2010 WMA Haiku Contest

April
Oh, light steps on snow
Cracks spidering, shell to shard
Springs a puddle trap

November
Crimson, brown, now gone
Brutal winds whip tree remains
And that leaf remains



Overview
Please join the students of English 9 in our exploration of haiku, the beautifully brief poetic form. While the students create their own pieces dedicated to the campuses of WMA and Monson Academy, we ask you to participate as well. Below you will find a brief description of the contest and its expectations as well as an exploration and explanation of haiku as a poetic form.

Expectations
• You may submit as many as four (4) haiku: haiku@WMA.us
• Entry is free.
• Each haiku highlights a season and a specific place found on either of the campuses. Your combined submissions may focus on one season, or may cover any combination of seasons.
• For the sake of organization please title each haiku with a month or season you deem appropriate to the piece.
• Please note your year of graduation, the Academy from which you graduated and your name on the same page as your submission. If you are faculty or staff who have moved on, your name and your years of association with the Academy would be wonderful.
Ex: William Farkleson Jr. ’41M; Francesca Gibblet ’32W; Candy Badalato ’01; Randolph “Chips” McDougall (W ’22 -’30)
• Please recognize the haiku will be shared with a diverse audience, and should strive to be appropriate for a high school audience representing a variety of cultural heritages.
• All submissions must be emailed or postmarked by April 1st. Submissions will not be returned to the contestant – please keep copies for your memoir.

The Winners
Judges will review the works with the same critical eye they review student submissions, and final selections will be compiled and printed, along with the names of the poets, in a very unique way. Those selected will receive a copy of the publication and first dibs on a short run of additional publications.

A Perfect Subject
The Wilbraham & Monson campus is filled with a diverse collection of scenes to surprise and delight the senses. A step before one enters the Mohawk Field complex wafts the scent of wild Concord grapes; the splash of a frog into the murky shallows of Upper Reservoir interrupts a quiet moment; a snapping turtle buries her eggs—a promise for the future—in the shadow of Blake Middle School. These scenes, which come as no surprise to the denizens, past and present, of the Academy, are the stuff of memories and, delightfully, of haiku.

Head over the hill a few miles, dip into the town of Monson and you are greeted by the echoes of an institution dedicated to global outreach, rigor, and diversity of experience. But do not overlook for a moment those massive trees, or the old ball field alive with the hum of bees amid the fresh-cut grass. Here, too, haiku lie in wait.

I am familiar with Haiku    or    Tell me more about Haiku

Haiku
Haiku, as you may be aware, is a brief poem—only seventeen syllables—where senses are celebrated in conjunction with natural wonder. Here the fullness of nature is captured in what appears an impossibly restrictive form – just three lines, split five syllables, seven, and then five. Here mundane observations are put side by side, resulting in sweet (or even bitter) surprise. Here the process of writing becomes a delightful puzzle when successful, and is always a fulfilling exercise.

The Challenge
Search your memories, return to your campus for an afternoon, reflect with a classmate on your days at the Academy. Focus your attention on a specific place on campus and explore that place for images to capture – specifically, three images which may appear dissonant or unrelated at first (a leaf, the surface of the water and a gliding fish) and then combine them to capture the moment in a surprising way. To use the above examples one might write:

Just a leaf falling (5)
Into red hues of wet glass (7)
Will stir those below (5)

Try your hand a few times, capturing three connected images from your present life but without counting syllables or capturing a specific season. Next, attempt to translate the essence of your images into short, tight phrases of both five and seven syllables. Sandwich one phrase of “seven” between two “fives”. Nice job. Now you haiku, too.

To those familiar…
Please participate in this contest, offering your work for the edification of others, or simply for the joy of tearing your hair out over seventeen syllables. If you have any questions or insights regarding this contest or the form itself, please do not hesitate to send a note. There should be an e-mail contact here – haiku@WMA.us

We look forward to your offerings!