A Haiku is a Japanese lyric verse form having three unrhymed lines of five, seven, and five syllables, traditionally invoking an aspect of nature or the seasons.
Well, that said, heres the rules:
1) The Haiku must be original (no plagarizing)! 2) It must fit the weeks theme 3) It must be submitted before the deadline 4) It must be submitted for the contest (no using works previously written) 5) One Submission per user 6) The Same User cannot win twice in a row (but there welcome to submit!)
Hopefully oneday the winner could get a merit...
The Deadline will always be a Wednsday, so the deadline for the first theme will be Wednsday, September 2. The theme is The Pond
The Fading Hope award goes to Wolf1991 The creep of shadows Draw ever closer, but still The sun glimmers...just.
I enjoyed this Haiku - it had a nice grasp on the theme but also served to give dual mental imagery of hope fading too - the description worked also to sharpen that imagery.
The Blunt award goes to thepossum: Darkness beginning It is the end of twilight It is known as dusk.
A simple Haiku - straight to the point and certainly on the theme. I especially liked the third line - which is perhaps the bluntest thing I shall ever see in a Haiku... Ever.
The City Streets award goes to Ernie15: Streetlights shining bright Reflect off the dimming sky Neutral glows are born
Indeed a fine Haiku - the mental picture the description within this Haiku creates is sharp and well-formed. Each line serves to strengthen the Haiku as a whole and the choice of words perfectly fits.
The Not-Technically-A-Haiku-But-What-The-Heck award goes to alexstargazer: The horizon dims The darkness surrounds everything The earth can now rest
The second line lets the poem as a whole down. However, it's still quite good and you can definitely get a feeling of resting/calming down as you read this.
The Resurrection award goes to freakenstein: You've had your day, Soul Now you may rest, sound in peace and wait for sunrise
I found this Haiku to be quite moving really. It seems to be sad at first - the ending of a day. However, the third line speaks of sunrise and a new dawn - 'sunrise' is especially moving in this Haiku.
The Yes-It-Is-A-Correct-Haiku award goes to slayguy8: Night and day combined The sun soon leaves the grey sky Soon total darkness
This was a good attempt at a difficult topic to capture. While it wasn't quite 'there' it certainly has potential - keep trying! The Haiku focuses on the actual shifting of day to night which is nice.
The Minus-Minus award goes to Savingthedream14: Day and night whoo hoo The darkness is everywhere I can't see nothing
Aside from the use of onomatopoeia and double negatives - this wasn't not good. A refreshing Haiku in that it relies more on the senses (particularly sight) to put across a description of Dusk in Haiku form.
The Captain-Obvious award goes to Nater: Theres a difference Between dawn and dusk, my friend dusk is at night. Duh.
The delicate interplay between... Nah, who am I kidding? Dusk is at night! Did you guys NOT know that? I was under the impression EVERYBODY knew that! Heh, I liked the Haiku - it encompassed both dawn and dusk and (helpfully) pointed out the difference.
The Basin award goes to vinster132: With Partial darkness Brightness flows away today Between day and night
This Haiku is quite evocative of a basin or a sink. The dark and oily night begins to flow in - forcing the brightness of day outward - as well as hitting the theme of Dusk it juxtaposes something different in as well - very effectively done too.
The Awakening Night award goes to samdawghomie: The gleaming sunset Nocturnal creatures awake Night sets upon us
I loved the anthropomorphic personification of night itself within this Haiku. As well as the awaking of nocturnal creatures this Haiku gives impressions of the night itself awakening like a creature.
The Let Me Get My Dictionary award goes to Zaork: Conflagration ends Vulnerable time stands still Honour the gloaming
It is a strangely beautiful Haiku but it feels like it tries too hard. The Haiku has depth and meaning but it lacks in... Simplicity?
The Fanfiction award goes to Saving123: Day and night they meet And have the greatest affair And then dusk is born
I joked about it being fanfiction but it does have a romantic feel to it. The passionate meeting of day and night and the resulting birth of dusk - it all feels rather erotic... In a good way.
The Eternal Cycle award goes to aknerd: The sun dies again We do nothing but look on For now, it returns.
Although this is definitely a sad Haiku it has the strange ability to give me a feeling of hope. The sun is doomed to die at the end of each day and yet each day it returns once more - One of the more emotional Haiku's certainly.
The Candle award goes to EnterOrion: Creeping horizon, Snuffs out gods' burning candle, Waits to be re-lit.
This is one of the Haiku that almost made it but not quite. I found the description of the sun as a candle to be exquisite and imaginative and the Haiku as a whole to be delightful to read.
The Childish Darkness award goes to TuxedoPenguin: The guard leaves his post No one to protect this land Night comes out to play
I'm afraid the award titles are becoming less imaginative but it certainly fits this Haiku. The night is portrayed as like a child - playing in the unguarded land - free to do as it wishes.
Now, onwards to the ranked Haikus!
Winner of the Bronze is FallenSky: Spent life in his feet The old man peers at the sun; It's dusk for you too...
A really quite sad Haiku - juxtaposing the end of the day with the end of a life. Especially emotionally effective because of the perceived conversation between the man and the sun.
Winner of the Silver is Katrina18: When Mother Nature Casts her blush on hushed waters We breathe the shy dusk
It was really hard to decide between this and the winner for first place. Each individual word is absolutely perfect for the Haiku - it weaves together a beautiful picture of Dusk and personifies Mother Nature as a living, breathing woman - absolutely exquisite - You should be proud this was on par with the winner.
The Gold and therefore the Merit goes to MRWalker82: When the day sun sets Under the horizon's edge Bright sky becomes dusk
This Haiku does something that only one or two of the others do - it speaks to me. Unlike the others, however, it speaks volumes to me - stories of life, of day and night, of warriors and hunters returning home and of peace - all in 17 syllables.
Well done MRWalker82 - go collect your Merit, you've earned it!
Now, the next theme shall be: Freedom
The deadline date will be: Monday August the 9th(unless stated otherwise by the Judge)
And the judge will be: Decided soon
Until next time - well done all and Happy Haiku'ing.
I'm glad you liked it. I chose an 'easy' topic for this one because I noticed we had a few newcomers post last time around and I wanted to encourage growth and development of the contest. That and the fact that it's always a good topic for any sort of artwork.
