Senryu Contest: The Winners
We turned the judging of this contest over to WelchM (Michael Dylan Welch), a poet and haiku scholar who introduced us to senryu several months ago. As the entries came in, we saw that a lot of our regular game-players had taken this innocent, virtuous verse form and unleashed shameless wordplay upon it. This was undoubtedly an aberration from tradition, but it may have resulted in an altogether new poem: the "punryu."
Without further ado, we turn the proceedings over to WelchM. After having read all the poems submitted in this contest, our guest-host e-mailed the following report.
From Michael Dylan Welch:
A good senryu is not merely a knee-slapper, though it can be that. It's not just a showcase for puns or wit, although a good senryu can include cleverness or humour as part of a more resonant purpose. Rather, a senryu is a poem that wakes us up in a small way with its distilled, one-breath moment of heightened awareness focusing on human nature. It's a window into the human condition, freshly squeegeed. Senryu are, ultimately, poems of human self-awareness. They don't have to be funny, but often it is good to laugh at ourselves through senryu.
I'm pleased, then, to have read so many fine and amusing entries. While I might define a few of the entries as haiku rather than senryu, and others as aphorisms or only light wordplay, many poems had much to recommend them -- especially if they are first attempts at the form. Here are the top three selections:
***The
Winners***
| Night watchman's sweatshirt proclaims "Carpe diem" (ShedPot) |
Wedding photos late. Oh well, someday my prints will come. (DIONFR) |
after the show the ventriloquist loses his voice (guy@research) |
Congratulations to the above winners. Meanwhile, it's hard to stop with just
the preceding three, though, so here are ten Runners-Up:
| therapy session -- the gambler bets it won't help (MiladyJoan) |
reviewing the budget speech he shaves carefully (stanford@magna) |
Students watch the clock as the professor lectures on immortality. (Larkworthy) |
cold spring day... sexy blonde next door calls me "sir" (JTM666) |
in street clothes -- obviously not a real cyclist (Powms) |
| Felon, sneezing, says "Pardon me" (ShedPot) |
The pregnant teen watches the sex-ed film without taking notes. (Larkworthy) |
the big dent in the "please drive carefully" bumper sticker (Powms) |
Penthouse reader, spying nursing mother, blushes deeply (SMPolonsky) |
In the gated community a welcome mat on the porch. (RDH9995) |
And, just for fun, here are five Punners-Up:
| disturbed priest has a bad habit of dressing like a nun (Robert1919) |
Emily Post driving down a country road takes the wrong fork (guy@research) |
At the florist I spotted a cop... he was a plant. (jens@west.net) |
Busy autumn -- open-air bakery rakes in the dough (SMPolonsky) |
politicians make good golfers -- always have a good lie. (ToxWaste) |
Thanks to everyone who entered this senryu contest for having some fun (sometimes seriously), and congratulations to the preceding winners. For more information on the Haiku Society of America and other groups and publications that promote and publish haiku, senryu, and related forms, please feel free to contact Michael Dylan Welch at WelchM@aol.com. To subscribe to the Shiki-L online haiku (and senryu) discussion list, send the message "subscribe" to shiki-request@cc.matsuyama-u.ac.jp. And happy senryu-writing to all.
--MDW
***And Three More Senryu from Michael Dylan Welch***
| daylight saving time-- clock shop owner in to work early |
Sunday lunch-- the sixth grader eats his soup alphabetically |
before the guests arrive I straighten the straight cushions |