Polar Bear Haiku: Unofficial Snow Child ⛄️ Award Announcement

Polar Bear Haiku Unofficial Snow Child ⛄️ Award
Let's announce it right away!!

🎊🎊🎊

|Frozen|Moon|at my|back|Vampire|longing for people

Sekizo-san

The motif of a winter vampire is already wonderful. To long for human warmth rather than blood is so romantic. The use of old kanji, katakana, and half-width katakana for furigana evokes a sense of nostalgia. It feels like the world of Ranpo Edogawa. I believe Sekizo-san's work, which combines calligraphy and painting, has transcended the realm of haiku to become a comprehensive art form.

Cat hesitates|Glass|door two-inch draft

Robo no Hana (O87)-san

It reminded me of my grandparents' house, where the bottom corner of the shoji screen was cut into a strip. It was for the cat to come and go. If the cat is in the room, it makes itself at home in the kotatsu, and if it whimsically goes out, the humans have to endure the cold wind while waiting. Yet, it's a cat you can't help but keep. It is a lovely and wonderful haiku that offers a glimpse into the relationship between the family and the cat.

Breath white, the morning porch light is faint

Naoki-san

"The porch light is faint" is something that only happens because you wake up in the winter when it is still dark. I thought you expressed the season well using words that are not seasonal words. Conveying it alongside the seasonal word "white breath" captures the crisp, refreshing winter cold and the silence of the morning just before it becomes fully bright. I thought the sense of presence at the break of dawn was masterful.

Blue to the very edge of the horizon, the winter sky

ahiraga-san

I love the clear New Year's sky when factories and the like are not in operation. It is a day when you can see Mount Fuji beautifully from Chiba. Although the winter sky is often snowy or cloudy, your sensitivity to write about the blue sky days amidst that is wonderful. 'Right to the horizon' expresses a sense of openness and euphoria.

Wind on the curved tracks, my first photograph

IKUKO@Surusumi-san

Snowy railways are a favorite motif of mine. However, I thought it was great that you chose the tracks rather than the train. I imagined a scene where you were waiting to photograph a train, and you instinctively pressed the shutter the moment the powder snow swirled up. It is a wonderful sensibility to feel the arc drawn by the wind through the snow.

Everyone is a silent penguin, winter city

Ishikoro-san

I pictured the concourse at Shinagawa Station during the morning commute. A crowd of people wearing similar monotone coats, heading in one direction with their heads slightly bowed. I thought it was ironic and excellent to compare such an inorganic scene to a group of popular penguins. 'Everyone' really resonates.

A single transfer notice, winter galaxy

Yokogao-san

The mundane nature of a transfer notice versus the eternal and magnificent winter galaxy. With 'a single notice,' perhaps there was an involuntary transfer from the city to a rural area. Amidst the busyness of moving and handing over duties, you look up to see a magnificent starry sky that you could never see in the city. I simultaneously receive a sense of resolve that you will live on in this place.

Veins showing through my palm | Six-petaled flower

deko-san

The contrast between the hand and the snow. The inclusion of the word "vein" evokes a sense of transparency and impermanence. On a palm that looks almost translucent, a clear snowflake melts away fleetingly. In the same field of vision, a visible vein. I read this as layering the fragility of life onto the snow. It has poetry.

In the steam of the oden, hiding teary eyes

Fu-san

I find the image of someone trying to satisfy the fundamental urge to eat, even while suffering, to be endearing and beautiful. A child eating while sobbing is also quite a picture, isn't it? In this haiku, the fact that they are trying to hide their crying, and that what they are eating is "oden," is wonderful! I can imagine the exquisite expression on their face. As long as you can eat, you'll be alright.

These 8 haiku were the Unofficial Snow Child ⛄️ Award winners.

To everyone who won the Unofficial Snow Child ⛄️ Award,
congratulations! 🎉

The haiku I didn't select for this article were also truly wonderful. If I were to choose again tomorrow, I'm sure I would pick different ones.

Thank you all so very much ⛄️

Click here for everyone's unofficial awards ↓