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!
16 Comments
President & Literary Agent,
Gardner Literary Agency
Wertpapiere…
I think you should use more pictures on your website, but besides that, it is great. Regards….
>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
>Wow. I never expected to be a finalist. Cool!
Wish I would have checked back sooner; I missed the voting.
Thanks!
>Thanks for sharing the list!
>“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.
>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.
>Those were so much fun!
Thanks for sharing those, everyone!
>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!
>Enjoyed reading! Thanks for the contest.
Merry Christmas!
>I loved all of them!
Happy holidays!
>For some reason, Mark’s haiku reminds me of breaking my foot and not being able to reach into my cast to scratch.
🙂
>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.
>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….
>Thanks for the honorable mention, Rachelle! Even if you included everyone and her brother. 🙂 Love the categories!
>”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.
>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.