A couple, hoping to find a good name for their newly born daughter, go out into the fields to pick flowers. Maybe they are searching for a hint from the names of the flowers, but in any case, they are looking for some inspiration. Their simple parental love overlaps with their appreciation for wildflowers, and a flavorful verse is created against a beautiful vista. “Wildflowers” is regarded as a seasonal phrase depicting fall, however, since this verse is penned by an American author, the scene could also denote fields in spring or summer.
(Tsunehiko Hoshino)
The Results of the 33rd
There were 33,941 entries in theEnglish Haiku division of this contest. (All division combined featured entries from 64 different contries.) We would like to introducethe winning pieces of this English Haiku division.
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The school excursion that everyone had been looking forward to has been cancelled – probably due to COVID-19. Such an abrupt conclusion brings disappointment, however, reading the guidebook will no doubt prove useful in the future. This is learning too. This haiku succeeds by focusing on the guidebook.
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Each person generates a unique atmosphere, and our individuality is also expressed in handmade fermented foods. The essence of the grandmother who continued to make pickles is firmly contained in the jar. Even after she has passed away, no wonder her grandchild has a natural penchant for nibbling on the pickles. This haiku conveys the lingering reverberations of life.
I like HAIKU that express the laws of nature, so I tend to avoid inorganic scenes and artificial subjects such as industrial products when I compose verses. I had concluded that it would not resonate when masks, sanitizer, isolation facilities and the likes are written in verses. However, some of the submitted works describe masks in an engaging manner. “Quarantine/the ups and downs/of the hotel elevator” is a wonderful verse that clearly conveys the sharp auditory perception of the composer experiencing quarantine in a hotel. Viewed overall, there seems to be a growing sense of the seasons in the HAIKU verses, and I’m sure it is only a matter of time before we see production of an “English Saijiki” , a compendium of seasonal expressions. The “wildflowers” that appears in the Grand Prize winner is a tasteful example of it.
We received approximately 34,000 haiku verses from 64 countries. Verses were also received from Ukraine, however, since the deadline was February, they do not reflect the effects of the ongoing war. As might have been expected, many of the works were based on the COVID-19 pandemic, and there are high quality verses attached to their personal experiences. Among the outstanding entries, there is a haiku that describes parents rejoicing at the birth of their daughter and contemplating a name while picking wildflowers, and another one recalls a grandmother who passed away while leaving behind her homemade pickles. And their expression in English was perfect.