ukiaHaiku Festival - The Sixteenth Annual, 2018

cormorants . . .
we open our arms
to the sun

Third Place
Jane Reichhold International Prize


Judge's Comments:

Cormorants are known to spread their wings, and I understand that the reason they do this is to dry them. Because they are water birds, they need to dry their wings often. Although this poem does not say the birds are spreading their wings, surely they are, and that is what prompts the people in this poem to spread their arms, perhaps to feel the warmth of the sun, if not to dry their arms. I enjoy the celebratory tone of this poem, of being open to the possibilities of life. We should all spread our wings like the cormorant.

—Michael Dylan Welch

(Note: there were over 1,400 entries to the contest)