2024’s Winning Haikus
English Category
Adult – First Place – Marie Derley
childhood friend
he remembers my childhood
better than me
Adult – Second Place – Mary Alves Sella
sixteen, she backs the
car over tiny footprints
preserved in concrete
Adult – Third Place – Olivia
Let salt from your hands
Preserve each moment you touch
Your heart is the jar
Grades 7-12 – First Place – Maddie Lee
A camera click
A picture hung on a wall
To preserve this love
Grades 7-12 – First Second – Elizabeth Brak
Deer devours forage,
Death also comes for the stag,
Mushrooms consume flesh,
Grades 7-12 – Third Place – Austin Sandel
Small pockets of sun
Foragers start to surface
The few but precious
Grades 4-6 – First Place – Anna
The beast eats its tail.
Then a cycle is unveiled.
For time eats itself.
Grades 4-6 – Second Place – Lucy Garner
A lovely flower
Placed in a vase of water
For all to enjoy ♥
Grades 4-6 – Third Place – Evan Sandel
Lots of pollution
Water flowing and flexing
Protect Earth’s beauty
Grades 1-3 – First Place – Cora Allred
Love of Library.
Fill up on knowledge for free.
Library and me.
Grades 1-3 – Second Place – Audrey Sandel
Fall has leaves that fall
Water flows through the river
Blossoms bloom in spring
Japanese Category
Adult – First Place – 日向 洋美 ／Hiromi Hinata
春近し 「和気満堂(わきどうにみつ)」 我が家訓
Spring nears and reminds me of our family rule: “Keep your home cozy and friendly.”
Adult – Second Place – 日向 れい ／ Rei Hinata
お節重 母のだて巻き 主役かな
Lacquered boxes for New Year: The rolled omelette Mom made is the star of all the dishes.
Adult – Third Place – 中丸 馨子 ／ Keiko Nakamaru
海の日や 孫と潜りて 喜寿祝う
Ocean Day. Celebrating my seventy-seventh birthday scuba diving with my grandchild.
Grades 7-12 – First Place – 張 秦睿 / Shinei Cho
墨の跡 ひと味ちがう 年賀状
Written by a Chinese ink brush, this New Year’s card looks special.
Grades 4-6 – First Place – 津波 空翔／Sorato Tsuha
たくされし 地蔵の水かえ 冬の朝
As assigned, I serve new water to the Jizo Statue this winter morning.
Grades 4-6 – Second Place – 岩木 俊太郎 ／ Shuntaro Iwaki
書き初めで そ母の大筆 走らせる
The first calligraphy of the New Year, trying my grandmother’s big brush.
Grades 4-6 – Third Place – 吉野 成 ／ Naru Yoshino
新学期 兄のお下がり シャープペン
A new school year. A hand-me-down of my big brother’s mechanical pencil.
Grades 1-3 – First Place – 斉藤 京樹 ／ Keiki Saito
このさくら じいじもばあばも 見たのかな
These cherry flowers. I wonder if grandpa and grandma also looked at them.
Grades 1-3 – Second Place – 山田 ひな／ Hina Yamada
母がきた 赤いきもので 七五三
I wear the red kimono my mother wore for the Shichi-go-san (third, fifth and seventh year)
celebration.
Grades 1-3 – Third Place – 北村 有梨佳 / Yurika Kitamura
かきぞめで そふに教わる ふでさばき
New year’s calligraphy. My grandfather teaches me how to handle Chinese ink brushes.