As I do every year, regardless of the quality of the writing, I choose entries that adhere to the theme of the contest. Remember that this year’s theme presented a question: how does nature reflect aging and the cycle of life?
Regardless of the theme, there are always entries that do not address the thematic element, instead focusing on witty connections to soap or to some personal question the writer wishes to explore. Although many of these are entertaining, they ultimately end up in the rejection pile.
Below are my selections for the top 20 poems from this year’s contest. Numbers twenty through eleven are in no particular order of preference and simply reflect my desire to recognize strong attempts to address the theme. Even if they did not win, I enjoyed them. I believe good writing should be recognized, so please read them all.
Numbers ten through one are in a specific order: for adhering to the theme, for using interesting language choices and creative imagery, and for creating a successful emotional turn in the haiku. These are my favorite, in order, with number one being this year’s winner.
I have included the name of each author and their poem. Any titles have been omitted.
Without any further ado, please enjoy these selections from this year’s contest.
Hawks swoop
down for prey—
funerals and inheritances.
19. Rachel Linton
柏木が
朽ちて、腐って、
が落ちない。
//
The oak tree is
decayed, rotting,
but does not fall.
18. B.P. Otto
Among the brown dead,
spring's first fall--a still-green bud,
too early unwombed.
17. Doreen Beyer
last year's lemon
a ghost
clutching the tree
16. Jeffrey Ferrera
ageless woods
a lifespan is measured
in tree rings
15. Erica Reid
dim gap
between stone toes
& mausoleum
paper wasp nest
14. Cindy Guentherman
80 years old
she walks through dandelions
all those white heads
13. Fiona Ritchie Walker
Those with old hands
plant pear trees for heirs —
sweet harvest for all.
12. J.B.Pename
The florist rinses
Her soiled hands.
The storm durian blossoms.
11. Kate Marsh
Small child come and gone
Butterflies shed a cocoon
Who is the wiser?
10. Satoko Higashino
A breeze of warm pine
When did I start to treasure
The memories from childhood
9. Frank Kelly
gnarled oak
Your splayed branches –
grandma’s hands
8. Suzanne Haas-Cunningham
Wondrous spring morning
Blossoms stalking summer dew.
Fall into compost.
7. Victor Hernandez
empty cocoons
dangle from ancient redwoods-
breeze-dried wings ascending
6. Diane Oesau
from the compost heap
behind the old shed
come melon vines
5. Laura Miller
Summer leans heavy
Through children’s clover crowns
Monarchs fly southward
4. Matt Dove
On the cherry's branch
One leaf clings, wrinkled and dry
Beside tight-closed buds
3. Christine Kohler
Spring orange buds
Fruit ages sweetly
Winter juice
2. Richard Matta
cascading stream…
a weed clot gaining on
the sakura petal
1. Eavonka Ettinger
shedding its skin
a snake slithers away
growing pains
—-
Thank you to everyone who entered this year’s contest. It is a privilege and honor to read words from so many wonderful writers. If you did not win this year, please try again in 2024. The custom winner’s soap will be manufactured in the next couple of weeks, and will be available for sale from September through the end of the year.
The 2024 contest will open in late January.
And, as always, keep writing.
Sincerely,
Bill McConnell
Owner, Whole Life Soaps
Wrightwood, CA
I've been spending too much time thinking about my own mortality lately. I turned 51 in December, had my first angina attack, and now I am taking high blood pressure medication. Where did my healthy youth go? When did this old man move into my body? But that is the cycle of life, right. What's young grows old, and what's old eventually passes on...
]]>Update: This contest is officially closed. We look forward to reading all of the entries. The winner will be announced no later than July 15, but sooner is always a possibility.
Thank you and good luck.
---------------------------
I can't believe how fast 2023 is already slipping by us like pine pollen and dust through the boards of my front porch.
I've been spending too much time thinking about my own mortality lately. I turned 51 in December, had my first angina attack, and now I am taking high blood pressure medication. Where did my healthy youth go? When did this old man move into my body? But that is the cycle of life, right. What's young grows old, and what's old eventually passes on.
With that said, it is time for our annual haiku contest where I, a local soap maker in the San Gabriel mountains of southern California, am calling for your observational thoughts of nature in the form of a haiku.
This year's theme is Aging and the Cycle of Life.
The natural world, if you are keen to pay attention, offers many critical insights regarding how we age, what happens when we die, and the inherent beauty of this simple physical process, one which inspires so much fear and anxiety, but one that has been occurring without change since life began.
Your task, should you choose to enter, is to write a haiku on how how aging and the cycle of life are reflected in our natural world.
If you've never written a Haiku before, just remember:
1. Your haiku should aim to convey a moment of insight, probably from something you’ve observed, either in the world or in your mind and heart.
2. Write your haiku using a just a few lines. Traditional Japanese haiku use mora, which are spread across a few lines. In English, writers attempt to translate this concept into a rigid syllable structure, but there is not a direct correlation between the two concepts, as a single mora may contain two, three, or four syllables. Simply put, using seventeen syllables may actually make your haiku too long, in the traditional sense. So try to avoid the syllable game that many native English speakers learn in elementary school. If you really must focus on syllables, I would suggest using no more than 17 syllables across all three lines. But fewer is preferable, and likely more correct.
3. Write with directness, using clear images.
4. Find a way to break the haiku into two parts, with the second part creating a contrast or surprise after the first one.
5. Nature should be part of the poem, either setting up the contrast or completing it. Poems without this will not be considered.
Finally, it's important to read haiku to get the feeling of the haiku structure. Whether you search the internet for examples or buy a book of Haiku poetry, reading examples is still the best teacher.
Contest Rules:
1. Past winners are ineligible
2. One entry per person
3. Entries must be received by May 20, 2023 at 5:00PM PST to be considered eligible.
4. Submissions may be entered alternatively via US Mail. Send to Bill McConnell c/o Whole Life Soaps, PO Box 3082, Wrightwood, CA 92397. Additionally, contestants may submit a contest entry in-person at Whole Life Soaps retail store located at 6013 Park Dr, Wrightwood, CA 92397. Submissions must include first and last name, a valid email address, a phone number, a current mailing address, and a typed copy of the haiku entry. We are open every Saturday and Sunday from 11:00am - 5:00pm.
5. Winners will be announced no later than July 15, 2023. Winners will be announced via this blog, via our Instagram page, and via email to all contestants.
7. Contest rules may change at anytime.
Last updated 4/3/2023
]]>Our lack of tolerance frightens me – we do not live in a unified country, and we certainly have little tolerance for individual choice. Our political differences are merely the picaroon that cracked the log of the American identity. How that log splinters from here on out is demoralizing (at least for me) to contemplate.
This year’s contest asked you to consider the concept of intolerance in nature. How does nature resolve its differences? How does it tolerate the uniqueness between two species? We can learn much from this observation, although it appears much of humanity is too stubborn to pay attention.
There were 325 entries this year, down from years past when we have received almost a thousand entrants annually. Many entries were incredibly good, but did not address the theme, while others forced tropes about soap into the poem, a trend that happens every year, and those tropes end up in the not-winners pile.
As always, I review my favorite selections, so without any further fanfare, let’s dig in.
A daffodil sprouts
From the ashes of a home.
Rain quells human fire.
I would like to thank everyone who submitted a poem to this contest. I also send a heartfelt thanks to Tim Green at Rattle Magazine, whose fierce support of poetry makes contests like this possible.
I will contact all contestants and send them a copy of the results. If you did not win this year, please consider entering next year. The contest window will open sometime in January of 2023 and extend through May of 2023. In the meantime, keep an eye out for a custom soap based on elements of the winning poem.
Thank you,
Bill McConnell
Owner, Whole Life Soaps
]]>We hope to announce announce the winner no later than July 4, 2022. I hope that when we announce the winner. We will also announce the winner on our Instagram and on our new TikTok (search for Whole Life Soaps on either platform).
We will email all winners regardless of the outcome. Thanks for entering, and follow our Instagram @wholelifesoaps for product updates, future contest announcements, and creative content.
Last Updated 7/1/2022
]]>This year's theme is intolerance.
So much of the world lacks tolerance. We fight about politics, we argue over international borders, and we strip away the rights of others in the name of self-righteousness. But, I ask, where is our tolerance of each other?
The natural world has many opportunities to observe how a vast array of different plants, animals, insects, and even people can live together, harmoniously, despite the often insurmountable differences that we perceive in each other.
Your task, should you choose to enter, is to write a haiku about nature's ability to deal with intolerance.
If you've never written a Haiku before, just remember:
Your haiku should aim to convey a moment of insight, probably from something you’ve observed, either in the world or in your mind and heart.
Write your haiku in three lines. You do not need to use the 5-7-5 syllable count. Many of the best Haiku do not follow this guideline. I suggest a goal of 17 syllables spread across three lines. How you divide it is up to you.
Write with directness, using clear images.
Find a way to break the haiku into two parts, with the second part creating a contrast or surprise after the first one.
Finally, it's important to read haiku to get the feeling of the haiku structure. Whether you search the internet for examples or buy a book of Haiku poetry, reading examples is still the best teacher.
Contest Rules:
1. Past winners are ineligible
2. One entry per person
3. Entries must be received by May 21st at 5:00PM PST to be considered eligible.
4. Submissions may be entered alternatively via US Mail. Send to Bill McConnell c/o Whole Life Soaps, PO Box 3082, Wrightwood, CA 92397. Additionally, contestants may submit a contest entry in-person at Whole Life Soaps retail store located at 6013 Park Dr, Wrightwood, CA 92397. Submissions must include first and last name, a valid email address, a phone number, a current mailing address, and a typed copy of the haiku entry.
5. Winners will be announced no later than July 1, 2022. Winners will be announced via this blog, via our Instagram page, and via email to all contestants.
6. Employees of Whole Life Soap and their family members are also ineligible to participate in this contest.
7. Contest rules may change at anytime.
Last updated 4/3/2022
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