From November 2014 to January 2015, a total of 334 haiku and 12 tanka were submitted by 80 authors for this selection. The deadline for entries was January 15, 2015. Each participant could send in up to 5 haiku or tanka.
These texts were anonymized by me before the selection began. The jury consisted of Elisabeth Kleineheismann, Eva Limbach and Boris Semrow. The members of the selection group did not submit their own texts. All selected texts (36 haiku and 1 tanka) are listed alphabetically by author's name - up to max. three works per author.
“A haiku / a tanka that particularly appeals to me” - under this motto, each jury member has the opportunity to choose one or up to three texts (still anonymized), present them here and comment on them.
The next deadline for the Haiku / Tanka selection
is April 15th, 2015.
Only so far unreleased Works are submitted. No simultaneous submissions. Please send the submissions in the mail body, no attached files.
Please send to: Wahlen@deutschehaikugesellschaft.de
Since the jury should consist of changing participants, I would like to cordially invite all interested DHG members to participate as a jury member in upcoming selection rounds. It's fun and you learn a lot.
Petra Klingl
A haiku that particularly appeals to me
found again
under brown leaves
Karo King
Angelica Seithe
Oh, there he is, the diamond king!
He was missing in the card game all winter. No one in the family had seen him, no one in the house found him. But if a card game is not complete, you cannot play with it, not really. And in the winter the evenings are so long that people often play and like to play, Mau-Mau, fifty-one dead, skat and what else is possible, even magic tricks are sometimes performed in the family.
Now the new year has come into the day, old leaves are still in the garden, some have been pushed into small piles in winter. It's time to go out into the garden and do some exercise. The weather is mild, the rake is ready, let's go. The brown leaves have to go before the first crocuses sprout.
Oh, there he is, the diamond king!
All winter ... like this
Back to the haiku: "found again", the introduction is already exciting, "under brown leaves" shows the relation to the season and then in the third line the surprise, the "diamond king". This opens up new things. Probably spring. Herz-Jack or Herz-König would have been nice too, or even Herz-Dame (?).
For me a very well done haiku that gives me a lot of joy.
At the very end the question arises: What does the king look like after lying under the brown leaves for so long? I'm looking forward to another haiku.
Selected and commented by Elisabeth Kleineheismann
Tea Ceremony
Your hands -
Porcelain
Eleanor Nickolay
Four words, twelve syllables, spread over three verses: first five, then four, then three. Centered one below the other, the verses taper downwards and form the image of a vessel, a bowl, as it would probably be served in one
Tea Ceremony
Your hands -
Porcelain
The haiku begins with the tea ceremony and awakens a carefully designed process: the garden, the welcome, cleaning, the tea house. The haiku ends with porcelain, from which the dishes used in the ceremony may be made. In between: her hands.
Her hands point to a female counterpart, a female figure that brings the link between tea ceremony and porcelain to life. Nevertheless, the haiku does without acting and descriptive elements. It contains neither a verb nor an adjective, and that is precisely why it allows a high degree of association.
Your hands - are they gently touching the fragile porcelain? And are their hands as delicate and precious as the fabric they touch? The dash - in this case a variable, a space that the reader can fill in himself.
Selected and commented on by Boris Semrow
familiar country
I introduce myself
against the wind
Klemens Antusch
This haiku captivated me the first time I read it. Here, a situation is described with eight words, which probably creates different associations for every reader. The familiar country took me straight to my childhood. The second line builds tension and then the change comes into play with the wind. Whether good or bad remains open. We only read that the writer opposes her.
Many questions, many thoughts remain ...
This haiku will keep me busy for a while.
Selected and commented by Eva Limbach
The selection
New Year's Eve,
the star of betlehem
ducks away.
Johannes ancestor
snow cold night
between us
an almost forgotten sound
Klemens Antusch
familiar country
I introduce myself
against the wind
Klemens Antusch
balcony jewelry
in a Christmas ball
Moonlight Splitter
Christa Beau
Goose bumps…
I feel every note
of the pianist
Christa Beau
Open the window
rustling in the brook
yesterday's snow
Pure Bonack
melting ice
we both with the boots
in the moon sky
Claudia Brefeld
january fog on your forehead my kiss
Ralf Broker
snow
one footprint only
uphill
Horst Oliver Buchholz
The calm of the stone
the sinking into the water
circles
Horst Oliver Buchholz
morning meditation
in the yoga house
the sparrows rage
Simone K. Busch
Ravens -
the long shadows
of winter
Gerda Forester
metamorphoses
in the moonlight
my garden …
Gerda Forester
New Year's Day
the ice is thawed
between us
Heike Gericke
Opening a will ...
from the fir trees
snow is falling
Heike Gericke
First snow
the new sound
the silent one
Hans-Jürgen Goehrung
distance
between us
grow shadows
Hans-Jürgen Goehrung
Late sunlight
The outline of the ruin
gets bigger and bigger
Hans-Jürgen Goehrung
Mediterranean surf
Sinking in the Milky Way
a falling star
Claudius Gottstein
round table
Two talks
cross each other
Claudius Gottstein
a silhouette -
an der Wand
ich
Ruth Guggenmos-Walter
In the mirror
now after mother’s death -
her likeness
Erika Hanning
Night sky -
on the flock of sheep
moon traces
Erika Hanning
unsaid
the missing color
in her eyes
Gabriele Hartman
Fog streaks into strips
over the river
only the ferryman and me.
Ramona Left
Morning moon -
the weathered face
of the cemetery angel
Ramona Left
Snow -
the forest invents itself
new
Eleanor Nickolay
fog
Mother refused
das Essen
Eleanor Nickolay
Tea Ceremony
Your hands -
Porcelain
Eleanor Nickolay
Frosty Monday.
The loser's smile
on the election poster.
Wolfgang Roedig
found again
under brown leaves
Karo King
Angelica Seithe
Mosquito attack
in the Ikkyuji Temple -
me in fighting stance.
Kenji Takeda
Storm and rain
what I wanted to do today
vergessen
Brigitte ten Brink
the old cards
reshuffled
my grandchild
Brigitte ten Brink
The stranger smiles
to me in passing
New Year's prognosis.
Angela Hilde Timm
between facade graffiti
the empty window
filled with AC / DC
Elisabeth Weber Strobel
Engrossed in conversation,
and how the landscape has a say
with many voices,
long into the linden night
the wind whispers wonderfully
Beate Conrad
