Well, it has begun. The haiku have been submitted to the judges, and the results will be announced early next week.
Here are several of my own following the rules of the contest and reflective of my spending some of my youth in small towns in St. Louis’ Metro East. The challenge of haiku is to focus on one or several evocative images to create an entire picture. Every word can be important. For example, for the last word in the second line of poem two, I mulled over using “feel” or “take” or “drink” or “know” with each conveying a slightly different meaning. Pretty cool, huh. Well, enjoy, even if these are a tad dark.
how is such bounty
mixed with death, harvest queen, masks
candy in the streets
dark, frozen corn stalks
beneath a leaden sky, feel
the rabbit’s warm blood
The first judge’s results are in and have been tabulated. Oh, the excitement is building!!!
Oh, a big correction! The first line of haiku one has been corrected to read “how is such bounty” which is what I meant instead of “how is such beauty”
“how is such bounty
mixed with death, harvest queen, masks
candy in the streets”
This is a great haiku, Neil!