The Dickolas Wang Haiku Contest 2005

Lately I've been thinking a lot about haiku. I was thinking about writing some, but before I did I found that Dunning had already written one for me. Before I knew it, Jim had another one.

Since I enjoyed these both so very much, I'd like to announce the inaugural Dickolas Wang Haiku Contest. I would like you (yes, you) to come up with a haiku about yours truly, and submit it via the comments on this post for all to see. You can flatter me, you can make fun of me, you can do whatever you want, just so long as it's a haiku, and it's about me.

From Wikipedia's "haiku" entry:

This is the article on the ancient Japanese form of poetry. For the BeOS open-source re-creation project, see Haiku (operating system). For the town in Hawaii, see Haiku-Pauwela, Hawaii.

More pertinently:

Haiku (俳句) is one of the most important modes of Japanese poetry, a late 19th century revision by Masaoka Shiki of the old hokku, the opening verse of a linked verse form, haikai no renga. A traditional hokku consists of a pattern of approximately 5, 7, and 5 morae, phonetic units which only loosely correspond to the syllables of Western languages. It also contains a special season word—the kigo—descriptive of the season in which the hokku was set. Hokku often combine different elements into a unified sensory impression, with a pause (the kireji or "cutting word") at the end of either the first five or second seven morae. Although rarely broken by Japanese hokku poets, these rules are often broken in the later, more "free-form" haiku movement, both in Japanese and in other languages.

Since I don't really know much about the actual form nor the inherent beauty of it, I'll decree that any entries in this contest should be of the typical haiku form we learned in school: three lines, 5-7-5 syllables. No breaking of words over two lines if they're too long.

I already have two entries, and the deadline for more is one week today: September 6, 2005. The categories and prizes are TBA.

Current Music: The Decemberists - Picaresque