Alright guys, I gotta do something different now. I have only a limited amount of time before I have to do something, so I am only going to show the RANKED haikus and the merit winner. I'm sorry that I cannot show everyone what category they won, but I'm running out of time for a personal meeting. I also would like you to know that I judged more thoroughly than the others I worked on, meaning I went through each individual haiku from the time it was posted, so I gave them as much thought as I could. I have always planned the judging to be on a Thursday, so you can rest assured that there was no rushing involved. Now, without further ado:
First is 1337 Player's "You Ruined It!" award:
The building crumbles.
What was part of history,
Lies in pieces now.
Ancient History indeed! Many things can affect why a building crumbles, like wars, migration, even mother nature! We still kept Rome's Colosseum though.
2nd is Wolf1991's "Egyptian Mummy" award:
The dust settles on
Shrouded tombs long forgotten
Only now revealed.
Perhaps it's not directly saying Egyptian mummy, but that's what I thought of when reading this. In this haiku, Wolf tells a powerful tale using age as his weapon. Tombs of many thousands of years old, only now uncovered by those that discover it. Who knows what vast mysteries are hidden beyond these tombs? Great haiku, great haiku!
Third is HahiHa's "Documented Texts" award:
Long gone lives and dreams
Remembered only by the
Pages of paper
So much history, dated since ancient civilizations, is recorded through documented texts; if it is not, then it is lost. As soon as the last man of that event falls, we only have stories to tell. I believe the most recent "forgotten histories" is the Great War, since there is no one left alive to tell you a witness's account? Anyway, this haiku reminds me of dusty, old texts, maybe from books, that recall tales of old, holding the many traditions, customs, and mannerisms of the people contained within it. Great stuff!
Fourth is FallenSky's "Millennial Vision" award!
Remembrance upon
the gleams of yellowed pictures;
crystallized stories.
Dating as far back as the first commercial cameras being used, the pictures were of very old quality, using very poor quality paper. But that was their best back then, so I suppose we couldn't blame them. Certain pieces of pictures, though, have had powerful stories behind it. "A picture is worth a thousand words" burned into my head when thought of this. A single picture can tell an entire story, if you examine it hard enough. Dating even further back were paintings. Since we didn't have photos, people and events were painted on for remembrance. Even further back were people and events carved upon walls. Yellowed, in fact, could explain Fallen's representation. Was he thinking of hieroglyphics? Maybe, but even if he didn't, he explained what core aspect of ancient history is revealed by: pictures.
5th is Knight_34's "Museum" award:
Relics of ancient,
Entombed for millennia
Now on exhibit.
Tens of thousands of years of history revealed, taken, and presented to a curious audience of passersby within a museum can really set the stage for those looking, especially if you invoke a certain presence within the room. Create a strong enough atmosphere and you can definitely take the audience back in time. Certain events may seem as though the history is crying out to you to see what was affected, has affected, and had an effect on.
Out of these five ranked haikus, the winner of this week's theme is:
The dust settles on
Shrouded tombs long forgotten
Only now revealed.
Congratulations, Wolf1991! Go find a mod and claim your winning! Now to set the stage for a brand new week:
New Judge: FallenSky
Deadline: Wednesday, November 10th
Judging: Thursday, November 11th
Theme: Paragon
"The highest aspiration to excellence". The powerful definition of a powerful word is powerful indeed, but can you invoke a powerful haiku? This is very general; think outside the box, imagine anything that is a pure example of a paragon, and you got yourself a haiku. All that is needed to do is set the stage and...tell a story.
FallenSky will see you guys next week. Happy Haikuing!
