General Topics - K-3rd Grade

First Place

Snow flakes are falling.
Children are making snowballs.
The smell of cookies.

-Elizabeth Norvell, Mendocino

Second Place

Predator owl eyes.
Scratch hiss knock over the plants.
Mice slip through the grass.

-Justin Sundstrom, Point Arena

Third Place

Feathers of a bird
Plucked from a bush of flowers
A cactus of course

-Nina Standing, Mendocino

Honorable Mention

Why do stories end
Why do stories end so fast
Question me to know

-Tayler Scott, Ukiah

General Topics - 4th-6th Grade

First Place

Magnet on the fridge
Speaking in ways we can’t hear
   The sky looking in.

-Marianna Cooper, Mendocino

Second Place

It is so dark out
The night sky is a dark light
I need to see it

-Tabitha Ramos, Redwood Valley

Third Place

Autumn colors swirl
A crowd of blue and green shirts
Chase the soccer ball

-Alec McLeod, Redwood Valley

Honorable Mention

I can imagine
My turtle soaring backwards
He ate my birdie

-Luke Soberanis, Hopland

Honorable Mention

The mushrooms are white
as the strawberries are red
and that’s how I know.

-Luis Avalos, Ukiah

Honorable Mention

The deer are dead now.
They are not happy like skunk.
The bear is full now.

-Justin M. Garcia, Mendocino

General Topics - 7th-9th Grade

First Place

Cracking morning eggs
while bombs fall in Iraq
my head feels scrambled

-Robin Gomez, Mendocino

Second Place

Morning blue bright sky,
little raindrops coming down,
thump, where is my heart?

-Anne Lee, Talmage

Third Place

Pine trees fill the air
It’s fall now in our mountains
Grandmother’s Mountain

-Lisa Noel, Willits

Honorable Mention

  blossoms cover the ground
what once might have been cherries
  is now firewood

-Rebecca Bullshields, Redwood Valley

Honorable Mention

Rustling softly
A willow perched by the pond
Swaying in the wind

-Ruhui Gan, Talmage

General Topics - 10th-12th Grade

First Place

       Hovering above
Silver but always changing
    Snow piles in the sky

-Vincent K. Brock, Ukiah

Second Place

      Sun shiny Sunday
Oldies jam on the jukebox
     Creases in my pants

-Cesar Mendez, Ukiah

Third Place

         Speeding toward the lip
Everything goes through your mind
            I love to jump dirt

-Tim McCann, Boonville

Honorable Mention

Whales kill children
They cannot be stopped by man
We need big robots

-Tyler Good, Ukiah

Haiku about Ukiah, Youth

First Place

Water sodden grass
Trampled beneath teenage feet
—at Ukiah High

-Steffani Crawford, Ukiah

Second Place

The scent of coffee
And sounds of a busy street
A new day begins

-Rachel Henderson, Hopland

Third Place

Squirrels climbing home
Concerts blaring out beneath
People have picnics

-Alec McLeod, Redwood Valley

Contemporary Haiku, Youth

First Place

the orange has a skin
    that you can eat
            that’s
        all I know

-Ares Langer, Mendocino

Second Place

A tear falls lightly
on a half written letter
—soldier’s wife

-Steffani Crawford, Ukiah

Third Place

   teaching underground
        teaching about
digging roots underground

-Madelyn Crowningshield, Mendocino

Honorable Mention

rain wind thunder
turkey goose and mistletoe
bring winter warmth

-Dory Breaux, Fort Bragg

General Topics, Adult

First Place

blackberry blossom
tapping my kitchen window
red dragonfly day

-Bruce Longstreet, Boonville

Second Place

Army Museum —
            Hanoi children smile at one
old American

-Stephen Sossaman, Westfield, MA

Third Place

Yin yang cats on couch
Bright fire lights the living room
Winter afternoon

-Katherine Houston, Ukiah

Honorable Mention

On a blade of grass
A rainbow imprisoned
By a drop of dew

-Bruce Hering, Boonville

Honorable Mention

dark approaches light
water gathers as white lace
trees shiver waiting

-Avrah Ray. Willits

Honorable Mention

   Rainbow showers come
The pale afternoon sun still
   In a misty sky

-Jackie Farley, Lakeport

Haiku about Ukiah, Adult

First Place

On hot summer days
Airport rabbits sit in shade
Under one lone tree

-Katherine Houston, Ukiah

Second Place

Summer’s hot sweet smell
   Turns to wine on autumn wind
      Too soon, vinegar

-Kayla Wildman, Ukiah

Third Place

Mountaintops, clear skies,
Recalling summer heat,
A wet sheep lies down

-Marianne Weems, Robert Rinder,
Laurence Rinder, Ukiah

Honorable Mention

Exuberant leaps
Across the blooming pasture
Lamb “inventory”?

-Manya Wik, Potter Valley

General Topics, Adult
Guest Judge: Jane Reichhold

First Place

standing
     redwood trees
            shade me

-Cheryl Maslin, Willits

Honorable Mention

Temple of Heaven
    tourists' questions
in Echo Hall

-Stephen Sossaman, Westfield, MA

Honorable Mention

sun warmed bed
stretching naked ladies
signal summers end

-Laura Leigh, Pt. Arena

Honorable Mention

Dancing in my cup
The winter moon's reflection
how my old hands shake

-Vincent Carleton, Elk, CA

Honorable Mention

mid meadow
naked ladies sway
curtain call

-Philip Graf, Gualala

Honorable Mention

My neighbor's sycamore
Winter pruned to nubbins
Now grows fists of leaves

-Virginia Fitch, Ukiah