Honorable Mention: WHC Spring Kukai

first warm day--
park pigeons shuffle slightly
to let us through
Billie Wilson, USA

Comments by Christopher Herold:

It is early spring and, with the first warm day, the poet and a friend are inspired to go out for a walk in the park. City pigeons are used to people and expend little energy to get out of our way. Regardless of their technical definitions, the words "shuffle" and "slightly" somehow work together to faithfully describe the movements of the birds. They feel no threat; they are contented. The poet and the poet’s friend are not in a hurry either. If they were, the pigeons might scatter with more than just a slight shuffle. So it seems that on such a fine spring day, both birds and poets are in no hurry. I enjoy the feeling of ease and contentedness in this poem--also its sense of companionship.