お月見 (otsukimi) • 2018 Moon Viewing Haiku Contest

SJG • 8/25/18 -'Moon', lighting art by Yuri Kinoshita, at the entrance courtyard

Judged by Tanya McDonald and Michael Dylan Welch, Haiku Northwest

Out of 172 entries, we’ve selected the following winners for the 2018 Moon Viewing Haiku Contest, held at the Seattle Japanese Garden on Saturday, 25 August 2018. Many participants wrote about the hazy smoke in the sky from recent forest fires. We chose a mix of poems for their freshness, clarity, and sometimes humor. First prize is an individual garden membership and a garden T-shirt. Second prize a garden T-shirt and garden postcards. And third prize is garden postcards. Congratulations to all the winners for their poems, and to everyone who participated in celebrating the moon even if we couldn’t see it through smoke-hazy skies.

SJG • 8/25/18 - sound installation by Paul Kikuchi throughout the garden in the twilight - a live performance using historic 78rpm record collection and computer. The artist recorded different sounds in the garden and is mixing them with music

First Place

brightly the moon

makes milk of water

drops on a turtle’s shell

                  Tiffany Jenkins

Second Place

smoky air—

my beautiful wife looking at the sky

waiting for the moon

                  Daifu Ye

Third Place

in my inbox

message from the full moon:

—not coming tonight!

                  Aleksandra Monk

 

SJG • 8/25/18 

Honorable Mentions

(in alphabetical order by last name)

my feet hurt

my eyes are tired

oh! the moon!

                  Bill Bridges

even the rabbit pauses

to view the harvest moon

                  Bill Bridges

SJG • 8/25/18 - Three tea ceremonies were held in the Shoseian Teahouse 

round with child

she crosses the garden bridge

waxing August moon

                  Barbie Brooking

shy moon

hides behind clouds

patiently, we wait

                  Bryant Cabanatan

it’s for your safety

ropes obstructing normal paths

under the moonlight

                  CCR Studios

SJG • 8/25/18 - after tea ceremony, attendants launch boats

pink smoke

obscures the moon and more

somewhere trees are burning

                  Elise Fogel

deep sigh—

stop breathing so loudly

I’m trying to think about the moon

                  Kate Griffith

hey moon,

don’t hide from the smoky air

we want to see your beauty

                  Sze Man Li

 

SJG • 8/25/18 - Traditional Japanese Fujima Fujimine dancer

Jeff Bezos' house

& tents of the homeless

under the same full moon

                  Aleksandra Monk

the red moon blooms

I hold your hand

and feel your warmth

                  Corinne Scrivens

a full August moon

my footsteps in the gravel

sound like cicadas

                  Jair Trejo

SJG • 8/25/18 - Haiku on Sticks installation throughout the Garden,
by Haiku Northwest

SJG • 8/25/18 - Haiku contest station:
Judges Tanya McDonald and Michael Dylan Welch, Haiku Northwest

SJG • 8/25/18 - 'Morning Glory / Asagao'  lighting art by Yuri Kinoshita, under the wisteria arbor