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| SJG • 9/11/21 |
Judged on Saturday by David Berger and Michael Dylan Welch
Pictures by Tony Monk
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| SJG • 9/11/21 |
The Seattle Japanese Garden’s annual moon viewing festival returned again for two nights on Friday, September 10, and Saturday, September 11, 2021. This was after a break in 2020 when the festival was not held because of the coronavirus pandemic. For 2021, both nights were sold out to a maximum of 250 attendees, and everyone wore masks—and so did the moon both evenings, masked by clouds and thus unseen. This year we limited entries to one poem per person (we had welcomed up to two in previous years), which sped up and simplified the judging process. We received 44 entries the first night and 47 the second night, for a total of 91 haiku.
The following are our selections for Saturday. As before, we selected poems for their clarity, freshness, sometimes humor and timeliness, and for evocatively portraying the moon, even if we couldn’t see it. No prizes were available this year, but we believe that everyone “won” simply by taking a moment to write about their moon-viewing experiences. One of the honorable mentions was by a poet who said it was his birthday that day, so when we shared his poem, we led the entire audience in singing “Happy Birthday.” Our congratulations to each winner, and to everyone who tried their hand at writing haiku. Our gratitude to the Seattle Japanese Garden for its ongoing support of haiku through these annual contests.
For more information about Haiku Northwest, which meets monthly in the Seattle area, and holds an annual haiku retreat, please visit www.haikunorthwest.org.
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| SJG • 9/11/21 - Gabrielle Kazuko Nomura Gainor and Dancers, Tsukiko ("Moon Child") |
Saturday, September 11, 2021
First Place
red-tipped leaves
every moonlit meeting
blushing deeper
Laura Lorenz
Second Place
clouds obscure the sky
is the rabbit in the moon?
the gardens still glow
Setsuko Hosoda
Third Place
in my treasure box
another moon viewing
lived through
Aleksandra Monk
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| SJG • 9/11/21 - Koto no WA, ensemble evolved from a koto class at Nikkei Manor |
Honorable Mentions
(in alphabetical order by last name)
new year upon me
so much to look forward to
family, friends, and . . . new moon!
Mark English (on his birthday)
the leaves are turning
finally! the moon sighs and
turns away again
Chris Fronek
SJG • 9/11/21 - Leanna Keith, freelance flutist, artist, improviser, and composer in the Seattle area
koi gulp the moon’s reflection
pellets scatter as my Dad
laughs with children
Elizabeth Martin
let us see the harvest moon—
in person please
not on Zoom
Bill McGee
SJG • 9/11/21
fresh-cut grass
candlelight singing
the crowd sighs
Tamara Power-Drutis
visualizing the silver moon
portent of changes for fall
wearing a cloud mask
Bill Rumpf
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| SJG • 9/11/21 |
I know you are there
the clouds won’t always mask you
moonlight exists inside
Max Schneider
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| SJG • 9/11/21 |
Honorable Mentions (Youth)
rabbit of the moon—
is it cheesy where you are
like cheddar bunnies?
Max Curran (age under 18)
dusk settles in
moonlight glows the darkened sky
peace at night
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