Judged by Sonja Arntzen, Anne Elise Burgevin, and P. H. Fischer

Read more about our Haiku Invitational and our other standout haiku submissions!

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Over the past twenty years, the Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival’s Haiku Invitational has encouraged thousands of budding and blossoming poets from around the globe to write and submit haiku inspired by their sakura experiences. This year was no exception. The festival received 1,511 submissions in six categories, and we are grateful for every poem. 

As judges, we marvelled at the quality, depth, and variety of each poet’s encounter with cherry blossoms. We have selected haiku that celebrate the power of sakura to enchant, inspire, transform, humour, and heal through their unsurpassed beauty, fleeting brilliance, and profound traditional symbolism. 

The 321 poems submitted in the youth category especially heartened us. With the awarded poems written by poets as young as seven years old, the future of haiku is bright indeed. 

Linda Poole, the founder and creative director of the Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival, states that “art is a springboard to new connections and increased understanding of one another.” Wherever you may be in the world, as you read through this curated collection of category winning haiku, sakura awarded poems, and honourable mentions, may the unifying power of these cherry blossom haiku serve as little springboards for a deepening appreciation of what it means to be wonderfully human with and for one another. 

Enjoy!

–Sonja Arntzen, Anne Elise Burgevin, and P. H. Fischer, judges

Vancouver Winner

Under cherry blossoms, a baby stretches out and opens its small hands. The word “epiphany” is rich in connotation, its roots going back even to ancient Greek, expressing the sense of sudden realization and revelation. Epiphany’s  “f” sound harmonizes with the “f” in fingers. As the  baby’s sudden perception of the blossoms and the marvelous reality of its own fingers occur within the poem, we, the readers of the poem, see the congruence of the baby’s five fingers opening to the opening of the five-petaled blossoms. This is the wonder of spring in the natural world and in human lives, a feeling of joy and limitless possibility that anything is within one’s grasp.

– Sonja Arntzen

British Columbia Winner

Birding is witnessing an explosion in popularity. The National Audubon Society suggests that more than one third of the U.S. adult population enjoys birdwatching, while here in Canada, the Walrus Magazine recently published an article entitled, “Why Everyone You Know Is Suddenly a Birder.” 

One can understand the hobby’s surge. Birding fulfills our growing need for outdoor physical activity, mental well-being, social connection, conservation awareness, and even friendly competition (have you seen avid birders comparing “life lists”?).

That said, as wonderful as it is to witness the haunting hoots of a great horned owl, the profound stillness of a shore-side heron, or the mesmerizing murmuration of starlings, this delightful poem, with all of its fecund and jovial “b” sounds, blossoms alongside its subject which momentarily supplants all other cherished pursuits. 

Despite their fleeting brilliance (or perhaps because of this) a cherry tree at peak bloom may very well see even the most devout birder momentarily put down their binoculars, pick up a brush or a pen, and create a fitting tribute, such as this winning haiku, which will long outlive the beautiful moment it commemorates. 

– P. H. Fischer 

Canada Winner

How we treat our elders says a lot about us. The judges enjoyed exploring how this haiku conveys dimensions of elder respect to its readers. For us, when the author decided to gently juxtapose a time of youth and renewal with a later phase of life, they created a loving and hopeful mood. A sense of genuine caring comes through, as loudly and clearly as anything ever does in a haiku! Where this thoughtful gesture happens is less important than the occurrence itself. It may have happened on a bus, or at the Cherry Blossom Festival itself. Maybe in a family kitchen, or during a school play. Wherever it happened, I think we can all agree that the gesture of giving something up for someone else is the epitome of magnanimity. When blossoms open, miraculously our hearts and minds open, too. The author deftly inspires us to believe that “blossom time” can occur anywhere by creating a template for us to recreate in our own spaces and ways.

– Anne Elise Burgevin

United States Winner

Entering the room of this haiku, we witness the subject sequestered in her home, hospice, or hospital room; her oxygen cylinder reflecting the light of day. Approaching, we are relieved, perhaps surprised, to see her radiant face beaming with joy as she looks outside. While a hose from the tank pumps essential air into this woman lungs, a beautiful cherry tree at peak bloom oxygenates and enlivens her spirit through the window. In his biophilia hypothesis, Edward O. Wilson suggests humans have an innate, genetically based
need to connect with nature, which positively affects their mental and emotional well-being. Studies have shown that hospital patients with beds next to a window have much shorter lengths of stay than those without a view outside. Should that view include a resplendent cherry tree bursting with fresh blossoms, we can imagine the results to be even more profound!  

–P. H. Fischer

International Winner

This one-line haiku, only seven words, takes us to a deep place. There is a Zen koan, “What was your original face before your mother and father were born.” This poem calls up that self, the original consciousness we are all born with before we have a personal history, a wordless wonder in the face of existence. One loses oneself to find one’s true self in the blossoms. The beginning word “along” summons up an avenue of cherry blossoms and a path that never ends but takes us on a journey of becoming.

– Sonja Arntzen

Youth Winner

“Cherry festival” looks like “cheery festival” upon first glance, and in this subtle way, the young author leads us toward feeling uplifted. On the Cornell University Laboratory of Ornithology website, All About Birds, the American robin’s call is described as sounding thus: “cheerily, cheer up, cheer up, cheerily, cheer up. It’s a string of 10 or so clear whistles assembled from a few often-repeated syllables.” Just as a robin’s song repeats in this cheery manner, so do our traditions of gathering to enjoy the cherry blossoms in bloom. We gather with friends, family and those we meet under boughs and along paths. Robins gather, so do people. This talented young author has brought two worlds together–human and bird–under one umbrella. Haiku which do this successfully are so vital toward nurturing an appreciation of the seasons and of the outdoor world. On a sunny, warm day when the cherry blossoms are in full bloom, robins and people alike are whistling a happy tune as the picnics ensue and the worms are unearthed. With “gather” and “grass” ending lines two and three, readers may be left with the word “good” or “great” on the tip of their tongue. 

– Anne Elise Burgevin