Results of the Australian Haiku Society Summer Solstice 2019 Haiga Kukai: Non-Seasonal

 

1^st Place

 

painted cow –
the village boy’s makeup
still taboo

Isabel Caves

 

This haiku appealed for the mystery that it evokes along with the brightly coloured display cow. Who is the boy and what is his life like shrouded in what is still seen as taboo? It seems very much a social comment about the changing times and attitudes we have towards each other. Good haiga are when the haiku and image combine to create something more than their individual parts. I think this combination leads us to examine our thinking, and how there can be change for the better.

 

2^nd Place

 

kaleidoscope cow–
not a patch on
the real thing

Zina Ioannou

 

Yes indeed, a kaleidoscope of colour with this hand-painted cow right in the heart of dairy country in Kiama, coastal NSW. My family comes from just south of there and my grandfather was a prominent dairy farmer and breeder of prize winning Friesian cows and bulls. So he would indeed say nothing was a patch on the real thing as far as his beloved herd was concerned. This is a fun haiga that for me brings many fond memories of my childhood and the people and places I have loved.

 

Highly Commended

 

cow bells
not afraid to show
my true colours

Louise Hopewell

 

This is another fun haiga that has plenty for us to wonder about and perhaps brings a smile to our faces. Although there is a message for us to think about, showing our true colours or inner self can be a very positive thing that has many rewards. Stripping away that which weighs us down to find our true centre can be very heart of the matter. Louise has explored this in what seems to be a very simple haiku, but much more can be found if we give it the time.

 

Highly Commended

 

summer solstice
the bright dazzle
of street art

Nathalie Buckland

 

There can be so much light with the longest day of the solstice and we are rightly dazzled by this colourful cow. Dazzle is such an evocative word that immediately brings to mind all things brightly lit and swimming with colour and texture. The haiku puts us immediately in a particular time and place and highlights the very best of the wonderful world of street art.

 

Highly Commended

 

art class
a country boy’s dream
in full colors

Billy Antonio

 

This haiku has an expansive view that brings a dreaming and a story as all great journeys through life do. Was the country boy dreaming he was a colourful cow, or a cow who awoke and dreamt he was a boy? Not unlike the famous Zen story by Chuang Tzu about the butterfly and man. I can see a lovely parable here.