Akita – the Land of Poetry vol.7 『詩の国秋田第7号』（３）

 

“Akita – the Land of Poetry “ vol.7  『詩の国秋田 第7号』（３）

The yearly pamphlet Akita – the Land of Poetry Vol.7 ,  『詩の国秋田第７号』, features prize-winning haiku, honorably-mentioned haiku, and fine works in the 4th Japan-Russia Haiku Contest in 2015 .

Here are haiku special on haiku written in English.

 

English Section（４９５句）

495 haiku were sent for the English haiku section from 50 countries: Argentina, Australia, Austria, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belgium, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Columbia, Croatia, Denmark, France, Germany, Ghana, Greece,  Hungary, India, Indonesia, Iran, Japan, Kenya, Korea, Lithuania, Macedonia, Malaysia, Montenegro, New Zealand, Nepal, Netherlands, Norway, Palestine, Philippines, Poland, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Singapore, Slovenia, South Sudan, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, Tunisia, UK, USA, and Vietnam .

 

The theme： “lake”, but any theme is OK　

Judges: David McMurray, Satoru Kanematsu, Hidenori Hiruta 　

 

英語語部門  (English Section)

 

Akita International University President’s Award

 

Ben Grafström（ＵＳＡ）

 

Full moon in summer—

ripples in the lake reach the shore

kissing our toes

 

Akita Chamber of Commerce and Industry President’s Award

 

Timothy RUSSELL（USA）

 

night flight

a thousand winter fires

outline the lake

 

David McMurray’s Favorite Haiku

 

Adjei Agyei-Baah（Ghana）

 

lonely

as I canoe by…

moon

 

10 Honorably Mentioned Haiku

 

Marietta McGregor（Australian）

 

a family of teals

breaches the lake ice

receding winter

 

Simon Hanson (Australia)

 

heading home

crossing the lake

the shadows of pines

 

Kala Ramesh（Indian）

 

A barn owl hoots

the stillness of the lake

before dawn

 

Rita Odeh（Palestinian）

 

lake lily—

landing on its shadow,

a honeybee

 

Danièle Duteil（FRANCE）　

 

calm waters of the lake

a swan contemplates

her reflection

 

Ramona Linke （Germany)

 

Lake Baikal—

the scent of smoked omul

is in the air

 

Kanchan Chatterjee（India）

 

Warm breeze…

the ruffled feathers of

a kingfisher

 

Izeta Radetinac  (Serbia)

 

A silvery lake

moonlight, wind and shadows

hockey on the ice

 

Silvia Kempen（German）

 

Painter’s pallet…

The sky sharing its blues

with the mountain lake

 

Tomislav Maretić（Croatia）　

 

through the mist

rising off a mountain lake—

morning birdsong

 

The haiku that made all the judges chuckle:

 

Vesna Stipcic（Croatia）

 

twitching fishing rod

on the lake shore

snoring angler

 

JAL Foundation Award Winning Haiku

 

Kadota Ayaka　(The International University of Kagoshima)

 

The beautiful lake–
shines by the moonlight,
petals float on water

 

The winning haikuist is a third-year university student who is enrolled in an international haiku course. She may have been inspired by watching cherry blossoms and reading a lovely poem penned by Matsuo Basho when he visited Kisakata on the west coast of the Tohoku region in 1689: yuubare ya sakura ni suzumu nami no hana.

 

Clearing at evening–
cool under the cherry trees
blossoms on the waves

 

JAL Foundation Award Honorably Mentioned Haiku

 

Nakamura Takuro  (The International University of Kagoshima)

 

Lake frozen
Sounds of sliding
The happy laughter

 

Ikeda Kanami  (The International University of Kagoshima)

 

Fall in lake
with leaves lit by a
setting sun

 

Yamada Ryunosuke  (The International University of Kagoshima)

 

Moon light
The music I heard
Swan Lake

 

ライ・シャオドン (China) (The International University of Kagoshima)

evening
waves come into the cove

one at a time

 

Yamada Koya  (The International University of Kagoshima)

A bird calls–
the voice in the lake
summer fog

 

Seki Manabu  (The International University of Kagoshima)

Around the lake
cranes return from Russia
lively and lovely

 

Kimoto Momoka　(Kagoshima Central College of Nursing)

Let’s summer
beautiful large spot
Biwa lake

 

Olivia Doll（Charles W. Stanford Middle School）(USA)

 

Crystalline surface

the colored leaves cause ripples

falling on the lake

 

Mihalache Delia  (Romania)(Akita University)

 

Under the wisteria

a lake is trembling—

the smell of a storm

 

Fujita Takuno  (Akita University)

 

Chasing fishes’ shadows—

I became a breeze,

making waves on the lake.

 

By Hidenori Hiruta