A total of 275 haiku from 102 authors and 63 tanka from 25 authors were submitted for this selection. The closing date for entries was July 15, 2020. I anonymized these texts before the selection began.

Each member of the DHG has the option of naming a submission that should be published on the member's own page if the jury disregards it.

Can be submitted only previously unpublished texts (also applies to publications on blogs, forums, including the forums on HI HAIKU,  social media and workshops etc.).

No simultaneous submissions please!

Please Haiku / Tanka collected in one operation Enter yourself in the online form on the DHG website HI HAIKU:

https://haiku.de/haiku-und-tanka-auswahl-einreichen/

Otherwise by email to:

Wahlen@deutschehaikugesellschaft.de

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

Please note the following change:

Each participant can take up to six Texts - three haiku and three Tanka - submit.

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 Reinhard Dellbrügge, Deborah Karl-Brandt and Helga Schulz-Blank. The members of the selection group did not submit their own texts.

All selected texts - 41 haiku by 32 authors - are published in alphabetical order of the author's name. There are max. two haiku recorded per author.

"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:

Playing children
The old man on the bench
Clench your fists

Hartmut Fillhardt

What a scene! Here the children who are probably playing peacefully, there the old man, at odds with himself. What makes him clench his fists? What's going on inside him? Does he hate the children and maybe their loud games, or is he fond of them? Is he in an aggressive mood, possibly malicious, or is he desperate? What role does his personal story play? Which memories, experiences, wishes, longings, disappointments find their expression in his violent, but not ostentatious, rather secret gesture?

A successful, exciting haiku that opens up a wide field to the game of associations.

Selected and commented by Reinhard Dellbrügge

Twenty years ago
I thought about age
all the time in the world.

Jan C. Weck

An unusual haiku, especially in formal terms at first glance. It consists of a complete sentence, so it does not have the usual cut, the dichotomy, which is marked in Japanese by a cutting word and in German often by a dash. In addition, it adheres exactly to the no longer frequently used scheme of 5-7-5 syllables.

There are two dangers associated with these two formal conditions. The first is that the interlace is dictated by the number of syllables, rather than following the rhythmic structure of the haiku. The second danger arises from the lack of the dichotomy that creates contrast, a tension that a one-piece haiku might lack.

To anticipate it right away: the sentence-shaped haiku is up to the dangers. The line skips are rhythmically meaningful, the second even creates a slight, expectant tension. And how does the haiku solve the problem of contrast or tension? This happens entirely on the content level. Understanding haiku requires the reader to change aspects or perspectives. The first reading: twenty years ago I thought I had all the time in the world, i. H. the age was very distant, hardly relevant. The second reading: Twenty years ago I thought with a certain anticipation that in old age (as a pensioner) I would have all the time in the world. This tension-generating contrast between two interpretations also represents the contrast between two illusions - which ultimately opens up an existential dimension. Chapeau!

Selected and commented by Reinhard Dellbrügge

Heartbeat
there you are
Yes again

Hans-Jürgen Goehrung

Stumbled while reading. Read too quickly, read again. Slower this time. Feel how enthusiasm spreads.

Why the heartbeat stumbles, does not occur is not explained. Maybe a child has disappeared. It just held our hand. Now it has been lost in the crowd. The heat rises up our necks, the heart beats in our throats, sweat breaks out. Finally, right next to the fountain, we discover it, where it plays with the water, lost in itself.

Maybe we're waiting longingly at the train station. We were apart too long. The train arrives, people pour out and fill the platform, strive for the exit, disappear, the stream of travelers only trickles, and our doubts grow. What if something went wrong? Then we spot it, the familiar face. At last!

Perhaps we are anxiously listening into our own chests. The familiar rhythm has stopped, our lives stand still, then finally a beat and another and another. We breathe out with relief. And only now realize that we have been holding our breath the whole time.

This Senryu only needs a few words (with only 8 syllables), but nothing more is needed to create various images in our inner eye. The chosen arhythmic text form underlines the meaning of the words excellently: It makes us as readers stumble while reading, just like the heart in the poem. The fragment and phrase are clearly recognizable. Every word is necessary, even the “yes” on the third line. This is the only way to understand the relief and astonishment that everything went well again for the reader. That certain something, the empty space to which we as readers have to find an answer ourselves, is preserved.

Even if it seems inconspicuous at first, this fine poem, it has great power, precisely because it is dedicated to existential human experiences such as loss and recovery, death and life.

Selected and commented on by Deborah Karl-Brandt

Discovery -
her shadow
waves back

Gerard Krebs

This haiku appealed to me - but only on the second or even third reading. Maybe it wouldn't have appealed to me if I hadn't had the following experience with my granddaughter:

A few years ago, when she was younger, about 3 years old, we both went for a walk with the dog in the sunshine, waved to the neighbor. The granddaughter suddenly spotted herself in the shadows on the sidewalk and was delighted, especially about the movement of the wave. The dog's ears wagged, which the granddaughter only noticed in the silhouette. She was jumping with enthusiasm, looking carefully at the dog's ears, she hadn't noticed the movement beforehand. We played extensively with our silhouettes.

I assume it was an observation by the writer. My haiku are like diary entries for me, even after years of reading I see the situation exactly in front of me.

Selected and commented by Helga Schulz-Blank

The selection

Birthday
in video conference
the guests

Christa Beau

Sunday morning
swim in the magnificent fountain
the remains of the summer night

Winfried Benkel

Adorns the rearview mirror
a corona mask
instead of Christophorus.

Thomas Berger

border patrol
a bird's shadow
crosses the wall

Claudia Brefeld

Girlfriends meeting
how they laugh, their mouths
on the masks

Claudia Brefeld

back from the funeral
Harvest apples
for a long winter

Horst Oliver Buchholz

pause
lifted my shadow
in that of the linden tree

Horst Oliver Buchholz

Zen Retreat -
I immerse myself in the breath
the monastery cat

Caroline Christians

a flock of sparrows
set to music
the chaos

Beate Conrad

waning moon
ovulation
verpasst

Frank Dietrich

almost full moon
stayed from the dream
the rumpled sheet

Hildegard Dohrendorf

tunnel under the sand castle
the other's hand
King's

Bernadette Duncan

halves of the face
with enigmatic eyes
in eye contact

Hans Egerer

Playing children
The old man on the bench
clench your fists

Hartmut Fillhardt

Heartbeat
there you are
Yes again

Hans-Jürgen Goehrung

Farewell
I run on the bridge
the memory

Hans-Jürgen Goehrung

Asche
all that remained
a murmur in the wind

Gregor Graf

spazieren
hand in hand
almost like before

Gregor Graf

the emptiness
between the lines
so close

Matthew Gysel

after all this years
a letter - father shields
the eyes

Gabriele Hartman

Storm wind
I puff my cheeks
at his question

Birgit Heid

ferrata
how long it will last
the answer

Birgit Heid

stroke of luck
in my hair
his hands

Anne Holtz

Curfew
the sparrows in the tree
Streit who

Anne Holtz

only friendship -
she secretly kisses
his profile picture

Angelica Holweger

your breath
die Nacht
full of flowers

Angelica Holweger

Haymaking
in the foreign
the scent of my childhood

Petra Klingl

Discovery -
her shadow
waves back

Gerard Krebs

From the wheat field
the lark rises briefly
and immersed again

Reinhard Lehmitz

Dementia ward -
the magician
reveals his trick

Eva Limbach

On the garden path
the silvery snail trail
canceled

Sigrid Mertens

The sequence of dishes
from today
on his shirt

Sigrid Mertens

Safety distance
the vacant chair opposite
for the sparrow

Eleanor Nickolay

blank sheet
in my thoughts
that nothing

Sonja Raab

last Exit
one hundred and fifty motorcycles
towards the cemetery

Sonja Raab

Beetle
on the back - me
can't bend over

Sebastian Salie

morning sun
my shadow
practices qigong

Evelyn Schmidt

Living will -
her apple tree still
full of apples

Angelica Seithe

margeritenwiese - i hear my child's voice

Helga Stania

In the scent of the linden trees
go our shadows
from grave to grave

Beate Waszner

Coronavirus
learn to smile
only with the eyes

Klaus-Dieter Wirth

HTA tanka selection

Silvia Kempen and Peter Rudolf selected seven Tanka from six authors.

"A tanka that appeals to me particularly" - texts are presented and commented on under this motto.

A tanka that particularly appeals to me:

when I grow up
I will buy shoes
- says my daughter -
Red shoes
red shoes that fit me

Gabriele Hartman

The first thought: "The Wizard of OZ" and the red shoes of Dorothy Gale, which have magical powers and bring them back home. Often you don't appreciate something until you've lost it.

"When I grow up, I will … “- Who did not say this sentence in their childhood and dream of a future as a dancer, actress, model or, in the case of boys, of a future as a fireman, pilot or the like.

In the past, many girls wanted red patent leather shoes, nowadays perhaps more glittering pink shoes.

Perhaps the mother has red shoes that the daughter sometimes slips into, a lot of little girls do that. They then feel special and begin to dream. Dreams are a part of life and especially important for children, and sometimes dreams come true.

One could criticize the fact that the word shoes appears three times. But it seems like a further development to me. “When I grow up / I will buy shoes” - many women do that in excess. From the daughter's point of view, it must Red shoes because it finds them particularly beautiful. And they should not only be red, they should also fit. This is how the girl sees her future. A very positive way of thinking, which definitely helps to overcome some difficulties.

Selected and commented by Silvia Kempen

 The selection

in the treetop
a hand full
Heaven
I hang in there
my thoughts

Claudia Brefeld

Late news
our wars
travel
at the speed of light
to the stars

Frank Dietrich

heaven and hell
in the frescoes
the basilica -
the calls
the swift ...

Ruth Guggenmos-Walter

when I grow up
I will buy shoes
- says my daughter -
Red shoes
red shoes that fit me

Gabriele Hartman

all I
planted this spring
withered and faded
and yet I'm happy how
a child on the first snow

Eva Limbach

and again you ask
whether God really exists
wait a little longer
when the snow melts in spring
we will know

Eva Limbach

A ray of sun draws in
the dry air
his way across the room.
Avoiding the light I seek
my lost dream.           

Alexander Stretik

Addendum to the HTA selection from SOMMERGRAS 129

(Jonathan Perry agrees to the publication of this article)

they still protrude a little
your wings
Fire beetle
from the to ice
frozen puddle of water!

Jonathan Perry

First of all, this tanka really appealed to me. I found the involuntary association of life and death through the opposition of water and fire fascinating. But on closer inspection I noticed details that negatively affect the effect of the text.

I remember fire beetles rather small, so the word “protrude” somehow doesn't fit. If the frozen beetle is noticeable at all, then maybe because of its red color. My doubts were aroused and I decided to find out more about fire beetles on the Internet. The beetles are 14 to 18 mm long. I think that would still be noticeable if the ice surface is smooth. "Fires are the only chance for the fire beetles to multiply" The larvae would be crushed in living wood or killed by the resin. The beetles have sensors that detect changes in temperature up to 50 km away, so they know where the fire is. The larvae of the fire beetle overwinter and then develop in spring. The adult form only lives to reproduce from May to early July. Could it be that fire beetles freeze in a pool of water?

Does the author not mean the fire beetle at all, but the fire bug, which is popularly incorrectly referred to as the fire beetle? I was not aware of this before my research. Fire bugs hibernate, they can even survive temperatures down to -10 ° Celsius. However, they are even smaller, namely 6,5 - 12 mm.

A card reading page was about a fire bug, and I found the following sentence: "Take an example from me. I am also often not really recognized because I am often mistaken for a bug, even though I am a peaceful but very active bug." It was about accepting yourself as you are. If there were fire bug instead of fire beetle in the tanka, I could also make friends with the "protrude" in this context. That leaves the size, but if you look closely, it might be possible.

Because of these discrepancies, we did not include the Tanka in our selection.

Selected and commented by Silvia Kempen

Special contribution by René Possél

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

pause
lifted my shadow
in that of the linden tree

Horst Oliver Buchholz

A haiku that can be read on different levels of meaning!

On a first level, a process of cooling is mentioned:

One of them pauses (on the hike) and goes to relax from the heat of the sun in the cool shade of a tree, a linden tree.

However, the wording in the second line already makes you notice: "my shadow lifted" - as if it were not just about the cool shade of the tree: "in the (shadow) of the linden tree". With the mention of the shadow of oneself, a second, deeper level is addressed.

“The shadow” is (in the analytical psychology according to CG Jung) a term for the (reluctant or repressed) dark parts of one's own personality - in colloquial language, meaningfully called the “dark side”.

The word “canceled” has an additional speculative meaning. For this I have to use GWF Hegel, the philosopher of German idealism. He understands the term "abolition" dialectically in three ways: 1. Abolition in the sense of termination, overcoming (Latin "negare"); 2. Cancellation as storage, preservation of a phenomenon (Latin "conservare"); and 3. finally, abolition as an increase to a higher level (lat. "elevare").

The fact that one's own shade is “in good hands” in the shade of a linden tree also points to the mythological significance of this tree. Among the Germanic peoples the linden tree was dedicated to the goddess Freya - the goddess of love, happiness and security. So if you let your own shadow rise in the shade of the linden tree, you will not only notice cooling. Perhaps subconsciously he suspects that in the vicinity of love his own shadow sides can ultimately be "lifted", that is, both ended and preserved, as well as integrated as well as increased ...

I don't know whether the author of the haiku or the reader will follow me on all levels of the interpretation of this poem. Not everything has to be intended. One has to pause to discover deeper meanings in a haiku.