plenty more fish
in the seaMatthew
rich-smelling lamp oil
made from blubberFerris
could that be sweat
dripping from the Man
in the MoonPaul
the towpath shadowed
by purple loosestrifeMatthew
on every page
this author’s extravagance
with ornate phrasesFerris
our verbal stoush
as we fight for the footballRon
the twister leaves
a pale magnolia petal
waving on its branchFerris
not drowning, but hard-going:
the year’s first dipMatthew
nesting swallows
in the kayak shed
soaked with rainRon
the magician’s sword
high above his open mouthPaul
I conjure up
a mental picture
of her lovelinessMatthew
we hold hands softly
as the lights dim downRon
from the ceiling
below the honeymoon suite
a chandelier tremblesFerris
frozen fog evenly spread
through the churchyardPaul
hard to believe that
she went to Hell, Michigan,
to escape the coldFerris
I enter a room
filled with strangersMatthew
the librarian
points to a sign:
“Shhhhh"Paul
the glow of an ipad
in the parking lotRon
the moon’s corona
pours its whiteness
over the heathMatthew
we play dice for money
as the scarecrow staresRon
dreams and snake eyes
mingling
in the witch’s mortarFerris
new building rises
a course of brick after anotherPaul
the giant contrails
of space shuttle Atlantis
for the final timeRon
a pine needle drops
from a scrolled fernPaul
in the shade
of the plum blossom
she resumes her knittingMatthew
another tale spun
from the garden swingFerris
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