2023 Winning Haiku

cherry blossoms . . .
we switch to
our mother tongue

Antoinette Cheung
Vancouver, British Columbia

cherry blossoms turning on my out-of-office reply

Antoinette Cheung
Vancouver, British Columbia

ringing the bike’s bell
just because . . .
cherry blossoms

P. H. Fischer
Vancouver, British Columbia

kintsugi breeze
the city’s cracks mended
with cherry petals

Jacquie Pearce
Vancouver, British Columbia

passing through
my hometown . . .
cherry blossoms

Genevieve Wynand
Coquitlam, British Columbia

Far from home
cherry petals sticking
to an old stop sign

Peter Anderson
Vancouver, British Columbia

repeating
the stranger’s name . . .
cherry blossoms

P. H. Fischer
Vancouver, British Columbia

yeye’s cherry tree
in mid-bow
after the rain

Kathy Mak
Vancouver, British Columbia

they blossom
and i wait patiently
for my turn

Joseph Roque
Vancouver, British Columbia

Hands soft like cherry petals
Slipping gently, finally
Into my own

Sarah Szymanski
Vancouver, British Columbia

cherry blossoms
a fleeting season
in the city of rain

Ayrin Wong
Vancouver, British Columbia

climbing to the moon
he returns
with cherry blossoms

Genevieve Wynand
Vancouver, British Columbia

giving
everything possible
cherry trees
 
C. Jean Downer
White Rock, British Columbia

abandoned farmhouse
scent of blossoms
in the mist

Allison Douglas-Tourner
Victoria, British Columbia

blossoms open . . .
the first spring
without you

Laura Kelsey
Nanaimo, British Columbia

cherry blossoms
flying high on her
father’s shoulders

Jan Stretch
Victoria, British Columbia

a gust of wind
cherry blossoms fizz
across the path

Carole Brost
White Rock, British Columbia

cherry blossoms
hanging on
another night

George Dueck
Sechelt, British Columbia

rush-hour traffic
cherry blossoms
on my windshield

Michele Rule
Kelowna, British Columbia

cherry blossoms
among the maples
exchange students

Amity Skala
Victoria, British Columbia

first blossoms
a bit of Bach
from a busker’s guitar
 
LeRoy Gorman
Napanee, Ontario

after
the christening
cherry blossoms

Nika
Calgary, Alberta

war zone
blossoms take the empty
carousel seats

Luminita Suse
Ottawa, Ontario

at the bus stop
I let two go by
cherry blossoms

Charlotte Hrenchuk
Whitehorse, Yukon

cherry blossoms
on both sides
of the wrought-iron gate

Philomene Kocher
Kingston, Ontario

perhaps
in the next life . . .
snow-laden sakura

Veronika Zora Novak
Toronto, Ontario

fluttering
while I sleep—
cherry blossoms

Luce Pelletier
Brossard, Québec

cherry rain
the hospice shingled
with petals

Debbie Strange
Winnipeg, Manitoba

sharing our first taste of cherry blossoms

Wai Mei Wong
Toronto, Ontario

collecting
blossom petals
the shelter entry
 
John Pappas
Brighton, Massachusetts

the first time
we had wings
sakura

Marilyn Ashbaugh
Edwardsburg, Michigan

falling into
fragrance
cherry blossoms

Marjorie Buettner
Chisago City, Minnesota

cherry blossoms
a catbird’s song
leaves its body

Shawn Blair
Cohoes, New York

a boutonnière of cherry blossoms
pinned to her tux
—spring gala

Nancy Brady
Huron, Ohio

screen saver
losing my cursor
in blossoms

Alan S. Bridges
Westford, Massachusetts

at last we see the world as it is cherry blossoms

Joshua St. Claire
New Freedom, Pennsylvania

petal rain
I let the tea
go cold

Billie Dee
San Miguel, New Mexico

falling cherry blossoms
the secrets
we die with

Bruce H Feingold
Berkeley, California

blowing a kiss
to no one in particular . . .
cherry blossom wind

Joshua Gage
Cleveland, Ohio

cherry tree in bloom—
two pink lines
on the pregnancy test

Julie Bloss Kelsey
Germantown, Maryland

cherry tree in bud
the orchestra
tunes up

Annette Makino
Arcata, California

my feet relearn
to meet the ground . . .
cherry blossoms

Dru Philippou
Taos, New Mexico

maybe
just maybe
cherry blossoms

Chad Lee Robinson
Pierre, South Dakota

cherry blossoms
a teenager
looks up from his screen

Kelly Sargent
Williston, Vermont

cherry petal rain
the first pour
from the new tea set

Patricia Wakimoto
Gardena, California

cherry blossoms
the shy one smiles
for the camera

Patricia Wakimoto
Gardena, California

daybreak
a blackbird sings the cherry
into bloom
 
Polona Oblak
Ljubljana, Slovenia

sudden gust . . .
a sprinkling of petals
down the rabbit hole

Marion Clarke
Warrenpoint, Northern Ireland

sakura . . .
each of us opened
to our own silence

Dubravko Korbus
Ivanić-Grad, Croatia

cherry blossoms
the house warms
with the light

Rob Scott
Melbourne, Australia

cherry blossoms
the sudden awakening
of the snail

Jean-Hughes Chevy
Paris, France

someone hums a song
from my childhood
last sakura

Engin Gülez
Ankara, Turkey

urban sakura
in and out
of the revolving door

Brendon Kent
Southampton, England

cherry blossoms
a flutter of wings
along the river

Giuliana Ravaglia
Marzabotto, Italy

divorce proceedings
cherry blossoms thick
on the ground

Barbara Strang
Christchurch, New Zealand

wind shakes
the last cherry petals—
new moon

Maria Tirenescu
Cugir, Romania

one foot
in a tunnel of light
cherry blossom

Xenia Tran
Nairn, Scotland

late-night fog
cherry blossoms
light the way
 
Isabella Slattery Shannon, Age 11
Christchurch, New Zealand

dawn shadows
a drifting spiral
of cherry blossoms

Almila Dükel, Age 17
Ula, Turkey

petals scatter
among the stones
among the stars

James Knowles, Age 13
Christchurch, New Zealand

Early morning
a still sparrow
cherry blossom

Alfred Lash, Age 9
Christchurch, New Zealand

fallen blossoms
her story
untold

Alice West, Age 11
Christchurch, New Zealand

unrolling my futon
and what do I find?
cherry blossoms

Isobel Christie, Age 8
Christchurch, New Zealand

a ladybug
on a cherry blossom
singing to the river

Sofia Payne, Age 8
Christchurch, New Zealand

early morning
cherry blossoms paint the lake
pink and white

Isabella Slattery Shannon, Age 11
Christchurch, New Zealand

at the wedding
children dance
with cherry blossoms

Heidi Smith, Age 13
Christchurch, New Zealand

Children play
blossoms
all through the house

Frankie Thompson, Age 12
Christchurch, New Zealand

after the funeral
cherry blossoms fill the air

Ella Withers, Age 17
Christchurch, New Zealand