The Mukai Farm & Garden offered its first annual Haiku Festival and Contest in early April to inspire people of Vashon Island with the beauty of haiku, an ancient form of Japanese poetry. Haiku poems are three lines of five, seven, and five syllables. In lieu of the usual meetings and celebrations at the Mukai Farm, the haiku contest offered a socially distanced, meditative way to connect and share. A community of poets responded with an avalanche of creative haiku that spanned all age groups and several nations.
As of the April 30 deadline, contestants submitted 280 haiku in seven categories, including People’s Choice and the newly created Pre-K/Toddler category. Most are from Vashon Island residents, but also Zagreb, Croatia; Jalisco, Mexico; Brooklyn, New York; and Santa Barbara, California. The contest winners range in age from three to 99 years old.
The winners are:
Heritage:
Jennifer Gogarten, Vashon, First Place
Brit Myers, Vashon, Honorable Mention
Nature:
Yvonne Belshaw, Seattle, First Place
Ann Spiers, Vashon, Honorable Mention
Emotion:
Mel Goldberg, Jalisco, Mexico, First Place
Melissa Urushidani, Port Orchard, and Shirley Ferris, Vashon, Honorable Mentions
Funny Bone:
Ronald Simons, Vashon, First Place
Pat Minier, Vashon, and Chris Bollweg, Vashon, Honorable Mentions
COVID-19:
John Okamoto, Seattle, First Place
Debbie Butler, Vashon, Honorable Mention
Youth:
First Place winners are Wilfred Gogarten, Vashon (Pre-K – in the new Toddler category),
Ella Odegard, Vashon (grade K-6),
Jolyon Gogarten, Vashon (grade 7-12)
Honorable Mention: Regina May Obnial, Vashon
People’s Choice:
Ariel Koering (grade K-6) First Place,
Sadie R (grade K-6) Honorable Mention
The panel of jurists included social activist and poet Dr. Lawrence Matsuda, poet and philosopher Thomas Hitoshi Pruiksma, writer/editor Michael Feinstein, a member of Vashon’s Mondays at Three Haiku Collective, and Mukai Board President Rita Brogan.
“We were all blown away by the beauty and brilliance of so many of the entries,” said Michael Feinstein, writer and member of Vashon’s Mondays at Three Haiku Collective.
Click here to view all haiku entries. They are also on outdoor display on the Mukai Farm & Garden grounds. Visitors may stroll the grounds at a social distance from other haiku fans and enjoy spring foliage, the last of the cherry blossoms and beautiful poetry.
From First Place Awardees:
Heritage
Evacuating
Japanese-American
Scouts carry our flag
–Jennifer Gogarten
Nature
Winter comes. Under
A soft blanket of clouds the
Mountain sleeps til noon
–Yvonne Belshaw
Emotion
The funeral home
She bends to straighten his tie
For the final time
–Mel Goldberg
Funny Bone
Daylight savings ends
The clock that hadn’t been changed
Accurate again
–Ronald Simons
COVID-19
Asian physician
Battles virus at clinic
Battles hate on street
–John Okamoto
Pre-K/Toddler
Garbage trucks have hands
They have forks and one arm yeah
That’s how much they have
–Wildfred Gogarten
Youth
The simple beauties
Make my heart sing with the joy
Of this blue green world
–Ella Odegard
Young Adult
A lonely bird sits
In a tree made of sorrow
Waiting for its mate
–Jolyon Gogarten
People’s Choice
Tulips bloom unseen
The walls are in front of me
My wandering mind
–Ariel Koering