Haiku Contest 2023

We've received many great submissions for the 2023 haiku contest in the children's, youth, and adult categories. You can find the winning submissions and read all of the submissions below.

Winners will be awarded gift certificates to El Cerrito Natural Grocery and/or Jenny K Gifts. First prize in each age category: $50 gift certificate. Second and third prize in each age category: $20 gift certificate.

The Haiku Hike is part of the Hillside Festival, May 6-7, 2023. Please join us for the hike where the winning poets will read and talk about their haiku on a pleasant walk in the Hillside Natural area.

Haiku Hike: Sunday, May 7, 12:30 to 2 PM

Meet at Regency Gateway entrance
Options for 1 mile round trip walk or 2 1/2 mile round trip walk.

Vertical Divider

JENNELL MARSHALL
The wind keeps blowing
Me down the hill as I track
Muddy shoelaces

BERNIE KELLMAN
STOP weather clickbait
An atmospheric river ?
It's just gosh darn rain

PATRICIA COLTRIN
Skirting the hillside,
looking through winter branches,
I feel at home here.

ALLISON TORRES
Sun brightens my days
Wind reminds me I’m mortal
Leaves rustle my soul

Step into the mud
Feel it sucking off my shoes
Snack time for hillside

You said I was lost
Wandering through the forest
Found myself in thought

KARL E. HANS
Blue schisty graywacke
Scraped off like pizza toppings
Makes me want my lunch

Thousand calories
Townsend warbles in my ear
Yes, you earned your beer

AMY KUBES
Heart pounding steep hill
This week has been a hard climb
Shadows and sunlight

MIRIAM ARONER
March wind, muddy trail
branches, leaves make climbing hard
a bench to rest on

high above the Bay
leafy trail, climbing skyward
bench to rest awhile

dropping off stuff, then
hiking up a leafy trail
high above the Bay

TOM AYRES
Heavy winter rains
Grow fuel for summer wildfires;
But first, spring flowers!

RYK TANALSKI
Fog below fills the Bay
Fog above blots out the view
Which is it today?

LANZZ
oh, morning sunrise
from El Cerrito hillside ~
an amazing view

grove of ancient oaks
around the hillside area ~
looks magnificent

butterfly dancing
among the yellow flowers ~
a pollinator

LUCY RODRIGUEZ
After so much rain
the nearby hills dressed in green
fill my heart with hope

MATTHEW ZOERB
Let it roll off me
Stress and worry left behind
Here, I am at peace

MATTHEW ZOERB
Hey! Don't touch my snacks!
The hanger will transform me
Like Jekyll to Hyde

High above the Bay
I bask with my squirrel friends
And smell the redwoods

PAMELA LIM-MCALISTER
Bug-eyed, blue-tailed skink,
Basking in the summer heat--
Afternoon siesta.

Auburn, crimson, gold
Crunchy, crackling underfoot--
Nature’s confetti.

“Hi, pigeons!” say I.
“Coo coo to you!” birds reply.
“Hi?” “Coo?” Ah, haiku!

LUZ KIRSCH
The bench breathes delight
Extraordinary joy
We dance at sunset

Inhalation day
The views amuses our bench
Exhalation night

Dance by moonlit bench
Disco lights brings happiness
Tomorrow we rest

AMALIA LORENTZ CUNNINGHAM
I need to stretch my legs now
Instinct leads to hills
Follow trails from those before

Pup leads the way up
Intriguing creature odors
Hillside smells - doggy delight

BRIAN GYGI
The Meadow is clear
Music drifts through grassy space
Songs from a past time

CAROL LANGHAUSER
The Highland Walk
Take the mountain path
- from Harvard to Scenic Streets
A view to behold.

Love for the Hill
Weed Wrench the Scotch broom
The Trekkers' labor of love
Motorcycle Hill.

Gyuto
Space to meditate
Gyuto Monastery
Tibetan Buddhism.

WALDEN TUHEY
In eternal night,
Stars guide us to the unknown;
As children, we are.

A ray of sunshine,
In the winter of our fears.
Hope returns at last.

Through the thicket years,
Love brings us, though not shielded,
Stronger for the scars.

RHONDA ROBY
Joy
The paths, trails, and steps
El Cerrito's Trail Trekkers
Bringing joy to all.

Earthquake
Learn of EC's faults
Hiking with geologists
Cracks and shifts abound!

Sundar Shadi
It is winter! It's...
....Shadi's Holiday Display.
Hike! Drive up Moeser!

Our annual haiku contest is a popular feature every year. Submit your poem before the Hillside festival. The Haiku Contest will culminate in a hike during the Hillside Festival, May 6-7, 2023, during which winners will read their haiku at various points in the hike. You do not need to be an El Cerrito resident to enter.

Focus your poems on your experiences in the Hillside Natural Area. Classical Japanese Haiku includes: the season; the place, the transitory nature of life, the suffering, the surprise moment. 17 syllables in 5-7-5 format is not strictly followed.

Age categories: 1)18 and over; 2)13-17; 3)12 and under. A panel of three local poets will select winners. Winners will be awarded gift certificates to El Cerrito Natural Grocery and/or Jenny K Gifts. First prize in each age category: $50 gift certificate. Second and third prize in each age category: $20 gift certificate.

Submit up to three poems to email: ECTTHaiku@gmail.com between March 1, 2023 and March 31, 2023. Include your name, email, phone number, and age if 12 or under, or 13- 17. Children 12 and under, please ask your parent or guardian about entering the contest beforehand. All haiku entries will be celebrated on the Trail Trekkers web site (children will be listed only by first name & first initial of last name).

Winners will be announced April 11th, 2023, and recognized on the website and in the Trekker Newsletter. Awards will be given out and poets read their haiku on the haiku hike through the Hillside Area during weekend of May 6-7, 2023.

Haiku Contest 2023

Haiku Contest 2023

Winning entries 2023

All Haiku Contest 2023 Entries

Prior Info on Haiku Entries

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