The Best of Autumn Moon Haiku Journal Volume 1 (1:1 and 1:2)

      The Haiku Moment Award, Runners-up, and Honorable Mentions
 
                                                                               Haiku Moment Award:
 
                                                                                     spring pilgrimage-
                                                                                     first cherry blossoms
                                                                                     in mother’s sandals
 
                                                                                     proljetno hodočašće -
                                                                                     prvi cvjetovi trešnje
                                                                                     u majčinim sandalama
 
                                                                                                                Goran Gatalica, Croatia

Here is clearly the front runner. With deft phrasing, Goran Gatalica presents a moment that expresses spirituality, natural beauty, and a son’s love, centered on a spring kigo.
 
                                                                                          Runners-Up:
 
                                                                                         crescent moon . . .
                                                                                         my silent yearning
                                                                                         as vast as the night sky

                                                                                                                           Anne Curran, New Zealand
We liked the sensitive expression of Anne’s feeling and the depth of that feeling.
 
                                                                                          flickering lantern
                                                                                          a beggar's bowl
                                                                                          fills with moonlight
 
                                                                                         大红灯笼挂，
                                                                                         烛光自摇曳。
                                                                                        乞丐手中碗，
                                                                                         月光已注多
 
                                                                                                                                 David He, People’s Republic of China
We liked this haiku for the sensitive take on a beggar's bowl haiku, perhaps opening up a strong connection to Zen awareness.
 
                                                                                     If the friendly mosquitoes
                                                                                     kept quiet.
                                                                                    Oh, early morning.
 
                                                                                     Si los amables
                                                                                     mosquitos se callaran.
                                                                                     Oh madrugada.
 
                                                                                                       Rafael García Bidó, Dominican Republic
This haiku was the most humorous of all we got and reminiscent of Issa.
 
                                                                                      oak in spring
                                                                                      lifting the light
                                                                                      from a river
 
                                                                                                                         Michael McClintock, USA
We liked Michael’s haiku for the poetic transparency and deftness of expression.
 
                                                                                      summer solstice
                                                                                      the weight
                                                                                      of light
                                                                                                                        Valorie Woerdehoff, USA
 
We liked this poem for its very contemporary phrasing and idiom and the subtlety of the haiku as a whole.
 
                                                 Honorable Mentions (Autumn/Winter):
 
stirring moonlight
into darkness
catfish

                Simon Hanson, Australia
Here is a very original take on a moment of perception that reverberates with mystery.
 
                                                 equinox a moment with the falling leaf

                                                                                                                                       Cyndi Lloyd, USA
This haiku is a subtle presentation of a haiku moment, linking, in a sense, the universal and the particular.
 
dad’s face
not as I remember him . . .
winter stars
               
                     Marion Alice Poirier, USA
This haiku focuses on sadness and longing and is made deeper by the last line, which becomes a metaphor for that depth.
 
                                                               lives of their own autumn leaves
                                                                                                                                  
                                                                                                                        Julie Warther, USA
The imagery here nicely supports the importance of seeing the life in all natural phenomena.
 
still autumn . . .
a baby crow caws
with each fallen leaf
 
...خريف هادِئ
نعّاب ينعق
مع كل ورقة تسقط
 
                Ali Znaidi, Tunisia
Ali Znaidi’s haiku radiates a tenderness that can be felt in the natural world.
 
                                            Honorable Mentions (Spring/Summer):
 
gentle rain
my palms open
with a prayer

            Tia Haynes, USA
Tia's haiku poetically offers a spiritual connection to a simple and perhaps needed natural event.

spring rain
the cherry petal tea
of my childhood
                                                                                                                                                     
春之雨
我童年的
樱桃花茶
 
               David He, People’s Republic of China
A Taoist-like haiku that centers upon the wonder of the continued cycle of the seasons in nature and in human nature.
 
the smell of spring
in my shoes –
lily of the valley

                Precious Oboh, Nigeria
This haiku brings the wonders of another spring to a human level.
 
spring rain
a child jumps
from cloud to cloud

                Rachel Sutcliffe, UK
A precious haiku that captures the simplicity of a child’s delight.
 
clover
the girl makes a bouquet
for her doll’s wedding
 
人形の結婚式に
少女はブーケをつくる
しろつめくさの花

ningyo no kekkonshiki ni  
shoujo wa bouquet wo tsukuru
shirotsumekusa no hana
                (revised Japanese version by the author)
 
                                               Norie Umeda, Japan
Norie Umeda’s haiku allows us to enter a child’s world in which the ordinary becomes beautiful.