A total of 239 haiku from 86 authors and 34 tanka from 19 authors were submitted for this selection. The deadline for entries was January 15, 2020. Before the selection began, I anonymized these texts. Each member of the DHG has the option of naming a submission that will be published on the member's own page if the jury disregards it. Only previously unpublished texts can be submitted (also applies to publications in blogs, forums, social media and workshops etc.).

No simultaneous submissions please!
Please enter all haiku / tanka in one go into the online form on the DHG website:
deutschehaikugesellschaft.de/haiku-und-tanka-die-wahl/
Otherwise by email to: auswahlen@deutschehaikugesellschaft.de

The next deadline for the Haiku / Tanka selection is
April 15, 2020.

Please note the following change:
Each participant can submit up to six texts - three haiku and three tanka.

With the submission, the author consents to a possible publication in the DHG's Agenda 2021 as well as to http://www.zugetextet.com/ and for a possible presentation on the website of the Haiku International Association.

Haiku selection from HTA

The jury consisted of Marcus Blunck, Birgit Heid and Angelika Knetsch. The members of the selection group did not submit their own texts.

All selected texts - 55 haiku - are published in alphabetical order of the author's names. A maximum of two haiku per author are recorded.

"A haiku that particularly appeals to me" - this is the motto for each jury member to select up to three texts (still anonymized), to present and comment on them here.

Since the jury is made up of changing participants, I would like to cordially invite all interested DHG members to participate as a jury member in upcoming selection rounds.

Eleanor Nickolay

A haiku that particularly appeals to me:

Tracing
I stepped out
the boots too small

Ute till tree

This haiku offers me two levels: On the one hand, there is a scene in which a child (the small boots indicate this) first compares his footprints with those of an adult. It playfully puts its feet in the tracks that are likely to be seen in the snow, when else are they clearer and more interesting? Then it tries to adapt its small steps to the much larger ones. Of course, the child cannot keep pace, the gaps between the individual prints are too large.

On the other hand, it creates the image of an adult who, perhaps looking through old documents, finds that he does not fit into the customs and traditions of his family. Maybe his job doesn't live up to expectations, maybe his lifestyle is different. Society has a whole repertoire of phrases for this: One tries to “follow in someone's footsteps”, but with which he “cannot keep up”. And if things go really badly, then he is "off track".

The bumping in the sound of the second line, caused by a past participle construction, is not disturbing in this case, but cleverly used, since it also supports the image of a person who cannot keep up with the big steps and stumbles , The fact that this second line is not written in the present tense does not bother either, as the second image is supported here: The lyrical self recognizes that it does not conform, now takes place at the moment when his career and his Family compares. So it was "stepped out" in the past, nevertheless the haiku describes, if you read it in this way, a present moment of recognition.

The realization that they run counter to others' expectations can be frustrating and even devastating. Consolation may then offer to compare one's own situation with a picture from childhood that most people carry within themselves when they discovered games and tracks in the snow - with the picture at the beginning of this text: The child, that has to step out of the way too big track. For a while it goes alongside the prints of the big shoes, turns around and realizes: Immediately behind it are prints, much smaller ones - but they are your own.

Selected and commented by Marcus Blunck

neighboring apartment
their first Christmas
in front of the television

Deborah Karl Brandt

The accumulation of information is a little irritating at first. Apparently it is a neighborly observation that astonishes. It may be that the light reflections of the TV can be seen through the window, but it is also conceivable that a pre-Christmas conversation between neighbors has arisen. You may have said that this year you can't spend Christmas with your daughter's family because she moved away. Or that because of their increasing vulnerability, they can no longer visit relatives. They are neighbors whose way of life means that they now spend Christmas in front of the TV. Things could be different if you think of a young couple whose parents live too far away, who now spends Christmas alone and cannot go out in the evening due to a lack of opportunities. Or young parents whose children were brought to bed early and tie the parents to the apartment on Christmas Eve. Or is it a widow? Or asylum seekers? Or people who have quarreled with their families?

However, the abundance of possibilities cannot hide the fact that a Christmas in front of the television is probably not what you would like from Christmas, that the television program is an emergency solution if you celebrate Christmas at all and therefore finds it worth mentioning. Her first time says that it was probably nicer before, among friends or in the family. However, it would also be conceivable that in the past Christmas was not celebrated because of the different beliefs of neighboring asylum seekers. Would a Christmas party be better in front of the television?

In any case, there has been a change in the neighborhood, probably for the worse. If the observation is first brought to mind and noted, it also changes the attitude of the writer in my imagination. In writing down the observation that is not particularly worth mentioning - since a harmonious family Christmas party seems to be more an illusion than reality - there is a turn to the people not mentioned, an inner closeness arises, a presence and a hope that at least the television program will be to their liking may.

Selected and commented by Birgit Heid

Meeting
they examine
their sneakers

Friedrich winemaker

Friday afternoon meeting of a larger department. The conference room has a gray-blue patterned carpet, the walls are uniform white and unadorned except for a friendly DIN A2 color photo of the company. The colleagues come together and exchange superficialities. Dark blue upholstered chairs are moved aside to take a seat. The large, white oval table takes up space. Beverage bottles and glasses are in groups on napkin islands on the tables. Coffee pots are carried in, the cups are assigned to the seats, milk jars and sugar cubes are available in bowls. Twenty colleagues take their places.

But the head of department is late. You start to chat by looking for common topics of conversation. The neighbor on the left reports on his last shoe purchase and shows and discusses the advantages of his new high-quality sneakers by turning his chair to the side. It is Air Jordan 5 Retro WMNS “Iridescent Oil Gray” in a subtle turquoise, as he explains. The person sitting next to him on the right is wearing the Jordan Max 200 in the “Super Bowl LIV” colorway. The multi-colored outsole and the faded colors on the upper remind him of football spectacles. Another colleague interferes. He loves the Tom & Jerry x Reebok Instapump Fury OG, but because of its futuristic design, he only uses it in his free time. He shows and discusses his mousy gray subtle Adidas Ultra Boost Uncaged with increasing passion. The boss comes, the meeting begins. Under the tables, they stretch their legs forward and move their feet more often than usual.

Selected and commented by Birgit Heid

In front of a white wall
white flowers.
My homelessness.

Volker Friebel

To be homeless, to belong nowhere, to adapt and to become invisible ... still keep your own shape. Very open, poetic, thoughtful. It touches me a lot.

frosty morning -
from the roots of the oak
the dawn rises

Angelica Seithe

First I see a beautiful poetic picture. But then I get irritated by "oak and dawn", a little too patriotic. But hope prevails ... it can be good.

Selected and commented by Angelika Knetsch

The selection

green urges from the
orchid stick - it becomes root
or bloom

Sylvia Bacher

Coastal path -
I hurry to the tree shade
the sea too

Valeria Barouch

Haiku Lecture
a listener raves
from Schiller's bell

Martin Berner

home from the women's day demonstration
does she read
his socks on

Martin Berner

at the bedside
Grandmother is operating
the old teddy

Christopher Blumentrath

Coffee with a dash
we change
the key

Christopher Blumentrath

home …
growing in the fields
Stille

Horst Oliver Buchholz

perfect day
so it remained empty
my sheet in the notebook

Horst Oliver Buchholz

Hallelujah
falls out of the hymn book
a picture of death

Heiner Brueckner

She took my hand
very firm -
on the day before.

Werner Buschman

November ripe -
the soft grinding of the grass
under your feet.

Reinhard Dellbrugge

Rough winter wind.
A yellow sack
crosses the street.

Reinhard Dellbrugge

out and over
a curtain falls
out of rain

Frank Dietrich

first snow
the long wait
at the end of school

Hildegard Dohrendorf

Frozen winter
get out of the neighbor’s chimney
Rauchzeichen

Susanne Effert-Hartmann

skid-scratched
the winter moon shines
on the ice

Hans Egerer

In front of a white wall
white flowers.
My homelessness.

Volker Friebel

spring feelings
like the rapeseed
already faded

Wolfgang founder

bathers
on the sandy beach
groove pattern

Wolfgang founder

summer night
on the Milky Way
in a traffic jam

Taiki Haijin

Winner smile -
his tin soldiers
march in the garbage

Taiki Haijin

blue hyacinths
still in a dream
her scent

Gabriele Hartman

playing shadows
a door
opens

Gabriele Hartman

Wilted wreaths
a new light
In the fog

Petra Hodiamont

after the plaster
in the sink
a spider leg

Angelica Holweger

Why …
knead and knead -
the dough is still cool

Angelica Holweger

winter moon
The invitation to tea
unanswered

Deborah Karl Brandt

neighboring apartment
Your first Christmas
in front of the television

Deborah Karl Brandt

Tracing
I stepped out
the boots too small

Ute till tree

a branch cracks
in the great silence -
winter forest

Gerard Krebs

End of season -
the backup waitress
scares away the flies

Eva Limbach

Gette layer…
the wind carries the smell of coal fire

Ramona Left

after the word battle
the velvety silence of the moonlight

Ramona Left

family celebration
after the kisses she powdered
her cheeks

Ruth Caroline Mieger

Museum shop
Motif socks van Gogh
too large

Ruth Caroline Mieger

family celebration
in the babble of voices
one is missing

Eleanor Nickolay

snow moon
it clears
her white hair

Eleanor Nickolay

the forest lake
a wind clears
the picture of the trees

Rene Possel

on the street
overtaken by a swarm
soap bubbles 

Rene Possel

measure blood pressure
the letter at the kitchen table
from the tax office

Sonja Raab

grandma visit
between breaths
the distances

Sonja Raab

The ravens croak -
I pull my head even deeper
in the jacket

Dragan J. Ristic

avalanche warning
in the hotelroom
long spills

Wolfgang Roedig

Dancing snowflakes
almost like back then
turn the plate over again

Wolfgang Roedig

Persian night
make plans by the fire
for remodeling

Sebastian Salie

shallow water
all shards on the bottom
of the reflection

Sebastian Salie

Demolition house
in front of the fence
Stumbling Stones

Evelyn Schmidt

the train is racing
rain pulls at the window
Staves

Evelyn Schmidt

frosty morning -
from the roots of the oak
the dawn rises

Angelica Seithe

Long trip
under my deck chair
ant trails

Tanya Sulzberger

a dream
timidly touched
from the morning

Friedrich winemaker

Meeting
they examine
their sneakers

Friedrich winemaker

the first bumblebee
and immediately in harmony
with her shadow

Klaus-Dieter Wirth

Special contribution by René Possél

René Possél chose a haiku from all anonymized submissions that particularly appeals to him.

New Year
the good resolutions
from the old

Eleanor Nickolay

For many, New Years and good resolutions obviously belong together. For them, a new year means risking a new beginning with their own behavior, making a resolution; often in terms of weight or habits, projects or people - however.

Until the end of the second line, the haiku evokes habitual behavior. The third line of the haiku brings the surprising volte: we didn't have it at the beginning of the old Have you made good resolutions this year? What has become of it? Did we put it into practice? Has anything changed in our behavior or life?

These are uncomfortably sober questions and actually suitable to discourage the "deliberately good" in their will to New Year. After all, the reference to the resolutions of the old year leaves open whether the memory shows a positive result for some ...

HTA tanka selection

A tanka that particularly appeals to me

how it stares at me
in the mirror
my father's face
with the sad eyes
meiner Mutter

Frank Dietrich

The first time I read it, the Tanka appeals to me on the emotional level with rather negative feelings.

First of all, there is the lyrical ego, either a son or a daughter, who is cut from the father's face, except for the eyes, which are from the mother, and they are sad. If you look closely, you can interpret a lot from your eyes. They are also called the "mirror of the soul". Our innermost essence shines from our eyes unadulterated and genuine.

In this tanka, the eyes stare at a face in the mirror. The mirror is considered an ambiguous symbol. On the one hand it is a sign of vanity and lust, on the other hand it symbolizes self-knowledge, prudence and truth. In the first three lines, depending on the reading, it is the face of the lyrical self or that of the father. Staring can happen through curiosity, or when something fascinates you. This can be very uncomfortable for someone you stare at, depending on how insecure or self-confident the person is. The rigid, intense look is also seen as a sign of charisma and strength.

"How it stares at me / in the mirror / my father's face" - the lyrical self is stared at and notices that in the mirror. If you only take these three lines of tanka, it is the father who stares. Why is not evident here. But the thought grows in me that the lyrical self is a daughter. And in connection with the sad eyes, the whole scene becomes uncomfortable, maybe domestic violence? We learn in the last two lines "with the sad eyes / my mother" that the mother's eyes are sad too.

After the third line, the Tanka undergoes a turn. Suddenly we no longer see the face of the father in the mirror, but that of the lyrical self. Nevertheless, the father is present through the similarity, but also the mother with the sad eyes, which the lyrical self has inherited or, more likely, the sad eyes in both have arisen from bad experiences. Sad people have sharper senses, they observe their environment more closely. That could be a reason for staring. The face is explored exactly, what is from the mother, what is from the father. Or the lyrical self is looking for the truth. Perhaps the circumstances were previously denied.

All in all a touching tanka with a lot of information, but also with a lot of open questions that are left to the imagination of the reader.

Selected and commented by Silvia Kempen

The selection

Haus am Bahndamm -
a torn curtain
blow out the window.
I climb over the tracks
lagging behind

Gerd Borner

how it stares at me
in the mirror
my father's face
with the sad eyes
meiner Mutter

Frank Dietrich

It's hard to believe how
quickly she settled in,
the fat lie
clenched into a hard fist
the other's bag

Beate Conrad

er spricht
- his ear on my chest -
of nuances
which - after all these years -
but bother him

Gabriele Hartman

Mother's pastries ...
how weary it was
in the tin can
meanwhile you keep blame
his bite

Gabriele Hartman

Ringing bells
for the whiskey
I press
she from
the lemon half

Jonathan Perry

how peaceful he looks
The Nutcracker
on the bookshelf -
around christmas time
he bites mercilessly

Theo Schmich

Special contribution by René Possél

René Possél chose a haiku from all anonymized submissions that particularly appeals to him.

New Year

the good resolutions

from the old

       Eleanor Nickolay

For many, New Years and good resolutions obviously belong together. For them, a new year means risking a new beginning with their own behavior, making a resolution; often in terms of weight or habits, projects or people - however.

Until the end of the second line, the haiku evokes habitual behavior. The third line of the haiku brings the surprising volte: we didn't have it at the beginning of the old Have you made good resolutions this year? What has become of it? Did we put it into practice? Has anything changed in our behavior or life?

These are uncomfortably sober questions and actually suitable to discourage the "deliberately good" in their will to New Year. After all, the reference to the resolutions of the old year leaves open whether the memory shows a positive result for some ...