2017 Results

At the Sixth Edition of The Haiku Contest SHARPENING THE GREEN PENCIL 2017 organized by Romanian Kukai Group have participated 275 participants from 6 continents and 45 countries. as follows: AFRICA: Nigeria (1), South Africa (1), Tunisia (1); ASIA: Bangladesh (1), India (12), Indonesia (2), Japan (1), Malaysia (3), Pakistan (1), Philippines (3), Singapore (2), Taiwan (1), Turkey (1); AUSTRALIA: Australia (10), New Zealand (5); EUROPE: Belgium (7), Bosnia and Herzegovina (2), Bulgaria (13), Croatia (39), Cyprus (1), Finland (1), France (3), Germany (10), Greece (1), Hungary (1), Ireland (1), Italy (5), Lithuania (8),  Macedonia (1), Montenegro (1), Netherlands (8), Poland (12), Romania (17), Russia (3), Serbia (13), Slovenia (3), Spain (4), Sweden (2), Switzerland (3), Ukraine (1), United Kingdom (20); NORTH AMERICA: Canada (5), United States of America (44); SOUTH AMERICA: Brazil (1), Colombia (1) The organizers would like to express their gratitude to the participants for such a large interest and invite everyone to participate in the seventh edition, which will start in February 2018. Corneliu Traian ATANASIU, President of the Jury Cezar Florin CIOBÎCĂ, Member of the Jury Dan DOMAN, Member of the Jury Eduard ŢARĂ, Secretary, Cristina Oprea, Ana Drobot Congratulations to the winners and commended haiku poets.

WINNERS

First Prize refugee child – folding and unfolding his paper boat Stella PIERIDES Neusaess, GERMANY Since the start of judging I was sure that this poem will be among the awarded ones. The poem deals with the difficult problem of our modern world: the refugee crisis that generates existential dramas and leaves behind only sorrow. The child in the first line, maybe without parents, nobody can say it, maturing earlier, is playing with a sheet of paper and he is folding and unfolding a paper boat. He could as well do whatever else, but something dictated him to make this origami toy. The picture, as a whole, disturbing in my opinion, shows us a complex of moods and emotions and makes you transport immediately into that atmosphere and to feel empathy for the little boy. The boat, a vehicle which can help you to get from one point to another, here made only from paper, signifies the strong desire of a fragile kid forsaken by fate to leave a world in order to save himself, to start a new happy life. You obsess over the image of this child making mechanically a boat after you have finished reading the poem and you are challenged to reflect upon the human condition. comment and translation by Cezar Florin CIOBÎCĂ

Second Prize Table of Silence – we can hear the moonbeam polishing the stone Rodica P. CALOTĂ Târgu Jiu, ROMANIA The Silent Table, meaning one table and twelve chairs made of stone, is one component of the monumental ensemble created by Constantin Brancuşi in Târgu Jiu. Evoked in the context of this poem, it amplifies and exceeds the human and religious symbolism, adding also a cosmic symbolism to it. Moonlight seems to continue polishing the stone in an endless effort, as if taking part in perfecting the vision that, in one single ephemeral life, the artist could not finish. Perhaps the final aspiration of this working together is the miraculous transfiguration of the stone – the lava permeated by the moon, a feat that Lucian Blaga attributed to love. comment by Corneliu Traian Atanasiu translation by Ana DROBOT

Third Prize winter night – somebody’s footprints lead to the moon Ioana BRÎNZEI Botoşani, ROMANIA The first verse introduces us directly into the atmosphere of the frosty season. The repetition of vowel a suggests an ample space, a labyrinth, overwhelmed by snow, a long white night. In the second verse, our gaze is directed towards somebody's traces. It is not suggested if it is a human or animal being. This detail gives to the image a certain amount of mystery. The end of the ku absorbs you due to the surprise that is being offered: the footprints lead toward the moon. The overlapping of two planes, celestial and terrestrial, creates indeed the illusion that those steps, still visible, would lead to the night star. The assonance, once again, this time, the repetition of vowel u, has an important role in expressing the idea of limiting, closing in a space, that, because of the snow, makes you wander like a lunatic. The only salvation seems to be the path to the moon that can bring, why not, the enlightenment. comment and translation by Cezar Florin CIOBÎCĂ

Third Prize the ashes of the temple as if nothing had happened plum blossoms Vitali KHOMIN Mukachevo, UKRAINE At the scale of this planet’s history, the human world is much more fragile and perishable than the natural world. The vegetation, which we most often pity every autumn, is under the law of eternal recurrence. Everything that has perished in winter will be reborn, as if nothing happened, in spring. Only civilizations perish, leaving nothing behind, in the ashes of the temples. Only they do not have underneath their plot of land any bulbs and rhizomes, any seeds that would germinate again and again. Only to them fateis grim. And yet... man retains his power to marvel as if he could share the flowers’fate, anytime. comment by Corneliu Traian Atanasiu translation by Ana DROBOT

COMMENDATIONS

Hot summer day Nodding in agreement Lizard and I Raj BOSE Honolulu, THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
	Winter night … Untouched whiteness Of her diary’s pages Anna GOLUBA Warsaw, POLAND
borrowed time – I put more honey in my tea Anita GUENIN San Diego, THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
	sewing needle’s sheen – a cricket cleans its antenna Jonathan HUMPHREY Louisville, THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
snowfall over the village – having the grandson on her lap evening prayer Marcela IGNĂTESCU Drajna de Jos, ROMANIA
	two lines on the test a pregnant silence fills our bedroom Chen-ou LIU Ajax, CANADA
carrousel in winter – a child puts his scarf around the horse’s neck Dan NOREA Constanţa, ROMANIA
	flowers over the grave – between me and mum the cherry tree’ s fragrance Cristina PÂRVU Ploieşti, ROMANIA
this beach of pebbles after the wave my life rearranged Gregory PIKO Yass, AUSTRALIA
	words we couldn’t say … sirocco gusts Ali ZNAIDI Redeyef, TUNISIA

Selected poems

Billy ANTONIO Laoac, PHILIPPINES Marta CHOCILOWSKA Warsaw, POLAND Nadin GHILESCHI Botoşani, ROMANIA Nikolay GRANKIN Krasnodar, RUSSIA Natalia KUZNETSOVA Moscow, RUSSIA Neha R. KRISHNA Mumbai, INDIA David MILOVANOVIĆ Lapovo, SERBIA Carl SEGUIBAN Burnaby, CANADA Keith A. SIMMONDS Rodez, FRANCE Gergana YANINSKA Plovdiv, BULGARIA