2019 Moon Viewing Haiku Contest
The following are the winners from the 2019 Moon Viewing Haiku Contest held at the Seattle Japanese Garden on 13 and 14 September 2019 for its annual Moon Viewing Festival. These results were also posted to the Seattle Japanese Garden Community Blog and the Seattle Japanese Garden Blog, both with photos, three of which are shown here (by SlickPix Photography).
Judged on Friday by Michelle Schaefer and Michael Dylan Welch
Judged on Saturday by Tanya McDonald and Michael Dylan Welch
In 2019, for the first time, the Seattle Japanese Garden’s annual moon viewing festival took place over two nights instead of one—on Friday, September 13, and Saturday, September 14, 2019. We received 80 entries the first night, and 96 the second night, for a total of 176 entries. The moon itself, our honoured guest, seemed content to stay hidden behind clouds. The following are our selections for both nights. On the Saturday evening, many participants wrote about a heron that perched on stones at the pond’s edge for an hour or more, sometime preening. We selected poems for their clarity, freshness, sometimes humor, and for evocatively portraying the moon, even if we couldn’t see it. First prize both nights was a garden membership and T-shirt. Second prize was a T-shirt and garden postcards, and third prize was postcards. Our congratulations to each of the winners, and to everyone who tried their hand at writing haiku, and our gratitude to the Seattle Japanese Garden for its ongoing support of haiku through these annual contests.
Friday, September 13, 2019
First Place
the harvest moon
inspires us to come out—
whether it does or not
Bill McGee
Second Place
paper lanterns glow
I’m walking with you tonight
hoping for moonlight
Tim Flowers
Third Place
mouths open—
orange and black koi
wait to swallow the moon
Meg Pearson
Honorable Mentions
(in alphabetical order by last name)
these fireflies dance
on a stage of cloudy skies
a hundred small moons
Victor Aque
wind ripples the moonlit water
I stroll in a dance
with my shadow
Barbara Blakistone
faces upturned to catch
the shining glow from the moon
disappointed by gray clouds
Stacey Giard
summer nights . . .
children playing
moon watching
Tarun Gopinath
full moon looms large and gray
above Seattle’s clouds
—I assume
Iain Heath
you on one continent
me on another
see the same moon
Zanny Milo
bright silver above—
the scent of water heavy
in the cooling air
Stephanie Morris
grey skies—
the promise of the moon
waiting to be uncovered
Paul Pietromonaco
we waited all week
to gaze upon the full moon
but alas the clouds
Laura Templeton
Saturday, September 14, 2019
First Place
the heron grooms—
he must look his best
for the harvest moon
Erica J. Thomas
Second Place
music coaxes
the moon
heron closes his eyes
Gwen Stamm
Third Place
another moon viewing
and only
cloud viewing
Joan Stamm
Honorable Mentions
(in alphabetical order by last name)
cedar and hemlock
whispering in the moon’s light
their silent secrets
David Blatner
treetops rustle gentle wind
beckoning moonbeams,
come out to play
Jeanne Boland
red moss seems fragile
friends whisper while walking near
we see our moon bright
Michelle Hanson
in autumn I mourn
the slow dimming of the light
oh moon, take over
Marilyn Layton
ripples skitter
beneath the heron’s wings
the moon hides her face
Brooke Leary
mid-autumn night—
the moonlight
flowing through my fingers
Ying Lou
why does the moon hide
behind the clouds
maybe because it’s shy
Lucy Pierson (age 7)
even the heron
awaits
the moon
Joan Stamm
tea bento and boats
watching the lonely moon sigh
making new friends
Aiswarya Vegaraju
spider eggs—
like tiny moons
clustered on the leaves
Brandon Wagner
