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Banzai, merry company of haijin!

4th edition of Mizu no Oto – Every Image Has Its Haiku has come to an end.
16 talented participants tested themselves trying to turn a beautiful black and white shot by our “spiritual father” @f3nix into the best haiku.

Judging a poem is always very difficult, because it involves the sensitivity of the author and the reader in a deeper way than a piece of prose; however, in this contest we have always tried to clearly explain the criteria of judgment, even if they are a bit schematic.

The best way to fully understand the poetics of haiku is to read as many as possible of them, especially Japanese ones. Often, we Westerners struggle to have that lightness of thought, and we struggle to avoid metaphors, stately words, witty mottos, or moral.

The best haiku are dry, clean, with common words and without rhetorical figures. The poet's ego is as light and invisible as possible, the unsaid and the suggested are more important than the explicit.

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What are Mizu no Oto criteria of judgment:

Reading the entries, we look for these characteristics:

• Kireji (切れ字), a cut between the 1st and the 2nd verses, or between the 2nd and the 3rd; the cut can be grammatical, as a sign of punctuation, or it can be a cut in the meaning, like two different images.

• Kigo (季語), an explicit or implicit reference to a season, that defines the time of the year in which the haiku is composed or referred to.

• Sabi (寂), the sense of the inexorable passage of time, the beauty or serenity that accompanies the advance of age, when the life of the objects and its impermanence are highlighted by patina and wear or by any visible repairs.

• Wabi (侘寂), the taste for frugal and natural things, rustic simplicity, freshness or silence; it can be applied to both natural and artificial objects, or even non-ostentatious elegance.

• Mono no aware (物の哀れ), empathy with nature and human life; the "feeling of things", nostalgia, regret for the passing of time, understanding of the changeability and of the transience without suffering.

• Yūgen (幽玄), sense of wonder and mystery; it represents the state of mind produced by the inexplicable fascination of things, the feeling of an 'other' universe, full of mysterious unity.

• Karumi (軽み), beauty in simplicity; poetic beauty reflected in its simplicity, free from preconceptions and moral judgment.

• Shiori (しおり), gentleness; the levity and the delicate charm that radiates from the verses, where things are evoked in the reader without aggressiveness or excessive explicitness.

Here are the winners of the week!

Best Haiku award (2 STEEM):

@josemalavem

Riel del camino
Las sombras enramadas
Claridad sin fin

Road rail
Shadows in the branches
Endless clarity

Fortunately for me, I know enough Spanish language to appreciate the original version of this haiku, which does not meet all the features listed above, but it is very close. Three simple elements of the photo (rails, branches, light) described in a way that expresses quiet serenity and complete interpenetration of the poet in the nature he is observing. "Las sombras enramadas" translates literally with "shadows intertwined as branches", I like it a lot.

Popular Choice award (1 SBI share):

@tristancarax

Passages of time -
Lonely tracks, a friend of mine.
Breathe, inhale - exhale.

@tristancarax has received the highest number of votes from other readers, a judgment with which we agree, because his haiku is among those that are closer to the criteria listed above. The presence of the poet, or perhaps of a passer-by, is only suggested by the breath. The lightness and simplicity of the verses are in their own way solemn and elegant.

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Both our charming winners also achieve the right to decorate their footer with this exclusive and beautiful banner by @f3nix:

The banner is customizable with the name of the winner, an idea given to us by @rebeccabe. Please, contact @f3nix on Discord or via comment if you like this option.

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Best vote comment (1 SBI share):

@kaelci

It was a tough one this week! I like a lot of the haiku, but, as with my own, many of my favourites held the author's thoughts... so I tried my best to pick a favourite that did not. My vote is for @rdsmas :)

This new award was introduced to encourage participants to read the other haiku in competition and to express their opinion. The comment by @kaelci was the one that more clearly expressed the motivations for which she chose her favorite haiku.

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Special mentions to @gaby-crb, @vdux and @calluna: their haiku deserve a short comment.

@gaby-crb:

Never ending rail
Dappled in shade and quietness
Haven to wildlife

Her haiku is close to the best. The choice of simple words, and the kireji obtained with the third verse that sums up and explains the first two, make this a haiku that can be used to clearly explain this poetic form.

@vdux:

What lies before us
Cannot ever compare to
What lies within us

At the other end of the range, this poem has the shape of a haiku, but its content is completely divergent, leaving a deep Zen feeling in the reader. It is completely out of the criteria above, but still a beautiful and deep poem.

@calluna:

The never ending
Stretches deep into the woods
But I've had enough

The third verse is like a tear in the delicacy of the haiku, through which the spirit of the author emerges irreverently, like in some iconoclast Bashō haiku. This is also out of our criteria but highly appreciated.

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Thank you, domo arigato gozaimasu, to the other participants! You are the backbone of the contest. Keep on participating and refine your haiku ability: @bashadow, @manoldonchev, @theironfelix, @agmoore, @kaelci, @a01, @felixgarciap, @cyemela, @aurodivys, @rdsmas, @oacevedo.

See you tomorrow for the new edition of Mizu No Oto!

Your humble Bashō-fish scholar

@marcoriccardi

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[banner credit: @f3nix]