Contest Finalists… and Holiday Schedule

Good morning and happy Hanukkah! We have contest finalists today… and we’re VOTING. A big thank-you to everyone who scribbled down the first thing that came to mind worked long and hard to compose your beauiful haiku for the 17 Syllables Contest.

Here are the five I’ve chosen as finalists. VOTE IN THE SIDEBAR. One vote per person, please. Voting closes tonight at midnight.

1. by anlyledo

Winter morning yawns
A downy peace covers all
I burrow deeper

2. by Elissa D. Cruz

On the writer’s desk:
Endless possibilities
From an empty page.

3. by Gary Corby

In Tokyo I saw
Nailed upon the Christian cross
Santa crucified

4. by J. Jenson Shaffer

Dancer is cranky.
Vixen is cold. Poor Rudolph.
Leadership is tough.

5. by Mark

Pent up words rusting
In my soul where I can’t reach
With my fountain pen.

→ Go to the sidebar and place your votes. If you haven’t read all the entries, click here and go to the comments.

Honorable Mentions
Here are a few entries I didn’t include in the top five but wanted to recognize in specific categories.

BEST VISUAL
(Edna Cabcabin Moran)

sparkling on my desk
little flecks of candy cane
stuck to my m.s.

LEAST ORIGINAL
(Richard Mabry)

“Dashing through the snow
In a one-horse open sleigh.
O’er the fields we go….”

BEST PUBLISHING JOKE
(Dandelion)

glum-er, morose-er
surely, Agents will love this
literary-ness

SADDEST
(Davey)

Query reply: no
Saddened, rejected, he quits
No toys for children

CUTEST SERIES
(Cosimod)

Of cookies and milk
Santa dines night and day. He
can’t fit in his sleigh.

The elves import fruit
and vegetables, too. So now
Santa wears size two.

On Christmas, Santa
eats sweets in moderation.
No more inflation!

MOST TYPICAL OF THE AUTHOR
(Timothy Fish)

Writing this haiku,
Takes too much free time to do.
So now you have mine.

BEST DESCRIPTION OF A WRITER’S LIFE
(Marla Taviano)

I have time to write.
I just fill it other ways.
Facebook games and such.

BEST DESCRIPTION OF A WRITER’S BIGGEST FEAR
(Paul Michael Murphy)

Oh, blue screen of death
You vex me with your timing
I forgot to save

MOST BEWILDERING
(Bill)

crunch, hummmm, takka-tak,
sluurp, fwip, skritch, aha! takka,
tak, takitty. snzzzzzz…

MOST LIKELY TO BE PRINTED ON A RELIGIOUS TRACT
(Michelle LaRowe)

Big guy in red suit.
Carpenter with holy hands.
Who do you know best?

MOST LIKELY TO BE PRINTED ON THE CHURCH BULLETIN THIS WEEK
(Kat Harris)

Babe in a manger
saves humankind from itself.
Rejoice in His name!

BEST SUCKING UP
(Jessica)

Pine Needles on floor
My laptop growing dusty
This blog keeps me sane

MOST LIKE SOMETHING I WOULD HAVE WRITTEN
(Joe Iriarte)

Ooh! Haiku contest!
I need to come up with one!
(But this is not it.)

BEST COMMENTARY ON THE COMMERCIALIZATION OF CHRISTMAS
(Scott Mactavish)

His birthday looming,
Three boys, excited like apes.
Look Daddy, a Wii!

MOST SENSITIVE TO THE ENVIRONMENT
(Bryan Allain)

Don’t cut that fir down!
Plastic trees are far better.
Somewhere Al Gore smiles.

MOST ADD
(Janny)

Christmas poetry–
Rhymed or free, meter or no?
(I prefer cookies.)

MOST LIKELY TO HAVE BEEN SIPPING EGGNOG WHILE WRITING THIS HAIKU
(Stephanie Reed)

Ha ha ha haiku
Hee hee holiday haiku
Ho ho ho haiku

AND MY PERSONAL FAVORITE
(Mark)

Santa said if I
Was good, he’d give back Christmas
To that Jesus guy.

Holiday Blogging Schedule:

TOMORROW we’ll have the results of the contest, as well as a special holiday story written by a young member of my family. Starting Wednesday, the blog will be silent in honor of the celebration of Jesus’s birth.

NEXT WEEK, the blog will feature re-runs of posts I wrote last year when nobody knew who I was, so most of you probably haven’t read these particular ramblings.

Blog will resume LIVE POSTINGS on Monday, January 5th.

Merry Christmas!

Rachelle Gardner

Literary agent at Gardner Literary. Coffee & wine enthusiast (not at the same time) and dark chocolate connoisseur. I've worked in publishing since 1995 and I love talking about books!

16 Comments

  1. Basiswissen Derivate on July 18, 2011 at 8:16 AM

    Wertpapiere…

    I think you should use more pictures on your website, but besides that, it is great. Regards….



  2. Janny on January 6, 2009 at 10:30 AM

    >Thanks for the honorable mention! Although I do wonder about the ADD designation…

    …oh, wait, there’s one more cookie in the jar….

    LOL
    Janny



  3. Elissa D. Cruz on December 23, 2008 at 6:26 PM

    >Wow. I never expected to be a finalist. Cool!

    Wish I would have checked back sooner; I missed the voting.

    Thanks!



  4. Meredith Teagarden on December 23, 2008 at 1:48 AM

    >Thanks for sharing the list!



  5. Mark on December 22, 2008 at 5:20 PM

    >“I’m a finalist?”
    He fell off his chair, then tried
    In vain to look cool.

    What a fun read, the whole bunch. I love what anlyledo wrote, it’s so real I felt my blanket tickle my nose. And Richard Mabry was wonderfully creative even without being original.

    Thanks for the contest, Rachelle, and thank you very much for mentioning mine.



  6. Stephanie Reed on December 22, 2008 at 3:10 PM

    >Sweet! I won MOST LIKELY TO HAVE BEEN SIPPING EGGNOG WHILE WRITING THIS HAIKU! I can’t wait to put that award on my writing res–hic, my writing resh–hic hic–ume.



  7. Avily Jerome on December 22, 2008 at 2:18 PM

    >Those were so much fun!

    Thanks for sharing those, everyone!



  8. Lady Glamis on December 22, 2008 at 1:52 PM

    >I voted anlyledo.

    ALL of these were great!

    Thanks, Rachelle, for such a great opportunity. You have chosen well, and it’s been to read all of these!



  9. Chatty Kelly on December 22, 2008 at 1:24 PM

    >Enjoyed reading! Thanks for the contest.

    Merry Christmas!



  10. Melanie Avila on December 22, 2008 at 12:13 PM

    >I loved all of them!

    Happy holidays!



  11. Kat Harris on December 22, 2008 at 9:50 AM

    >For some reason, Mark’s haiku reminds me of breaking my foot and not being able to reach into my cast to scratch.

    🙂



  12. Jeanie W on December 22, 2008 at 9:08 AM

    >I voted for anlyledo. For me, that poem perfectly captures the feeling of waking in a warm, cozy bed on a cold morning.

    My favorite of all those posted is Scott Mactavish’s. I think Scott may know my nephews.

    I didn’t find Bill’s all that bewildering except for maybe the last word. I’d have labeled it “most auditory” because it sounds like someone snacking as he writes.



  13. Katy McKenna on December 22, 2008 at 8:47 AM

    >Loved the poems a lot, and loved your “Best Of” descriptions of the honorable mentions a WHOLE lot. Maybe I can win “Best Sucking Up Comment of the Day”? Merry Christmas, Rachelle….



  14. Marla Taviano on December 22, 2008 at 8:46 AM

    >Thanks for the honorable mention, Rachelle! Even if you included everyone and her brother. 🙂 Love the categories!



  15. Richard Mabry on December 22, 2008 at 8:05 AM

    >”Least original?” Just for that, I’m not going to send the music I wrote to go with those lines.

    Thanks for giving us a few moments of surcease from the shopping/cooking/wrapping/mailing/card-writing. Enjoy your family and the wonderful season.



  16. Pam Halter on December 22, 2008 at 7:25 AM

    >I loved everyone’s haiku. I would have tried, but my mom needed my help this weekend.

    However, I was inspired and wrote this (although not a haiku):

    Jesus left his throne
    My wretched heart to save
    Bloody nails adorn my tree
    Salvation broke the grave

    Merry Christmas to all! May your celebration be blessed and filled with joy.