First of all, I’d like to thank everybody for joining the 2nd Haiku My Photo Challenge. I thought hosting this contest was badly timed with all the flurry of excitement last August on NaHaiWrimo and the looming deadlines of submissions for other haiku contests and journals, but your overwhelming support, more than I had imagined, all proved me wrong.
Every morning I looked forward to checking my email. Several participants expressed how much they enjoyed reading the list of haiku and voting for their favorites. It was a fun experience for me, too, as I felt like I was accepting precious gifts from the heart from all over the world. Most of the haiku I received have love stories to tell, giving me reasons to start my day with a smile. Others prodded me to ponder and view my photo in a different light.
Submissions came from 10 different countries. Here's the list of all the participants:
1. John Daleiden, USA 2. Angelo Ancheta, Philippines 3. Josie Hibbing, USA 4. Mandeep Maan, India 5. Gillena Cox, Trinidad and Tobago 6. Ernesto Santiago, Philippines 7. Pravat Kumar Padhy, India 8. Rick Daddario, USA 9. Elizabeth Fanto, USA 10. Sandi Pray, USA 11. Hansha Teki, New Zealand 12. Cara Holman, USA 13. Pat Geyer, USA 14. Kat Creighton, USA 15. Vasile Moldovan, Romania 16. Ed Bremson, USA 17. Jayashree Maniyil, Australia 18. Alegria Albano Imperial, Canada 19. Kirsten Cliff, New Zealand 20. Stella Pierides, UK 21. Ted van Zutphen, USA 22. Patty Hardin, USA 23. Asni Amin, Singapore 24. Sanjuktaa Asopa, India
Before I announce the winners, let me point out a few reminders:
1) None of the votes and comments are from me.
2) All the votes and comments will remain anonymous even
3) All haiku entries are posted with the author’s name. Votes
This means that no voter gave three points, 5 voters gave two points, and 4 voters gave 1 point. Total votes is equivalent to 14 points.
Finally, the results of the contest!
Comments: really fits the picture well
(click for a bigger picture)
Comments #1 This haiku provides a fine sense of anticipating something that is about to happen. Together, they would make a nice haiga. There is lots of “dreaming room” here; we can imagine all sorts of stories that might be sung in a few minutes—we have only to wait, to be patient and listen….
Comments #2 nice mood here
(click for a bigger picture)
~ Kirsten Cliff, New Zealand
The rest of the results are here:
waiting for the evening moon—
Comments: neat juxtapositioning of ideas
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~ Angelo Ancheta, Philippines
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AHA ! I SEE TWO BLUEBERRY
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~ Gillena Cox, Trinidad & Tobago
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~ Ernesto Santiago, Philippines
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parents wait for the kids
~ Pravat Kumar Padhy, India
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against a blue-magenta sky
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Comments: I like the figurative implication here; the birds emulate a human situation. Here the verse extends the photo; both the verse and the image “show” a situation happening—there is no “telling” here and we are allowed to imagine what the reason is for the need of comfort. The battle between “telling” and “showing” is difficult!
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~ Hansha Teki, New Zealand
Comments: interesting connection of idea/picture
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Comments: The union of this haiku and the photo work well for me. The haiku becomes an acceptable and indirect metaphor about change—for me change is one of the essences of haiku. “our” could left in or out of the haiku.
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~ Vasile Moldovan, Romania
Comments: A strong sense of loyalty came through in this poem, the kind of loyalty one would observe in a long-term marriage.
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~ Jayashree Maniyil, Australia
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~ Alegria Imperial, Canada
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on the other side of the fence
Comments: There is a great amount of dreaming room in this haiku; matched with this photo I will be reading a very successful haiga. The haiku becomes a subtle and indirectly stated metaphor for human relationships, even though it obviously written about the birds. The images of “nest building” and the hope and imagination implied by the phrases “deeper blue” and “the other side of the fence” are concrete images with subliminal and unwritten (but implied) messages. Together this haiku and image celebrate a highly positive sense of on-going change….
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again, summer heat erupts
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Congratulations to the winners - Rick Daddario, Sanjuktaa Asopa, and Kirsten Cliff! Your postcards will be coming your way soon :-)
Once again, my heartfelt gratitude to all of the 24 participants for making this peer-reviewed contest a success. I hope to see you all on the next Haiku My Photo Challenge. I don’t know when it will be considering my life’s situation. It’s really hard to tell. All I can say is this - one day when you least expect it, I’ll be springing up wonderful surprises again. ;-)
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