Haiku Society of America Senryu Award
in Memorial of Gerald Brady
Judges Commentary for 2024
Judges: Bill Cooper and Helen Ogden
First Place
garden clean-up
one invasive species
roots out anotherBrad Bennett, MA, USA
Who is the invasive species here? Line 1 suggests the gardener. Or could the agent of the uprooting be another species of invasive plant or animal? This poem reminds us that human reshaping of the Earth has allowed invasive species to take hold and ‘root out’ the native species in many places, not only in our own gardens. In fact, gardeners often unwittingly plant ornamental invasives that escape into the wild. The cost of invasive species, excluding ourselves, was estimated to be $423 billion worldwide in 2023, rising annually, due in part to climate change. We would do well to think of the world as our community garden and of ourselves as the gardeners.
Second Place
water park grand opening
a toddler finds
the puddleMatthew Markworth, OH, USA
Here we envision the grand opening of a water park, including convoluted slides and perhaps a lazy river, designed by adults to attract paying adults and their children. Sometimes it just takes observing a small child to put things into perspective. Adults often have a jaded view of the world. Narrowing our view and focusing on the small things around us is the special skill of a good haiku/senryu writer. We look for the puddles, as does a child. A child is content with a puddle, whether or not it is reflecting clouds. As the child matures, new puddles will compete for attention with the thrill of water slides. But, in the end, most of us return to the simple joy of the puddle, much like the wading bird seeks a shallow pond. The euphony in the words ‘toddler’ and ‘puddle’ make this a fun poem to read out loud. You can tell how much we enjoy the word ‘puddle’ by how many times we used it in this commentary!
Third Place
“on your left”
the Progressive Bike Club
out for a rideDavid Green, IL, USA
This is an election year and this senryu gave us a laugh at a time of much tension in our country. The divide between ‘right’ and ‘left’ is a source of much anxiety and animosity between fellow citizens. Many of us are simply trying to keep our balance and make our way through the busy traffic of an election without a major mishap. Being considerate and observing the rules of the road will help us all navigate safely. Are these Lycra-clad bike riders being polite and warning unsuspecting walkers of their approach, or are they rudely calling out for them to get out of the way? This poem also opens to an alternative reading in which the passing signal is not understood or ignored by someone unwilling to yield, perhaps even leading to conflict. This poem brings some levity to a fraught subject.
Honorable Mention
two weeks after
his father still
in the present tenseAlan Bridges, WA, USA
Navigating the death of a loved one is perhaps life’s most difficult challenge for us all. Coming to accept the absence of someone who has always been there for us is a process. Speaking of the deceased loved one in past tense does not come easily and takes time. The juxtaposition of the word ‘after’ in line one and ‘present tense’ in the last line, draws attention to the time it takes. And in some sense the father is still there, even if not physically. This poem captures, in few words, the enormity of personal loss.
Honorable Mention
thornier this year—
the hedge we share
with the neighborsBarry George, PA
Another timely senryu given that this is an election year. Without taking sides, the poet illustrates the dilemma of neighbors with decidedly different opinions. It has become increasingly difficult to navigate relationships, not only with neighbors, but with friends, and family who may have different viewpoints from our own. The hedges that separate us have become taller, thicker, and thornier. And yet, there may be things that we share in common, besides the hedge itself. Perhaps we both love the birds that inhabit the hedge, or the flowers that adorn it in the spring. Finding what we have in common is what allows us all to get along. Additionally, the euphony of the words ‘thornier’, ‘year’, ‘share’, and ‘neighbor’ make this poem pleasing to the ear.
Honorable Mention
another record high
the news team’s
tepid banterGreg Schwartz, MD, USA
This senryu reminds us that like a frog in a pot of boiling water, it is easy to overlook the gravity of a slowly developing catastrophe. Many have suggested that the effects of climate change are being understated at our peril, and the nightly weather report is one source of news that might leave us tepid about global warming. Of course, the newsroom is well air-conditioned, as are the homes of many viewers. Air conditioning itself contributes to global warming. Outside, workers toil in heat that poses risks to health and safety, even as unions are organizing Heat Week to press the case for more safeguards. Meanwhile, efforts continue to develop and harness energy alternatives to fossil fuels. During heatwaves, topics like outdoor worker conditions, the plight of outdoor plants and animals, and the roles of energy sources and consumption receive insufficient coverage in the newsroom. The alliteration of the words ‘team’ and ‘tepid’ trip off the tongue, and the use of ‘banter’ imparts a welcome lightness to a heavy subject.
Honorable Mention
a shopping mall
where cotton once grew
the price of a childEric Sundquist, VA, USA
Here we begin with the poignant juxtaposition of a shopping center that was once a cotton field. Long ago, children were legally bought and sold as slaves, sometimes separated from their families, to serve on cotton plantations. Somewhere in the world right now, a child might be abducted at a shopping center or sold and bought there. The garment you purchase at a shopping center could have been made in a factory that uses child labor. In a more benign reading, perhaps ‘the price of a child’ could refer to the cost of raising a child within a family. Here, the shopping center serves as an anchor for the purchase of goods on behalf of the child. But ‘price’ and ‘cost’ have different meanings, and here the poet asks us dwell on ‘price’ for good reason.
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About the Judges:
Helen Ogden is a retired speech-language pathologist who has channeled her deep love of all things language into the reading and writing of haiku (and senryu). She has participated in the HSA mentorship program since its inception under the guidance of Chuck Brickley. Helen enjoys writing in Spanish as well as English, as she was raised in Spain and is bilingual. Her long relationship with black and white darkroom photography has helped to hone her eye for detail, a valuable skill in the writing of haiku. She is widely published in national and international journals and has a number of awards and honorable mentions under her belt, including: The San Francisco International Haiku Contest (2020, 2023), Brady Senryu Contest (2021) Hexapod Haiku Challenge (2021), Kaji-Aso Studio Contest (2023), Marlene Mountain Contest (2023), and was shortlisted for a Touchstone Award in 2021, and nominated again 2023.
Bill Cooper (aka William E. Cooper) was born in 1951 in Baltimore, Maryland USA. An academic with a Ph.D. in cognitive science from MIT, he is currently president emeritus at the University of Richmond. He has written books and articles in cognitive science, international relations, and higher education. He began writing haiku in 2009 and publishes in leading haiku journals. He has published ten haiku collections and served for five years as one of the founding editors of Juxtapositions: A Journal of Research and Scholarship in Haiku. Two of his books were shortlisted for the Touchstone Distinguished Book Awards, and two others received Honorable Mention in the Haiku Society of America Merit Book Awards. In 2022, he was a featured reader at a meeting of the Haiku Poets of Northern California, served as a judge for the Haiku Society of America Merit Book Awards, and received the Ginyu Ban’ya Natsuishi Prize. In 2023, his haiku were featured for a month at the Mann Library of Cornell University. Individual haiku have won awards and appeared in anthologies. His latest book, Two Summers, is published by Red Moon Press.