San Francisco International Competition for Haiku, Senryu and Tanka, 2023

there was

so much I wanted

to teach you . . .

a blue jay's feathers

are not really blue

First Place

Judge's comments:

For me, this was the clear winner. The tanka is deliberately concise and open-ended. This brevity lends weight to every word. A sense of loss and longing permeate the poem, giving it great emotional depth. There is enough 'space' to allow for reflection - it's a poem that the reader can truly inhabit. It also prompts us to look closely, to observe the details. The combination of all these elements made this tanka leap from the page. A deserving winner.

—Alan Peat

let's drive

down this prairie road,

singing until

we collide head-on

with the Milky Way

Honourable Mention

Judge's comments:

Although our ultimate fate is unavoidable, there is such a sense of untrammeled joy in this tanka. And what a final image!

—Alan Peat