Quick Announcements
Wow–you guys made this competition into a really big hit! By the final day, it had 3,800 post visits, 537 comments, a high ranking on Google, and Vita Brevis was on the front page of the Reader for the tags “Poem”, “Poetry”, “Haiku”, and “Poetry competition”. Sheesh!
I’m glad everyone had a good time, and I appreciate those of you who left such thoughtful responses on other submitters’ haiku. We ran into a bit of trouble at one point: we received so much attention that the automated comment moderator began rejecting comments, assuming that they were spam. But I got it all sorted out!
Also, I’d like to officially welcome all of the new faces here at Vita Brevis–I hope you enjoy the magazine! You’ll find an endless stream of talented poets here and a wonderfully supportive community.
It was hard choosing a winning piece. It always is. But, I know you’ll all agree that the winning haiku is quite special. Before we get to that though, here are some notable mentions:
Six (of many) Notable Mentions:
Submitted by iidorun
Nature: A Mother’s Love
We reap your colors
And still, you send us rainbows
Your tears mixed with oil
Submitted by rivrvlogr
lonely, far from home
pale moonlight for my travels
cricket crossing path
Submitted by Betty Hayes Albright
The Dance
Tides rise and curtsy
as the sea does a ballet
with old diva moon.
Submitted by Hélène (Willow Poetry)
Willow Tree’s delight
oh! first-born flourishing bud
nature’s spectacle
Submitted by kim881
tinted with harvest
pumpkins and wind-fall apples
the moon’s pregnant pause
Submitted by jazzytower
in late evening breeze
leaves in lyrical tumble-
first hint of autumn
Winning Haiku
This was a wonderful piece–I’ve posted it as an individual poetry publication here on the front page of Vita Brevis. Congratulations, tnkerr!
Submitted by tnkerr
“Inspired by watching my grandson playing in the garden this morning, I wrote this:”
Green hues of sunlight
filter through the trees and hide
a young boy dancing.
Vita Brevis Press. 
Congratulations all!
Congratulations
Thank you, and congratulations to everyone else!
There were many fine entries, so congrats to all.
Congratulations Ken.
Thank you, Hélène.
Congrats Hélène!
Thank you fusiongemini
It was a fun contest, and there were so many wonderful submissions. I’m glad I didn’t have to choose. 🙂
Congratulations to all!
It was tough, Merril! 🙂
A good tough. 🙂
Congratulations to all! This was such a fun contest and a wonderful opportunity to be exposed to so many wonderful writers!
I’m glad you liked it–We’ll definitely be doing it again!
That’s wonderful!
Enjoyed the contest! Thank you for hosting. I wish there was a way to see all of the entries without sifting through the comments. 🙂 Congratulations to the winners. – Brian
Good idea! I’m going to try to find a way to only show “parent” comments next time I host the competition. There has to be a way!
In Site Settings > Discussion, there is a setting for “Enable threaded (nested) comments up to X levels deep”. I’m wondering if you set it to 1 level, if that will help. The downside is people would only be able to like the comment, but it would help more people to read them. I probably read 10-12 submissions since it was a pain to find them. If you find a better way, please let me know. I’ll also look at it a bit more. – B
Good guess-I tried that too and it took away the “indent” before the reply. So instead of nesting replies under their respective comments, they all appeared as “new” comments. Making things harder!
Thanks for the help. Might need to go into CSS for this! 🙂
I think everyone’s a winner. I’m blown away – Thank you.
Congratulations to everyone. Definitely everyone is a winner, but tnkerr your haiku was very touching and wonderful.
Brian, thank you for this competition. It was wonderful to meet you and many other great haiku poets.
And it was a pleasure meeting you, Hélène! I’m glad you enjoyed the competition and got to read some great haiku!
A wonderful collection of Haiku, from very talented poet’s.
Thank you so much for the Notable Mention, Brian, and for this wonderful challenge! You definitely brought out a very talented group of writers. I am honored to be counted among them.
Congratulations to tnkerr! Well deserved win – your haiku really brought to mind a beautiful scene and feeling. Love it!
And to all the writers reading this – thank you for your inspiration and aspiration to write words that touch the soul. Challenge accepted – Mission accomplished!
Many congratulations 🎊
I really enjoyed reading everyone’s poems. So thoughtful and full of wonderful images. Congratulations to all! (K)
Congratulations, all! This was a fun competition, and each entry was a delight to read.
Congratulations to all. Reading a variety of haiku’s all in one place has been most enjoyable, thanks for hosting.
This was a fun competition and it was my very first attempt writing a haiku. Loved reading everyone’s entry. All of you very gifted. A hearty congratulations to all!
What a wonderful collection of haiku. Thanks for creating a great community event.
good one
This is so great Brian! I’m glad that it was so successful for you and Vita Brevis! Excellent choices for the six notable mentions and the winner. I regret that I.missed this opportunity and will watch carefully for the next one.
Reblogged this on The Biblioanthropologist.
Brian, Thank you for organising this tidy and sharp event. Good not to string things out too long. Great to see what was produced and engage with other writers.
I’m glad you enjoyed it, Christopher!
Holy, moly…I got honorable mention!! Thank you so much. My first! I really enjoyed this contest. Congrats to all!!
Pat R