2026 Winning Haiku

hazakura
his new shoes
already too small

Margaret Anderson
Vancouver, British Columbia

still weeping cherry blossoms

Joseph Chiang
Vancouver, British Columbia

drying his
wet tiny socks
a pink petal

Johnny Lo
Richmond, British Columbia

blossom rain
on the little free library
each petal its own story

Vicki McCullough
Vancouver, British Columbia

open blossoms
the deer’s belly
round with fawn

Jacquie Pearce
Burnaby, British Columbia

cherry blossoms
drift to the ground
my father’s final breath

Anja Tolen
Vancouver, British Columbia

cherry blossoms —
she travels through
the looking glass

Margaret Anderson
Vancouver, British Columbia

the infant’s
first spring rain
cherry blossoms

Joseph Chiang
Vancouver, British Columbia

sakura breeze
why can’t I remember
a mother’s touch

Lysa Collins
White Rock, British Columbia

wondering
what her voice would’ve been
cherry blossoms

P.H. Fischer
White Rock, British Columbia

late snow . . .
morning tracks encircle
the cherry tree

P. H. Fischer
Vancouver, British Columbia

double take
suddenly
cherry blossoms

Dawn Harrison
Vancouver, British Columbia

Akebonos in bloom
my daughter says yes
to the dress

Jacquie Pearce
Burnaby, British Columbia

Fallen pink petals.
A blue plastic pail
and yellow toy shovel.

Vicky Rizzardo
Vancouver, British Columbia

gentle blossoms—
my mother returns
to the piano

Millicent Sherman
Vancouver, British Columbia

holstein calf
a muzzle full
of cherry blossoms

Michele Rule
Kelowna, BC

sudden gust —
a kitten pouces on
falling cherry blossoms

Helen Moon
Salt Spring Island, BC

beside the landfill
an old cherry tree
bursting with blossoms

Ulrike Narwani
Sidney, BC

a soft nudge
in her belly –
cherry trees in full bloom

Ulrike Narwani
Sidney, BC

joining the conversation cherry blossoms

Sally Quon
Kelowna, BC

on the ground
a lone cherry blossom . . .
middle school

Jan
Victoria, BC

across cobblestones
the clop of a horse’s hooves
cherry blossoms

Marcia Burton
Salt Spring Island, BC

way behind schedule
the bus approaching the park
cherry blossom

Marcia Burton
Salt Spring Island, BC

first cherry blossoms
the sound of a robin trilling
in the downpour

Nadine Leitso
Sunshine Coast, BC

lifting fog . . .
in the morning light
dewdrops on cherry blossoms

Helen Moon
Salt Spring Island, BC

falling petals…
I change the setting
to slo-mo

Pamela Cooper
Westmount, Quebec

one less cherry blossom
the breath it takes
to say goodbye

Royal Baysinger
Drummondville, Quebec

before the house fire cherry blossoms

Belinda Betker
Saskatoon, Saskatchewan

lining a street of levelled homes cherry blossoms

Lev Hart
Calgary, Alberta

the length and weight
of my four-year-old’s whys …
pink blossom rain

Chen-ou Liu
Ajax, Ontario

playing chess in the park
blowing cherry blossom
off the board

Ray Crossman
Kitchener, Ontario

in the surf lineup
a cherry blossom bikini
waiting for a wave

McMurray David
Algonquin Highlands, Ontario

Leaving work early
under their watchful gaze
budding cherry trees

McMurray David
Algonquin Highlands, Ontario

the last cherry blossom…
a Kyudo Master’s
remaining spirit

Edward, Dewar
Calgary, Alberta

the best view
in the graveyard
cherry blossoms

Morgan Elizabeth Humble
Ottawa, Ontario

sakura petals
on the wedding cake
bride and bride

Morgan Elizabeth Humble
Ottawa, Ontario

blind date
we have a long talk
about cherry blossom

Harvey Jenkins
Winnipeg, Manitoba

sharing a pot
of cherry blossom tea
two old friends

Joanne Morcom
Calgary, Alberta

first blossoms
I tell the tree
what I can’t tell anyone

Belanjoi Besa, Age 17
Vancouver, British Columbia

cherry trees in bloom
still nothing
on my sketchbook

Adelina Amaftiesei, Age 13
Botosani, Romania

after the funeral
cherry blossoms keep
their promise

Belanjoi Besa, Age 17
Vancouver, British Columbia

cherry blossoms
even my rag doll
dressed in pink

Antonia Chersan, Age 15
Botosani, Romania

moving day
a few cherry blossoms
in my doll house

Lucaci Hadassa, Age 13
Botosani, Romania

pink blossoms
trees dressed
like me

Juniper Slade, Age 9
Grand Forks, BC, Canada

cherry festival
the people gather
together

Angus, Age 11
West Vancouver, BC, Canada

sunset
Mulan dances
with cherry blossoms

Millie Brown, Age 13
Christchurch, Canterbury, New Zealand

lunchtime
among the carousel horses
cherry petals

Seby Ciobica, Age 14
Botosani, Romania

gusts of wind
cherry petals jumping
into the hopscotch

Lucaci Hadassa, Age 13
Botosani, Romania

washing field dirt
from beneath his fingernails…
cherry petals fall.

Prem Priyank, Age 14
Bihar, India

a faint smile in her eyes
amidst the cherry blossoms
komorebi

Sheza T. Age 16
Sindh, Pakistan

cherry petals
on my face
covering my tears

Tasmin Wingfield, Age 14
Christchurch, Canterbury, New Zealand

in the playground
eating sushi
cherry blossoms

Claire Zhao, Age 12
Christchurch, Canterbury, New Zealand

smoky sky
a pink smudge
on the fireman’s boot

Ann Magyar
Nashua, New Hampshire

tell the cabbie
we’ll walk from here
cherry blossoms

Millicent Bee
Richmond, Virginia

late to the tryst
fallen cherry blossoms
on half the bench

Tina Crenshaw
Charlotte, North Carolina

sakura petals drift . . .
another round
of the heart sutra

Nicholas Klacsanzky
Seattle, Washington

election year
canvassing the streets
cherry blossoms

Emily Rose Raboy
Placerville, California

huddled
on the church steps
cherry blossoms

Joshua St. Claire
York County, Pennsylvania

my firstborn child
registers to vote
blossom wind

Meredith Ackroyd
Afton, Virginia

Akebono blossoms piling up likes

Alan S. Bridges
Bellingham, Washington

fallen blossom another pink slip

Susan Burch
Hagerstown, Maryland

no need
for words
petal rain

Jennifer Hambrick
Columbus, Ohio

cherry blossoms
the language
of falling

Kerry J Heckman
Seattle, Washington

cherry blossoms
between the lines
of their vows

Edward Cody Huddleston
Baxley, Georgia

all the toys
only grandpa can fix
cherry blossom days

Ann Magyar
Nashua, New Hampshire

blossom bower
he tips his hat back
for the kiss

Annette Makino
Arcata, California

maybe to yes
on a wooden bench
cherry blossoms

Gianmarco Masoni
Cleveland, Ohio

dried sakura
where I left off
reading

Gianmarco Masoni
Hollis, New Hampshire

taking out
her earbuds . . .
cherry blossoms

Paula Sears
Exeter, New Hampshire

holding the last note longer falling cherry blossoms

Christine L. Villa
North Highlands, California

no one left
to call me dear—
last blossoms

Laurie D. Morrissey
Hopkinton, New Hampshire

returning cherries
the scars on my wrist
mostly faded

Rowan Beckett Minor
Cleveland, Ohio

cherry blossom…
she used to look at me
that way

Tony Williams
Glasgow, Scotland

spring blossoms
we let the birds
do all the talking

Lori
London, U.K.

cherry blossoms
after the divorce
her new old name

Sebastian Chrobak
Bielsko-Biała, Poland

falling blossoms
the little I know
of his childhood

Marisa Fazio
Melbourne, Australia

cherry blossoms–
some of us have
only just met

Goran Gatalica
Zagreb, Croatia

re-reading the poem
he translated for me —
cherry blossoms

Mary Gunn
Dublin, Ireland

all-night bombing
the eastern sky a streak
of blossoms

Anju Kishore
Bengaluru, India

cherry blossoms
scattered on the floor
mom’s porcelain bowl

Anju Kishore
Bengaluru, India

her sick bed
moved to the window
cherry blossoms

Meera Rehm
Abingdon, U.K

new school shoes
cherry petals caught
in the Velcro

Masato Asada
Kyoto, Japan

cherry petals
all the things I should have done
differently

Stefanie Bucifal
Konstanz, Germany

cherry blossoms
the sudden desire
to renew our vows

Baisali Chatterjee Dutt
Kolkata, India

cherry in full bloom
still waiting
for her forgiveness

Agnieszka Filipek
Galway, Ireland

hanafubuki −
no one
shivers

Dan C. Iulian
Bucharest, Romania

cherry blossoms …
even the cats
madly in love

Deborah Karl-Brandt
Sinzig, Germany

a pause
under the cherry tree
folded telegram

Arvinder Kaur
Chandigarh, India

garden budha
cherry petals gather
in his lap

Arvinder Kaur
Chandigarh, India

a child’s drawing
only mom recognizes it
as cherry blossoms

Urszula Marciniak
Łódź, Poland

her accent
becomes my accent—
cherry blossoms

Cristian Matei
Bucharest, Romania

further
and further apart
fallen petals

Gregory Piko
Canberra, Australia

fallen petals
these gaps
between faces

Jagajit Salam
Imphal, India

river within the river cherry blossoms

Alicia Samson
Stockholm, Sweden

from the window
of the infusion room
wet cherry petals

Louis Talbot
Epsom, U.K.

at the bottom
of the busker’s case
cherry petals

Louis Talbot
Epsom, U.K.

falling petals
his white cane taps
the rain damp bench

Tony Williams
Glasgow, Scotland