Haiku Society of America Award Winners

The following poems were all selected as winners in the Haiku Society of America’s Henderson and Brady contests for haiku and senryu. I wish I could have entered more often, but was not able to do so while serving as an HSA officer. I have also won several Merit Book Awards (now called the Kanterman Awards) and a Museum of Haiku Literature Award from the Haiku Society of America. In the following list, I’ll add judges’ names and comments as I track them down in old issues of Frogpond. My thanks to each of the judges for selecting my poems.

Henderson Awards for Haiku

2000 — First Place

Judges: Cyril Childs and Jerry Kilbride +

meteor shower . . .

a gentle wave

wets our sandals

1995 — Second Place

Judges: ???

toll booth lit for Christmas—

from my hand to hers

warm change

1991 — Second Place

Judges: ???

an old woolen sweater

taken yarn by yarn

from the snowbank

Brady Awards for Senryu

2008 — Second Place

Judges: Alexis Rotella and Scott Mason

busy Italian restaurant—

happy birthday

sung to the wrong table

“Here, by contrast [to the first place winner], is a moment of pure hilarity. Waiters and waitresses hastily converge to belt out that old standby; and just as quickly they disperse, leaving utter bewilderment in their wake. In this parody of “personal” service, they might just as well have sung to . . . the table!”

2000 — Honourable Mentions

Judges: Tom Lynch and Paul O. Williams

Valentine’s Day—

she reminds me

to fasten my seatbelt +

before the guests arrive

I straighten

the straight cushions

a lull in her hands—

the hairstylist asks

how I part my hair

See commentary.

1995 — First Place

Judges: Tom Clausen and Ebba Story

clicking off the late movie . . .

the couch cushion

reinflates

1993 — Honourable Mention

Judges: ???

a pause in the lecture

all at once three students

cross their legs