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Honorable Mentions from the Haiku Contest
Selections from examples sent by readers in response to our haiku contest.
Also see the contest results.
predestinarianism
The script I hold is
written in the playwright's hand.
On each page: ad lib.
-Janet Martell, Durham, North Carolina (ninth.st frontier.com)
Of course today's word's
Predestinarianism;
What else could it be?
-Justin Berthelsen, San Francisco, California (pweasels hotmail.com)
Let me get this straight:
God wanted you to believe
and me to not to?
-David Ash, Publisher, Basho Press, Mukilteo, Washington (bashopress aol.com)
Driving my hybrid
Prius Destinarian
I don't have to steer!
-Katherine A. Barco, Albuquerque, New Mexico (kbarco cabq.gov)
Writing syllables
predetermined is merely
amanuensis
-Anne Pici, Dayton, Ohio (anne.pici gmail.com)
Divine determined
Whatever the world looks like
And our fate as well
-Ali Abdollahi, Tehran, Iran (aabdollahi nri.ac.ir)
What you want is moot
Predestinarianism
Has your fate worked out.
-Willa Dee Maltby, Wayne, Ohio (dmaltby wcnet.org)
predestination
is where you are when you learn
your flight is canceled
-J. Shannon Webster, Birmingham, Alabama (swebster fpcbham.org)
Through a narrow rut
I slip slide, unknowingly,
The days of my life
-Joseph McCann, Manhattan, New York (jmccann325 aol.com)
Before you are born
God decides you're bad or good
What man-made nonsense!
-Deborah Black MacWhirter (organize eagle.ca)
Predestination
A predictable haiku?
Sound of disbelief
-George Pajari, West Vancouver, Canada (george pajari.ca)
Everything is known
Before each event occurs
Sadly not to you.
-Steven M. Schneider, Los Angeles, California (sms msk.com)
puppets we would be
the mythical creator
a ventriloquist.
-Enita Torres, Houston, Texas (enitatorres gmail.com)
There isn't a choice
All is written in the stars
Or perhaps Sharpie
-Carla Weil, New Haven, Connecticut (carlaweil aol.com)
His believing in
Predestinarianism
Left him no choices
-Rebecca Markwick, Winchester, UK (11markwickreb stswithuns.com)
whether saved or damned,
in either case it's freeing:
live the way you choose!
-Anne Treadwell, Middle West Pubnico, Nova Scotia, Canada (treadwell ns.sympatico.ca)
A choice to believe
Another had planned for me
Not a choice at all
-Robert Snailer, New York, New York (rsnailer rosenyc.com)
Life's route is settled,
No choice but follow the voice.
Just like a sat-nav
-Martyn de Young, Maidstone, England (martyn deyoung.org.uk)
my fingers tap tap
the keys, forming this poem
i can only watch
-Steve Zeoli Hubbardton, Vermont szeoli earthlink.net
Relax and linger
Results are already in
You're not a winner
-Anneli Jarvel, Toronto, Canada (anneli.jarvel tdsb.on.ca)
a Calvin (not Klein)
designed to wear forever
those blue, selfish genes
-Jonathan T. Densford, Memphis Tennessee (j2d2 juno.com)
Have I arrived late?
It depends on whom you ask.
John Calvin says no.
-Tim Eaton, Okemos, Michigan (TEaton ahla.com)
Your Honor, I plead
That predestination means
Twas God's will, not mine.
-James Sterrett, Platte City, Missouri (james.sterrett gmail.com)
Fatalism is but
Predestinarianism
In thin disguise.
-J L Anil Kumar, Bangalore, India (anil.jagalur philips.com)
Are all events set
By Cosmos or divine will?
My fate is: defy!
-Elizabeth Nelson, West Glover, Vermont (lizinvermont gmail.com)
Shoes suspended on
electric line midair, where
are you flying to?
-Sara Rebeka Burnett, Burlington, Vermont (srburnett gmail.com)
free will or good works
have nothing to do with it
coin toss: saved or damned
-Susan Modlin, Oakland, California (smodlin yahoo.com)
the path may be set
but no one says you can't stray
and walk off the edge
-Claire Roth, Merritt Island, Florida (claireroth yahoo.com)
Texas board has pre-
Destinarianism
Down to a "science"
-Ross A. Watkins, Ramona, California (romawat_design cox.net)
the acorn must grow
whether it likes it or not
into an oak tree
-April Close, Siren, Wisconsin (dsi sirentel.net)
Earthquake in Japan
Predestinarianism
Heartbreak to a fault
-Daniel Alef, Santa Barbara, California dan1dan aol.com
The gods have decreed:
As winter follows autumn,
What will be will be.
-Richard A. Ross, Weston, Connecticut (rickr expressway.com)
He prayed every day
Distributed alms, believed
He was saved. Wasn't.
-Richard Barbieri, Milton, Massachusetts (richarde.barbieri gmail.com)
Do what you will do.
It is all part of God's plan.
He will still blame you.
-David Craig (dc68cce yahoo.com)
Written long ago
Before stars lit up the sky:
Nothing can be changed.
-Anne Collins Osman, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia (anneosman gmail.com
Thy will be done, Lord.
But what if it isn't done?
Then that's thy will, Lord.
-Elinor Lowry (elowry stithian.com)
set in stone
ends at the beginning
and takes the fun out of sinning!
-Victor L. Hunter (Viclhunter aol.com)
Predestination.
O, should I write a poem?
It seems I had to.
-Dr. Bob Wenz (drbobwenz gmail.com)
Sounding like a sneeze
Destiny ordained we see
Haiku, haiku, hai!
-Thomas Crowther, Nottingham, UK (dragondai btinternet.com)
To heaven or hell?
God knows but his policy:
Don't ask and don't tell
-Thomas, Cambridge, Massachusetts (trh122 mail.harvard.edu)
"I'm saved", said the vile,
Thieving, murderous rascal.
"God said so, you see ..."
-Ailsa Paterson, France (ailsap wanadoo.fr)
If will is not free,
How much does God charge for it?
Where do I pay up?
-Kate Daly, Langhorne, Pennsylvania (hammerwaterkate gmail.com)
cause god's will be done
You never say you're sorry
deny not your gods
-E.J. Sharp, Xenia, Ohio (ejsharp yahoo.com)
Predestinari-
anism: never having
to say you're sorry.
-Lise Rosenthal, Fresno, California (lise rakefet.com)
Navigating life
With the steering wheel pre-locked
Can oft be fate-el.
-Benn Tracy, Garden Suburb, NSW, Australia (benn.tracy uon.edu.au)
predestiny is
not as you like it, rather
as fate would have it
-Theresa S. McMahon, Albany, New York (tmcmahon powers-santola.com)
God made it so that
Predestinarianis-
m won't fit haiku
-Pat Leech, Corvallis, Oregon (pmdleech aol.com)
Celebrate our words
Septendecennially --
They were meant to be.
(Added perk: Each line is seventeen letters long)
-Allen K. Robinson (djallenk gmail.com)
Heaven rules the world
We are hamsters on the wheel
Run my furry friend
-William Nazzaro (yossarian7 yahoo.com)
When you drop the toast
The carpet braces itself
Awaiting butter.
-David Kershaw, Stranraer, Scotland DKer703767 aol.com
Foot off the pedal
It has all been figured out
Cruise control, baby!
-JoAnn Hoeber, Gold Hill, Oregon (hoeber comcast.net)
Que sera, sera
Whatever will be, will be
no, not ours to see
(Would that I could take credit for this!)
-Michael Kay, Battle Ground, Washington (michaelrkay gmail.com)
God knew what I'd choose
before I chose to choose it
so I choose to think
-Rich Accetta-Evans (richaccettaevans earthlink.net)
Predestinari-
anism: Our fate, of late,
is to hyphenate
-Richard Alexander, Grand Rapids, Michigan (alexander1040 att.net)
Not free will it seems
But some deity's whimsy
Made me write this verse
-Bob Mornington, Paris, France (bob.mornington gmail.com)
For those who believe
Their path is predetermined
For what do they pray?
-Fredrick Abrams, Cherry Hills Village, Colorado (frabrams aol.com)
No editing here
From sunrise to days sunset
All moments scripted
-Mary Coughlen (mary.coughlen symphonyiri.com)
the road forked in two
I took the untrodden path
but the end was same
-Suraj Subramanian, Mumbai, India (ghostbuster.suraj gmail.com)
I believe in pre-
destinarianism, but
of my own free will.
-Elizabeth Barnes, Washington DC (thistledance verizon.net)
Angry waters rage
Such tragic devastation
Surely is not fate
-Sue Harris, Johannesburg, South Africa (susiharris gmail.com)
I would subscribe to
predestinarianism
if I had free will.
-Kenneth Pitchford, New York City, New York (kennethpitchford aol.com)
Why should you bother,
predestined pedestrian,
to look left and right?
-Linda Bryan, DuBois, Pennsylvania (LLBryan drmc.org)
If it is to be,
until my destiny decides
it is up to me.
-Sri Hari Krishna Mocherla, Hyderabad, India (harimocherla gmail.com)
predestination
is my core philosophy
(like I had a choice)
-Michael Bass, MD, Rancho Cordova, California (neuroquack yahoo.com)
It makes no diff'rence
Free will, good deeds -- saved or damned:
Crap shoot of the gods.
-Cecilia Kilmartin, Lafayette, California (cecik aol.com)
It is already
Determined which entry won:
Why do I bother?
-Yuval Kfir (eitheladar gmail.com)
Dear Wordsmith Dot Org
God has fated me to win
your haiku contest.
-Graham Smith, Denver, Colorado (grhsmith hotmail.com)
Was it predestined
That this word cannot be fit
Into a haiku?
-Roy Turner, Orono, Maine (rmt umcs.maine.edu)
The contest is won
decided as from above
send the prize today
-Christopher Gilmour, Cape Town, South Africa (christopher.gilmour uct.ac.za)
you think quakes, floods, nuke
meltdowns predestined. really.
by which loving god?
-Mary Beth Lundgren, Cape Coral, Florida (mblundgren tlhconsultinc.com)
triskaidekaphobia
Twelfth floor apartment
Fourteenth directly above.
Fear layered between.
-Jay Holtzman, Baltimore, Maryland (jayholtzman msn.com)
winter chill courses
cold sweats, icy breath of fear
stop on floor thirteen
-Brian Neely, Kabul, Afghanistan (brian bpsphoto.com)
I got off on twelve
and fell down the flight of stairs
leading to fourteen.
-Robert Montgomery, New York City, New York (mont rcn.com)
fear of floor thirteen
caused him to leave his hotel
before the earthquake
-Marge Simon, Ocala, Florida (msimon6206 aol.com)
Superstition's odd
Hotels have no thirteenth floor.
Can bad luck be fooled?
-Mark Engel, Ben Lomond, California (mark.engel1 mac.com)
Rational number
thirteen instils blind fear in
Irrational minds.
-Andrew Sharp, Lincolnshire, UK (aisharp macace.net)
One, two, three, four, five
Six, seven, eight, nine, ten, e-
Leven, twelve, fourteen.
-Jettie McCollough, Ludlow, Massachusetts (peacerun gmail.com)
-Lori Kohler, Tallahassee, Florida (lori_kohler apd.state.fl.us)
-Henning Sondergaard, Copenhagen, Denmark (h19ng hotmail.com)
To fear a number.
Is there any sense in it?
Never mind. Change base.
-David Craig (dc68cce yahoo.com)
Eighteen syllables
The fourteenth after the twelfth,
- There! - a safe haiku.
-Des Pickard, Chicago, Illinois (des despicablemusic.org)
Some live at 12a
Some count a baker's dozen
Thirteen! I don't care.
-Simon Jarvis, Isle of Wight, UK (simon_jarvis talk21.com)
Fear not the number
It is easily avoided
Buy only in dozens
-Dan Stalker, Gold Coast, Australia (d.stalker bigpond.com)
Fear of 3 and 10?
Hang a horseshoe rightside up,
Don't break a mirror!
-Nan Socolow, Cayman Islands (nan candw.ky)
my fear of spiders
multiplied beyond belief--
thirteen in a row
-Gail Teachworth, Crystal River, Florida (gteachworth gmail.com)
Grey winter morning
Thirteen birds fly into view
Frightening vision
-Gregg Berube, Nashua, New Hampshire (gb31248 yahoo.com)
Houses but not books
Go from floor 14 to 12
Chapter eleven?
-Stuart Copperman, MD, Melville, New York (smcmd aol.com)
The lift stops: 14,
Am I truly safe here now?
What if Evil counts?
-Bill Lyon, Santa Fe, New Mexico (xlyon mac.com)
As innocence wanes,
triskaidekaphobia.
A twelve year old's fear.
-Allan J. Wager, Shanghai, China, (wagbomb gmail.com)
Fear grips my soul as
I consider my daughter:
She's turning thirteen
-Dana Pearson, Kennebunk, Maine (danampearson gmail.com)
I'm a teenager
I turned thirteen yesterday
I broke my ankle
-Margaret Condy, Norwood, Ontario, Canada (condy pipcom.com)
The thought of thirteen
Frightens me enough to make
twelve words sufficient
-Tim Croke, Auburn, Georgia (timcroke hotmail.com)
TGIF, but
Triskaidekaphobia
Can ruin Friday.
-Anastasia Hallab, Oak Park, Illinois (anhallab earthlink.net)
Friday the thirteenth
Is surely not unlucky
That's when I was born!
-Tom Weber, Fullerton, California (tweber sunrisegrowers.com)
we stopped at twelve kids
triskaidekaphobia
trumps papal dogma
-Michael Bass, MD, Rancho Cordova, California (neuroquack yahoo.com)
Go chase yourself, Triskaidek...
I'm not scared of you
I'm the happy thirteenth child!
-Emily Bott, Wailuku, Hawaii (palaka1 hawaiiantel.net)
Twelve months in a year
What comes next is what I fear!
Saved! Count goes to one
-Jerry A. Burgener, Phoenixville, Pennsylvania (Jburgene its.jnj.com)
A dozen plus one
Makes me sweat, moan, and shudder.
Please add another!
(Yes, I used 13 words on purpose)
-Lorna W. Schuster, Milton Freewater, Oregon (lwstoryteller hotmail.com)
Thank heavens haiku
Have seventeen syllables
Instead of thirteen
-Justin Berthelsen, San Francisco, California (pweasels hotmail.com)
I've conquered my fear!
Thank the heavens it was just
A twelve-step program.
-Kit FitzSimons, Carrboro, North Carolina (kit.fitzsimons gmail.com)
Sixes and sevens
Mix me up, and I just can't
take them together
-Brenda Mareski, Charlotte, North Carolina (brenda.mareski bankofamerica.com)
there had to be a
reason why George the Third feared
the first colonies
-Stephen Lucek (stephen.lucek gmail.com)
He stood me up. Why?
Triskaidekaphobia -
Our date: the thirteenth.
-Sally Stretch, Durban, South Africa (sestretch mweb.co.za)
At the bakery
A dozen doughnuts to go
And one for the road.
-Ellen Mitchell, Kelowna, Canada (ellenater yahoo.ca)
buyers of hot rolls
are not afraid of thirteen
with eight percent off
-Arno D.
ten plus one plus two
the total unprint_ble
like that syllable
-Jim Halverson, Ossining, New York (jhalv aol.com)
Friday the thirteenth
A black cat steps on a crack
Under a ladder
-Steve Benko, New York City, New York (steve.benko gecapital.com)
August the 13th:
Alfred Hitchcock's birthday and
I take a sponge bath.
-Sydna Armstrong, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania (arbouse enter.net)
contradistinguish
Oh, why didn't I
contradistinguish the nail
From my tender thumb?
-Kyle Ambrose, Wamena, Papua, Indonesia (kambrose maf.net)
"Contradistinguish":
How is it distinguished from
merely "distinguish"?
-Jan Underwood, Portland, Oregon (junderwo pcc.edu)
for each way you are
precisely what I am not:
vive la difference!
-Skip Swanson, Tokyo, Japan (skipswanson mac.com)
You're pretty. I'm not.
You're intelligent. I'm not.
But you're old. I win.
-Doug Peterson, Kent, Washington (dopeter rei.com)
contradistinguish
compare, contrast, make judgments
human condition
-Dan Brook, San Francisco, California (brook brook.com)
Contradictions as
I contradistinguish
My distinguished friends
-Frank Imhoff, Elgin, Illinois (frankimhoff netscape.net)
Sesame Street knows
Contradistinguish these things
From one another
-Val Mallinson, Portland, Oregon (valmalgal comcast.net)
Pointy hat? No hat?
Nose wart? Or maybe she floats.
So, which witch is which?
-Hilary Giffen, Milwaukee, Wisconsin (hgiffen ringdu.com)
You say tomato
But there is another way
I say tomato
-Amye Gumbinner, New York City, New York (agumbinner gmail.com)
Haiku are simple
Until someone picks a word
Like "contradistinguish", which would much more easily fit into a sonnet or an epic or some poetic form that had room for more syllables
-Justin Berthelsen, San Francisco, California (pweasels hotmail.com)
Contradistinguished
A haiku is less than Keats
But less may be more
-John Sutherland (john johnsutherland.eu)
Haiku's equal length
makes one contradistinguish
on relative wit(dth).
-Michael Butler, Austin, Texas (michael.butler ni.com)
Contradistinguish
Hero, villain, hard to tell
One from the other
-Stuart Copperman, MD, Melville, New York (smcmd aol.com)
Infinite space-time
what contradistinguishes
you from me here now
-Linda Gardner, Acton, Massachusetts (linda fpr.com)
Mountain and valley
Piercing the sky and the earth
Pregnancy of gods
-Sofia Garcia, Sevilla, Spain (sgmartos hotmail.com)
A sea of gray coats
To shelter from heavy rain
One red umbrella
-Siobhan Furia, Colts Neck, New Jersey (sfuria foodscene.com)
Why should I pick you?
What makes you the one to choose?
Ah, your resume!
-Susan Cuttriss (suecuttriss gmail.com)
Contra Distinction:
Reagan's award to Ol North
secret arms to Iran
-Dwight Kaufman, Jackson, Tennessee (dckaufman mac.com)
My dear - faithful fair
honest kind strong warm and wise
some are. You are not.
-Kristie Francis, Coarsegold, California (kpfrancis sti.net)
between the jewels
and the paste one must always
contradistinguish
(a haiku for Guy de Maupassant)
-Neely Bruce, Middletown, Connecticut (neelybrucemusic comcast.net)
Zebra stripes. Black. White.
But which is stripe? Which is hide?
Does anyone know?
-Tim O'Connor (toconnor kcdistancelearning.com)
I pick this peapod
it looks the same as that one
but it sings to me
-Sal Davies, Pietermaritzburg, South Africa (sald pmbwi.co.za)
sweet, tart, juicy, crisp
How do I choose one apple?
Don't choose, eat them all.
-Sydney Perry, Indiahoma, Oklahoma (sydperry aol.com)
A facility
with words distinguishes those
whose haiku don't scan
-Simon Jarvis, Isle of Wight, UK (simon_jarvis talk21.com)
To compare apples
To oranges is a way
Of doing this thing.
-Dale Roberts, Wilmington, Delaware (dale.roberts state.de.us)
He looks just like me
(In fact, could be my brother),
Except for that mole.
-Jim Waldfogle (jim.waldfogle burke.com)
Contradistinguish
this, my friend, a turnip from
a rutabaga
-June Cussen, Sarasota, Florida (june pineapplepress.com)
Layer by layer
I'm peeling my self from yours
Finding no difference.
-Shakil Ahmed, Singapore (shakilahmed84 gmail.com)
Compare and contrast
Each English student's nightmare.
Term paper due when?
-Cameron H Potter, Edmond, Oklahoma (chpotter29 gmail.com)
Contradistinguish
The man from the crime, the life
From the one action.
-Craig Adams, Downers Grove, Illinois (baritonecraig sbcglobal.net)
to tell them apart
the donkey and elephant
hear old stale men talk
-Victoria Kennedy, Washington DC (vgkxox aol.com)
Alligator? Wait!
U-shaped head or V-shaped head?
V-shaped! Croc!! Now swim!!!
-Kathryn Patterson, Yorktown, Virginia (kpatterson ycsd.york.va.us)
laryngopharyngeal
larynx and pharynx
juxtaposed so one often
has to eat one's words
-Judith Boogaart, Zeeland, Michigan (jkboogaart hotmail.com)
tsunami of the
alimentary canal:
now it comes back up.
-Pat Fowler, Brooklin, Maine (fowlerpm myfairpoint.net)
Spectacular chute.
Controls breath or food without
Confusion. Thank you
-Franceen Weisert (franceen.weisert vta.org)
larynx and pharynx,
like twins or couple of lovers;
on separate ways.
-Anita Hajdu, Cologne, Germany (aj-hajdu t-online.de)
words cannot express
my gratitude for having
means to express words
-Peter Gellatly, Honolulu, Hawaii (pgellatly mac.com)
He hides there until
I ask her to marry me;
(the frog in my throat).
-Simon Jeremiah, Healdsburg, California (simonjeremiah hotmail.com)
air/food in, sound out
laryngopharyngeal
path for survival
-Mike McCracken, Ottaw, Canada (mccracken informetrica.com)
From the throat comes voice
That's just biological
The words are our choice
-Barry Sackin, Murrieta, California (barry sackinassociates.com)
We love to combine
Fine food and conversation.
This is where they meet.
-Armand Paul, Penniac, Canada (armandpaul xplornet.ca)
eolian harp
winds blowing through the tall reeds
bear and blow a song
-Cécile Hessels, Den Haag, Netherlands (v.hessels versatel.nl)
plume of saliva
erupts at the fermata
trumpet non grata
-Billy Shebar, New York, New York (billy.shebar gmail.com)
The pharynx is naught
But a thief! The larynx asks,
But receives no food!
-Dan Hope, Stourbridge, UK (dan.hope icg-uk.org)
Two routes diverged in
A throat and pie, pie took the
Route air travels by
-Des Pickard, Chicago, Illinois (des despicablemusic.org)
societies rent
by corruption, greed, and fear
need for deep throat still.
-Diana Primrose (diana primrosesolutions.com.au)
Make a throaty sound.
"'Laryngopharyngeal."
That will do nicely.
-Phil Graham, Tulsa, Oklahoma (pgraham1946 cox.net)
bilious regret
chokes tender threaded morsel
stifles desire
-Bonnie W. Swart, College Park, Maryland (bonnie swart.org)
A crumb-driven cough
Is a good demonstration
Of the LP nerves
-Simon Jarvis, Isle of Wight, UK (simon_jarvis talk21.com)
I am all choked up
Darling, my heart burns for you
No, literally!
-Julie Bernstein, West Hills, California (jpamber me.com)
Some reflux redux
Comes from belly of the beast
Echoes of meals past
-Aivess Malejs, Eugene, Oregon (aivess.westtown gmail.com)
Does my deep, haunting
oboe solo put a lump
in your throat? Mine too.
-Kristie Francis, Coarsegold, California (kpfrancis sti.net)
Word stuck in your throat:
laryngopharyngeal.
Come on--spit it out!
-Beverly Sanford (wrknitout aol.com)
In the ante-room
between air and sustenance
hiccups can drown
-Maggie Westland, Thousand Oaks, California (calkypo gmail.com)
Notes pour from the throat
Of the mezzo soprano
Woman? Nightingale?
-Lise Rosenthal, Fresno, California (lise rakefet.com)
runter geht er süß
Wiedersehen ist bitter
mit Zucker im Mund
-Arno D.
Down the mouth, darkness
In the midst of an ocean
Forever drowning
San Akdag, an eighth grade student at Demarest Middle School, Demarest, -New Jersey (sanozan7 me.com)
Doctor writes long note
laryngopharyngeal
Giraffe has sore throat
-Mary Ellen Mulligan, Orillia, Canada (memulligan rogers.com)
perspicaciousness
crocus popping up
how perspicacious of you
to know spring is near
-Judith Boogaart, Zeeland, Michigan (jkboogaart hotmail.com)
After four days of
long words, how could I not have
seen this one coming?
-Daniel Slosberg, Los Angeles, California (danslos ca.rr.com)
Perspicaciousness
How does this word differ from
Perspicacity?
-Richard tomaselli (tmslbwrs earthlink.net)
inspecting word roots
like microscope specimens
reveals spectral past
-Tiel Aisha Ansari, Portland, Oregon (tielansari gmail.com)
Perspicacity
Is just as long, syllable-wise.
Letter-wise, shorter.
-Diana Platts, Oswestry, UK (philipplatts btinternet.com)
I have discernment
All in seventeen letters
Perspicaciousness
-Frederick Bowman, Broadway, Virginia (frederick ntelos.blackberry.com)
As the Chinese say:
having eyesight to discern
hair on autumn days.
(from an old Chinese proverb to describe people with eyes keen enough to observe the ends of newly grown hair on birds or animals in autumn days)
-Amy Cheung, Hong Kong (cheungll alumni.cuhk.net)
Gestures and details
Assist the fortune teller
See what others miss
-Laura Brainard Raborn, Little Rock, Arkansas (l.raborn sbcglobal.net)
Perspicaciousness
is frequently mistaken
for cynicism
-Teresa Gardner, Pensacola, Florida (teresagardner123 msn.com)
perspicaciousness
how wives can spot lipstick on
red shirts in the dark
-Michael Bass, MD, Rancho Cordova, California (neuroquack yahoo.com)
Ignorance is bliss
I cannot help noticing
Remain unhappy
-David Wagnon, Sacramento, California (dwag82 gmail.com)
Mind like an owl's eye
All is clear despite the night
Perspicaciousness
-Francis Bryan, Cape Town, South Africa (francis jamwarehouse.com)
the sparrow's soft call
keen ears know what it heralds
long before spring blooms.
-Kathleen Piercefield, Dry Ridge, Kentucky (turtlewing insightbb.com)
"Elementary,
My dear Watson, just observe!"
Easy for Sherlock.
-Cynthia TenEyck, Orlando, Florida (cynlynten hotmail.com)
The ability
to see each separate tree
despite the forest.
-Daniel Olson, Riverside, California (iamnoti earthlink.net)
See, observe details
read not only 'tween the lines
but also letters
-R Swarnalatha, New Delhi, India (slathabhaskaran hotmail.com)
Through the looking glass
Focus on what really is
Rather than what's seen
-Lisa Donahue, Elkins Park, Pennsylvania (lisamdonahue comcast.net)
perspicaciousness is what
my cats have although
they don't let on to my dog
-Margaret Dark, Merrivale, South Africa (mdark telkomsa.net)
Men can predict things
Like sports scores and car troubles
Not female actions
-Joan Kogan, St. James, New York (joan.kogan citi.com)
The view to the world
is usually obscured.
Some see through the fog.
-Tom Virgin, Coconut Grove, Florida (virgland aol.com)
the worm's butterfly,
born before from worm's knowledge.
thousand-year journey.
-Jason Blacker (jjblacker gmail.com)
I can hear the lie
like a pea under twenty
perfect mattress ads
-David Christman, Los Angeles, California (haolewolf gmail.com)
There was no movement
until the shadow slithered
the coyote chased
-Melora Walters, Los Angeles, California (melorcat gmail.com)
To judge a haiku
Requires human discernment.
Watson can't do it.
-Mark Engel, Ben Lomond, California (mark.engel1 mac.com)
marshall mcluhan's
global network clairvoyance
sixty years ago
-Merri Kraemer Slagell, Ayr, Canada (kraemerslagell intown.net)
The following haiku don't necessarily define or illustrate the words this week,
but still worth reading:
Polysyllables
balance us on fragile stilts
above the dull crowd.
(I would like to take on the whole week of words with the haiku)
-Andrew Blight, Hawthorne, New York (ablight acorda.com)
I keenly perceive
That you're predestined to fear
thirteen but not throats.
(this haiku covers every word this week)
-John Owen, Birmingham, Alabama (jsowenjr gmail.com)
Anu Garg...Wordsmith
Has given us new words for
seventeen years...wow!
-Michael Williams, New York City, New York (m_aries_w323 yahoo.com)
Congratulations!
Seventeen years is just great.
Such dedication!
-Michelle Gross (mgresist minn.net)
Word A Day, again
best reason of all to start
computer each morn!
-Julie Hannah Brower, Santa Cruz, California (jhb ucsc.edu)
thirteen letters per
makes for difficult haiku
too many sylla--
-Jennifer Henry, Little Falls, Minnesota (jkapsner hotmail.com)
Haiku are easy
But sometimes they don't make sense
Refrigerator
(This haiku is not really a contest entry, and I can't claim authorship. I
don't know where it came from, but I think anyone dealing with haikus
should have this one in their repertoire.)
-Jon A. Marchant, Fairfax, California (jon marchantchapman.com)
There once was a fellow named Anu
Who encouraged his fans to write haiku
The length of each word
Made a haiku absurd
But this limerick's something we can do!
-Martha Nix (quadranix juno.com)
was once girl from Ko
marry Irishman bard: first
Haiku lim'ricku
-Michael Godfrey, Orosi, Costa Rica (mgodfrey videotron.ca)
A bird in the tree
It is singing a song for us
Grandma says it's granddad
(One of my Dutch students, 13 years old, Lowre Secondary school, made this haiku)
-Mirjam Wolff, English teacher in the Netherlands (mirjam.wolff zonnet.nl)
And if, even after reading all these haiku, inspiration hasn't ignited,
try a computer haiku generator
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