Monday, April 28, 2014

Haiku Contest: Under the Sea!

**This contest is closed. Check out the winners!**

Announcing the launch of The Wheel’s 5th Annual Haiku Contest!

We've previously honored ninja, pirates, robots, and space. This year, in honor of my son's current infatuation with sharks (or rather, shark puppets), we're taking on water. Specifically, the Ocean.

It's not difficult.
All you do is write haiku.
(Also, submit them.)

Just follow the standard haiku structure (5 syllables, 7 syllables, then 5 again) and make it something to do with the ocean. I'd stay away from pirates, but otherwise, however you interpret the theme is entirely up to you.

To enter, write your own sea-related haiku in the comments section below. Two or three lucky winners will receive 25 sand-dollars $25 Amazon gift cards.

I will be selecting the best haiku in each of two categories:
  • Humorous/Creative
  • Traditional (i.e. eloquent, evocative, etc.)
In addition, I may also reward a third entry, depending on my mood. And the mood of my wallet.

The deadline to submit a haiku is this Wednesday, May 7 at 5:00pm (Eastern Time). Official "rules" are below.


Official "Rules":
  1. To enter, post space-themed haiku in the comments section below. Multiple submissions are allowed, but if you submit more than five (5) entries, it'll be viewed as a clear attempt to pollute the waters. Any additional entries will go belly up.
  2. Standard haiku rules apply. To qualify, each entry must be a three-line poem, the first line containing exactly 5 syllables, the second line 7 syllables, and the third line 5 syllables. If you miscount, it'll throw off the balance of your submission and your chances at winning will be sunk.
  3. The contest is open until Wednesday, May 7, 2014 at 5:00pm, Eastern Time. If an entry arrives after the deadline, it will not be eligible for a prize. That ship will have already sailed.
  4. Entries must be in English. (i.e. Using Japanese kanji will not help you win for best traditional haiku.) If I can't understand your entry, I'll assume your brain is addled due to lack of oxygen, and will provide medical advice instead of gift cards.
  5. Anonymous entries will not win. If you don't tell me who you are, it'll be obvious you're a top-secret government assassin with amnesia, and cannot be trusted. Your entry will be denied.
  6. Prizes will be awarded in each of two (2) categories: Humorous/Creative and Traditional. A third prize may be awarded if the mood (or a ballast) strikes me.
    • First place winners will each receive a $25 Amazon gift card.
    • An indeterminate number of Honorable Mentions will receive bragging rights over everyone who doesn’t win. Also, honor.
  7. I will act as sole judge, and select the winning haiku based on the aforementioned criteria, as well as other criteria I make up as I go along. All decisions are final, and will not be changed under any circumstances. Unless I flip-flop. I can sometimes be a bit wishy-washy.

21 comments:

  1. Exciting! I hope i can get one written in time (since i haven't been able since the Pirate themed one (which i was a winner (and i still love that haiku (and apparently parentheticals))))

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I hope so, too (because I like reading haiku (and also parentheses (which were my original addiction, before footnotes))).

      Delete
  2. Replies
    1. I have no knowledge about your language abilities, Alex. For all I know, you can. And feel free to, if you'd like. I'm just saying, if you're hoping to win, you shouldn't.

      Delete
  3. How many entries
    Will use the words, "I think we
    Need a bigger boat"?

    Marian Allen, Author Lady
    Fantasies, mysteries, comedies, recipes

    ReplyDelete
  4. May I try one and come back again?
    Here goes: (none of this stuff counts, really)

    Say it with me now:
    Sharks are our friends, sharks are not
    food. Sharks are our friends.

    Sea stars have tiny
    feet for tasting and clinging
    while the ocean swells.

    Tide pools beckon small
    fingers to explore their depths
    and find their treasures.

    Ocean vast and wide
    I dream of your rushing tides,
    soothing me to sleep.

    The final frontier
    under the deep sea depths far
    below human reach.


    ReplyDelete
  5. I guess I just got in the mood - please ignore the comment before the haiku in the last one. And thanks for stopping by my blog and inviting me to join!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Oceans are so cool!
    But sharks are so much better.
    I like mine on toast.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Pearls

    life's irritations
    transformed by patient bivalves
    jewelry from torment

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  8. light refracting down
    makes each drop into silver
    with a clear blue tint

    anemones sway
    but not from force of current
    back and forth alone

    pufferfish blow up
    and jut their spikes at false friends
    then they blow back down

    sand litters the sea
    midnight along the bottom
    twilight higher up

    for any human
    five sets of teeth is too much
    but not for a shark

    ReplyDelete
  9. Old man and the sea
    rugged, leather skin, waiting,
    squints up, wonders why

    An octopus haiku - couldn't resist rhyming...
    One, two, three, and four
    Rhythmic motion on the floor,
    Five, six, seven, eight

    Fascinating man
    Sea horse father cares for young
    Example to dads!

    Poles baited, ready
    Quality conversation
    better than a fish

    A lurking monster,
    hidden in coral...attacks!
    Boss barracuda!

    thanks for the haiku fun! will tweet!

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  10. Fridged salty depths
    Waist deep... OHGODWHATWASTHAT!?!?
    NOPE NOPE NOPE. NOPE NOPE!!!

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  11. In emerald depths,
    colorful gemstone fish swim,
    treasures of the sea.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Dagon in the depths
    la Cthulu f'taghn
    shadows of the past

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  13. One leaky diaper
    And a toddler's angry tears
    Makes bed an ocean

    Kraken goes swimming
    Looking for ships to munch on.
    Salty sailors. Yum.

    Metamorphosis:
    Cucumbers and beets pickle
    In the briny deep.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Stone begins muscling
    There deeper than blueness, where
    Tsunamis birth black.

    That tiger curls round
    Two thirds of earth so we play
    With his velvet toes.

    A wizard was fined
    For littering our ocean
    With pens and lace fans.

    Stones in watergalls,
    Red, orange, blue, and the sea
    Laps in to make soup.

    Each wave tries to put
    Them out, the wet white starlets,
    But they won't stay out.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Every single year, I plan to participate, then run out of time...

    ReplyDelete
  16. I am late...but I'll send one anyway.

    Salt, breeze, sand slippery
    Castles crumble, waves lapping
    5 year old ' s tantrum

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Too many syllables!

      Salt, breeze, sand slipping
      Castles crumble, waves lapping
      5 year old ' s tantrum

      Delete
  17. I float for months. Years.
    Alone. No chance of rescue.
    Who am I? Wilson.

    Choose your favorite:
    A. Great white shark; B. Clown fish;
    C. Anemone

    On the ocean floor,
    A wondrous, moving carpet
    Rays of light (and dark)

    Some cons use 2 men
    Others might use 3 or 4
    His has 11

    A music lover,
    'Twixt Scylla and Charybdis
    Did I meet my fate.

    Duuuuh dun. Duuuh dun. Duuh
    Dun DUH dun DUN dun DUN dun
    DUN dun DUN DUN AAAAAAUGH!!!!

    ReplyDelete