Shamrock Haiku Journal Readers' Choice Awards 2017

BEST HAIKU

Eleven haiku have been nominated as the best of the year by our readers and contributors. The following piece that appeared in our No. 37 was voted the best haiku published in Shamrock Haiku Journal in 2017: 

Southern ocean
white horses
wander the wilderness


-- Simon Hanson (Australia) 

The following haiku were the runners-up (in alphabetical order): 

morning drizzle
a wagtail shimmies
on the gatepost


-- Gavin Austin (Australia) #36

sand fiddlers
the lengthening arc
of the sun


-- Jennifer Hambrick (USA) #38

BEST SENRYU

Eight senryu have been nominated as the best of the year by our readers and contributors. The following piece that was initially published in our No. 36 became the winner in the best senryu category:

daytime moon
a beggar's bowl
full of dreams


-- Rajandeep Garg (India)

And the runner-up was the following piece: 

subway transfer
the homeless lady
sells mirrors


-- Nicholas Klacsanzky (USA ‐ Ukraine) #37

We congratulate the worthy winners, and express our sincere gratitude to each and every reader who cast a vote.

The prize-winning haiku from this competition are available for viewing here:

https://irishhaiku.com/haikucompetition.htm

There are excellent poems aplenty on that page; check them out!

snuggling deeper
green grass
in the first snowfall


rain clatters
on sodden leaves
a dead man's statue turning green

-- Robert Witmer (Japan)




crimson rose
the deeper hues
of shadow


clear water
moonlight on sand
three fathoms down

-- Simon Hanson (Australia)




January dawn
last year's russet oak leaves
blaze to life


shearing season
ewes encircle the lambs
terror in their eyes

-- Michael Flanagan (USA)




pagoda lantern ‐
a single white rose
at the moon gate


bits of hay
in the mare's mane ‐
winter solstice

-- Theresa Cancro (USA)




frozen morning
the zigzag of a snipe
bursting from its roost


winter solstice
a rotation of places
among cats

-- Aron Rothstein (USA)




cattail marsh
nobody knows
but flycatchers and me


for who
for whom
the owls hooting

-- Stuart Bartow (USA)




under a Sunday moon
the weight
of tomorrow

morning dew
wet spoon
dipped in sugar

-- Connor McDonald (USA)




rock lichen
the iguana's tail
goes on and on

-- Brad Bennett (USA)




Sunday morning
an outline of snowlight
around the drapes

-- Cyndi Lloyd (USA)




tinkling wind chimes
the to and fro
of spring breeze

-- John Zheng (USA)




a cat naps
under the red hibiscus
summer haze

-- Christine Taylor (USA)




ebb tide...
only the querulous cries
of oystercatchers

-- Mark Miller (Australia)




holding up
the sunrise
tree branches

-- Elizabeth Crocket (Canada)




in the mist-kissed hills
spring
has yet to stir

-- Carol Ermakova (England)




harvest moon
cold blue plums
on a white plate

-- Anton Floyd (Ireland)




anniversary
two golden water rings
around a heron's legs

-- Ernest Wit (Poland)




koi
hiding its gold
beneath water lilies

-- Agnieszka Filipek (Poland/Ireland)




water song...
each pebble
lends a note

-- Adjei Agyei-Baah (Ghana)

derelict house ‐
a stork nest
in the chimney


The Book of the Dead ‐
between the chapters
a crushed mosquito


signs of rain ‐
father pushes his boat
toward the dried lake

-- Cezar Ciobîcã (transl. from the Romanian by Anatoly Kudryavitsky)

Ghost

            
by Alanna C. Burke (USA)


 
and then you are in the dream ‐ alive, well, young ‐
and I step forward embracing your hard body crying
You've come back to me, and then you put me from you
warm grasp on both shoulders turning to leave
and I awaken bereft again consumed again with sharp grief
but having had a moment more

     sleeping side by side
     your breath
     is my breath