1st 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.
2nd 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.
Australian Haiku Society 
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