Calling all cherry blossom poets
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Feeling in a poetic mood?
Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival launched its new Haiku Invitational today.
What’s haiku?
It’s a short poem, no more than 17 syllables, that captures a scene or experience in just a few words, suggesting the depth and intensity of the moment.
The idea is that you have to make every word count. Contest organizers suggest you “avoid using abstract or conceptual words” and concentrate more on “sensory images to convey experience about sights, sounds, smells or tastes.”
A typical, classic hiaku poem would be written in a structure of 5-7-5 rhythm.
The festival, of course, wants you to write poems about the beauty of cherry blossoms, how it feels to see them, how beautiful they are and so on.
There are five five categories: Best BC, Canada, United States, International and Youth haiku.
Since 2006 the Invitational has attracted some 6,000 submissions from 39 countries. The deadline for haiku submissions is June 3, 2013.
Here are the winners from last year:
Best British Columbia Poem
Marianne Baharustani (Vancouver, BC)
alone at the airport
a cherry blossom
on my suitcase
Best Youth Poem
Cristina Ailoaei, 14 (Botosani, Romania)
old cherry tree—
a spider weaves its cobweb
between two flowers
Best Canada Haiku
Lin Geary (Paris, Ontario)
morning tai chi—
all the prams
slowly turning pink
Best International Haiku
David Terelinck (Pyrmont, Australia)
school for the blind
every fingertip sees
a different pink
Best United States Haiku
Michele L. Harvey (Hamilton, New York)
cherry petals falling
the pond’s oldest koi
slowly surfaces
The winning poems are celebrated on the Festival website, onboard TransLink buses during March and April, published in the Haiku Canada newsletter and Ripples.
In addition, Christopher Gaze, director of Bard on the Beach, will read them at the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra Tea & Trumpets Concert on Thursday, April 25 (2pm concert).
For more information go to the festival website at www.vcbf.ca.
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