2022 Haiku Invitational Winners presented by Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd.
Judged by Maxianne Berger, Dr. Randy Brooks, and Jennifer Hambrick.
Top Winners
| Vancouver night breeze . . . cherry petals fill the big dipper P. H. Fischer Vancouver, British Columbia | United States cherry blossoms . . . the painter sets down his brush Mary McCormack Urbana, Illinois |
| British Columbia a painting in a puddle . . . cherry blossoms elehna de sousa Salt Spring Island, British Columbia | International cherry blossoms all other words below Srinivasa Rao Sambangi Hyderabad, India |
| Canada falling blossoms a toddler picks herself up Sue Colpitts Peterborough, Ontario | Youth blossoms whisper my secret carried through the wind Emily Edwards, Age 14 Christchurch, New Zealand |
Read commentary on winning poems & meet our winners!
All poems are listed in alphabetical order in each category.
Vancouver | British Columbia | Canada | United States | International | Youth
Vancouver
Sakura Awards
| wearing her tutu for one more day cherry blossoms Antoinette Cheung Vancouver, British Columbia | fallen blossoms my childhood friend now a stranger Antoinette Cheung Vancouver, British Columbia |
| skimming the skatepark rail— cherry petals Vicki McCullough Vancouver, British Columbia | first baby sharing the due date with cherry blossoms Jacquie Pearce Vancouver, British Columbia |
Honourable Mentions
| still in her smile the girl she once was cherry blossoms Ann Harreby Coquitlam, British Columbia | Cherry petals in her hair and it’s no longer my place to brush them away Joseph Roque Vancouver, British Columbia |
| drum lessons the rhythm of blossoms Genevieve Wynand Coquitlam, British Columbia |
British Columbia
Sakura Awards
| Cherry blossoms The weight of rain Falling Carole Brost White Rock, British Columbia | the toddler’s gift tumbling into grandma’s palms . . . cherry blossoms elehna de sousa Salt Spring Island, British Columbia |
| a simple blossom carved in stone his birth/his death Allison Douglas-Tourner Victoria, British Columbia | maybe this spring a real birthday party petal confetti Holly Schofield Galiano, British Columbia |
| the faint scent of cherry blossoms maskless again Magdalene van der Kamp Sidney, British Columbia |
Honourable Mentions
| cherry blossoms fall on funeral umbrellas huddled round a grave Marcia Burton Salt Spring Island, British Columbia | dreams fall through dappled sun cherry blossoms Michele Rule Kelowna, British Columbia |
Canada
Sakura Awards
| another year of braces cherry blossoms Nika Calgary, Alberta | a garden path in the cherry blossom rain me and my late wife Chen-ou Liu Ajax, Ontario |
| perfumed air the cherry blossoms ask for nothing Joanne Morcom Calgary, Alberta | spring break a sakura petal covers my app Sandra St-Laurent Whitehorse, Yukon |
Honourable Mentions
| surgery postponed— the cherry blossoms I would have missed Pamela Cooper Montreal, Quebec | suicide watch I open my niece’s window to cherry blossoms Chen-ou Liu Ajax, Ontario |
| pastel chalk— her daughter traces a cherry petal Marilyn Potter Toronto, Ontario | sakura we learn the lesson of resilience Debbie Strange Winnipeg, Manitoba |
United States
Sakura Awards
| sakura we bike the long way home Marilyn Ashbaugh Edwardsburg, Michigan | sakura rain the cobbler turns off his buffing wheel Bill Cooper Naples, Florida |
| old neighborhood— a crack in the sidewalk fills with blossoms Carole Macrury Point Roberts, Washington | filling potholes on the marathon route cherry blossoms Ann Magyar Brighton, Massachusetts |
| counting cherry blossoms the child goes back to one . . . Helen Ogden Pacific Grove, California |
Honourable Mentions
| sidewalk sakura how i wish to walk on air Kath Abela Wilson Pasadena, California | cherry blossoms in my dream everybody gets along Stephen A. Peters Bellingham, Washington |
| cherry petals in her hair . . . the first kiss Farah Art Griffin Los Angeles, California | cherry dusk . . . a few loose stars thru the blossoms Brett Brady Haiku, Hawaii |
| cherry tree . . . the conversation between doves Ed Bremson Raleigh, North Carolina | twilight a cherry petal brushes the tuning peg Bill Cooper Naples, Florida |
| cherry blossoms counting our days together Edward Huddleston Baxley, Georgia | soft fuzz on a newborn’s head cherry petals Barbara Kaufmann Massapequa Park, New York |
| cherry blossoms cover the campus finals week ron scully Burien, Washington |
International
Sakura Awards
| the wind my horse brings back from the ride blooming cherry tree Radostina Dragostinova Sofia, Bulgaria | disregarding what the fortune-teller said cherry blossoms Engin Gülez Ankara, Turkey |
| tai-chi park the synchronised drift of cherry petals Ravi Kiran Hyderabad, India | whirl of pink petals the most certain yes she ever said Nadejda Kostadinova Sofia, Bulgaria |
| if only we could fall so gently cherry blossoms Srinivas S Rishi Valley, India |
Honourable Mentions
| Bucha— nevertheless cherry blossoms Kashinath Karmakar Durgapur, India | last farewell a cherry petal becomes shadow Carmela Marino Roma, Italy |
| closed eyes of a breastfeeding mother cherry petal rain Dorota Pyra Gdańsk, Poland | never mind the noisy adjectives . . . cherry blossoms Srinivas S Rishi Valley, India |
| a migrant child . . . pockets filled with sakura Neena Singh Chandigarh, India | my foreign roots inside Mom’s fairy tales cherry blossoms Elisa Theriana Bandung, Indonesia |
| cherry bloom our children grow up somewhere else Aljoša Vuković Šibenik, Croatia |
Youth
Sakura Awards
| at the temple cherry blossoms dance with the monks Meallá Ayers, Age 10 Christchurch, New Zealand | outdoors, on a zoom call a cherry blossom flutters onto my nose Cicy Chen, Age 12 Christchurch, New Zealand |
| the soft wind cherry blossoms float to the moon Sophie Ellery, Age 11 Christchurch, New Zealand | midnight my kitten trots home blossom in mouth Eddison Keith, Age 9 Christchurch, New Zealand |
| rush hour traffic smoke and petals swirl in the air Amber Lee, Age 13 Vancouver, British Columbia | pink canopy covering my grandmother’s harmonica Daniel Officer, Age 14 Christchurch, New Zealand |
Honourable Mentions
| by the stream cherry blossoms painting themselves Evangeline Casey, Age 10 Christchurch, New Zealand | Today our story starts with cherry blossoms. Chloe Chan, Age 13 Vancouver, British Columbia |
| moving day filling my mom’s diary with cherry petals Sebastian Ciobica, Age 10 Botosani, Romania | by my trampoline cherry blossoms chanting with the sun Tom Clark, Age 7 Christchurch, New Zealand |
| midnight cherry blossoms in the arms of stars Fred McRae, Age 15 Christchurch, New Zealand | The flowing stream Cherry blossoms Hold the deepest secrets Masha Pospolitak, Age 14 Christchurch, New Zealand |
| on the mountain an old man finds cherry blossoms accept him Zoe Sullivan, Age 15 Christchurch, New Zealand |
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Meet our 2022 Haiku Invitational winners.
2022 Commentary ↗
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2023 Haiku Exhibition↗
Celebrate winning haiku with commissioned pieces by Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh artists.
More Haiku ↗
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