Haiku Society of America
Merit Book Awards for 1987
for books published in 1985 and 1986
John K. Gillespie and Peggy Heinrich
judges
First Place
Rod Willmot. The Ribs of Dragonfly. Black Moss Press, Windsor, Ontario, Canada, 1984.
cold rain
a trace of warmth
in the smell of wet cloththe shed door shuts
a dragonfly skeleton
flies into the dark
Second Place
Richard Tice. Station Stop. Middlewood Press, Salt Lake City, Utah, 1986.
etching
the sun on water —
dragonfly shadowrain on oak leaves —
sharing a cranny
with the ants
Third Place
R. W. Grandinetti Rader. Neon Shapes. Jade Mountain Press, Morristown, New Jersey, 1985.
winter morning,
the pretzel vendor
hugs himselfbumping
the blindman
autumn fog
Honorable Mention
Adele Kenny. Between Hail Marys. Muse Pie Press, Passaic, New Jersey, 1986.
long in the heat
the cry
of a tropical birdfrom the open grave
rising halos
of mist
Honorable Mention
Elizabeth Searle Lamb. Casting into a Cloud. From Here Press, Fanwood, New Jersey, 1985.
before firstlight
the wild plum blossoms
whiten the dry ditchwind in the sagebrush—
the same dusty color
the smell of it
Honorable Mention
Alexis Rotella. Rearranging Light. Muse Pie Press, Passaic, New Jersey, 1985.
Hummingbird
tuning
the lilyAt the top
of the ferris wheel,
lilac scent
Honorable Mention
Nicholas A. Virgilio. Selected Haiku. Burnt Lake Press, Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada, 1985.
shaking the muskrat —
snow falls from the trapper’s hair —
and from a reeddeep in rank grass,
through a bullet-riddled helmet:
an unknown flower
Honorable Mention - Translation
Lenore Mayhew, translator. Monkey’s Raincoat: Linked Poetry of the Basho School with Haiku Selections. Charles E. Tuttle, Rutland, Vermont, 1985.
A selection from Monkey’s Raincoat, the last six verses of “Grass and Plum” (Ume Wakana), a 36-stanza renga:
Close neighbor
a dry cough
from his veranda.~ Doho
The more you know him
the more the spirit shows.~ Empu
Every design some
habitual picture;
Fukushima lacquerware.~ Ranran
Thin snow falling
on the bamboo geta at the door.~ Fumikuni
Flowers again,
and again I can’t decide
whom shall I take to look?~ Yasui
In the spring wind, the doll’s sleeve
a deeper blue.~ Uko
Honorable Mention - Textbook
William J. Higginson with Penny Harter. The Haiku Handbook: How to Write, Share, and Teach Haiku. McGraw-Hill, New York, New York, 1985.
on the gray church wall
the shadow of a candle
. . . shadow of its smoke~ L. A. Davidson
The water deepens—
following the dark canoe
a pair of muskrats.~ O. Southard
Honorable Mention - Anthology
Cor van den Heuvel, editor. The Haiku Anthology. Fireside/Simon & Schuster, New York, New York, 1986.
Searching on the wind,
the hawk’s cry . . .
is the shape of its beak.~ James W. Hackett
Hair, in my comb’s teeth,
the color of autumn wind—
this whole day is gray.~ Clement Hoyt