The Zen Garden Haiku Contest was founded in 2003 under the aegis of Shadow Poetry: A Poet’s Writing Resource, an organization centered on its website, established by James and Marie Summers in Excelsior Springs, Missouri. The contest was appreciated for its unfussiness, featuring few restrictions and low entry fees, and accepting previously published and original haiku by poets aged 13 or older. The Zen Garden Contest was renamed the White Lotus Haiku Competition in December 2006, but the rules for submission and the conduct of the competition remained essentially the same and the numbering of the contests continued sequentially. In later years the contest attracted about 400 entries and awarded cash prizes of $100, $50, and $25. The White Lotus Haiku Competition was discontinued following the 2008 edition.
Table of Contents
Regulations and Procedures
Eligibility: Open to all poets, age 13 and over.
Regulations: Haiku submissions had to be unpublished, written in the traditional 3-line format, and be the original work of the poet. Any number of entries were welcome. Haiku entries were accepted on 8.5” x 11” paper or 3” x 5” index cards, submitted in duplicate. Later an entry form was made available on the Shadow Poetry website.
Entry fee: $2.00 per haiku. Checks, cash, or money orders were welcome. Payment could also be made online via PayPal.
Prizes: 1st $100.00, 2nd $50.00, 3rd $25.00. Winners received a certificate and a ribbon and saw their haiku published in White Lotus Magazine.
6th Annual White Lotus Haiku Competition, 2008
| Judges | Kathy Lippard Cobb, an’ya, and Ron Moss | |
| Contest chair | Marie Summers | |
| Number of entries | 394 from 105 poets in 10 countries | |
| Results announced | White Lotus 8 (Spring/Summer 2009) | |
| First Place—$100.00 | Tanya Dikova, Tel Aviv, Israel | bomb attack … scattered strawberries around the market |
| Second Place—$50.00 | Susan Constable, Nanoose Bay, British Columbia | empty beach my ears feel the pulse of the wind |
| Third Place—$25.00 | Roland Packer, Hamilton, Ontario | muggy night nostalgia radio signs off … |
| Highly Commended (2) | Poppy Hullings, Laurel, Mississippi | weeping willow— the little girl shares secrets with her dolls |
| Roland Packer, Hamilton, Ontario | the charred shell of a family home perennials | |
| Commended (5) | Jennifer Corpe, Elkhart, Indiana | exposed mudflats an argument reaches the shore |
| Susan Constable, British Columbia | no moon … the sound of leaves catching rain | |
| Michelle Schaefer, Bothell, Washington | summer breeze leaving the party a red balloon | |
| Catherine J.S. Lee, Eastport, Maine | stock market— unstaked peonies flattened by rain | |
| John Bird, New South Wales, Australia | broody hen the new year settles in | |
| Acknowledged (10) | Scott Mason, Chappaqua, New York | turning eaerth … up from the clods a white moth |
| Ernest J. Berry, Picton, New Zealand | dustbowl a buffalo rattles its skeleton | |
| Emily Romano, Boonton, New Jersey | spatterdock in bloom— a blue dragonfly dips lower | |
| Renée Owen, Sebastopol, California | finding myself in the night sky star by star | |
| Ernest J. Berry, Picton, New Zealand | morning tide the netted dolphin still smiling | |
| Jeff Hoagland, Hopewell, New Jersey | summer parsley swallowtail caterpillars take their share | |
| Sharon Hammer Baker, Findlay, Ohio | morning hush— fragments of bottle rockets in the daylilies | |
| George G. Dorsty, Yorktown, Virginia | softball picnic— a catbird steps up to the plate | |
| Ernest J. Berry, Picton, New Zealand | graveyard the waving grasses sizzle with cicadas | |
| Tara R, Singapore | Airless night— shadow play of moths committing suicide |
5th Annual White Lotus Haiku Competition, 2007
| Judges | Kathy Lippard Cobb and an’ya | |
| Contest chair | Marie Summers | |
| Number of entries | 373 from 95 poets in 5 countries | |
| Results announced | White Lotus 6 (Spring/Summer 2008) | |
| First Place—$100.00 | Francine Banwarth, Dubuque, Iowa | summer moon a bottle of wine breathes all night |
| Second Place—$50.00 | Jennifer Corpe, Bellingham, Washington | empty fall graveyard the ping of a hammer on tent stakes |
| Third Place—$25.00 | James Chessing, San Ramon, California | Indian summer— the old cat shares her corner of the deck |
| Highly Commended (2) | Jan O’Laughlin, Kagoshima prefecture, Japan | autumn lake trees drop all pretense leaf by leaf |
| Ernest J. Berry, Picton, New Zealand | winter garden a passing lantern colors the buds | |
| Commended (5) | Emily Romano, Boonton, New Jersey | river of weeds— a long-legged bird lifts a green foot |
| Laryalee Fraser, Salmon Arm, British Columbia | heading home— a leaf’s shadow passes mine | |
| Sylvia Forges-Ryan, North Haven, Connecticut | slowly falling snow little by little I learn to forget you | |
| Timothy Russell, Toronto, Ohio | midwinter— the blood spot in an egg | |
| Scott Mason, Chappaqua, New York | rolling country lane— beside an old graveyard I pedal again | |
| Acknowledged (10) | Scott Mason, Chappaqua, New York | empty rungs beyond the last apple evening chill |
| Laryalee Fraser, Salmon Arm, British Columbia | to-do list … a leaf follows the drift of birdsong | |
| Garry Gay, Santa Rosa, California | Late winter the harmonica cold on my lips | |
| Jeanne Cook, South Bend, Indiana | a cicada slips its silence onto the path | |
| Francine Banwarth, Dubuque, Iowa | snow on the water talking to myself the way mother did | |
| Roland Packer, Hamilton, Ontario | the last tooth under he pillow end of spring | |
| Kevin James, Woolworth Township, New Jersey | white ash mother floats out to sea | |
| Elaine Riddell, Hamilton, New Zealand | along the road every farmhouse marked by blossom | |
| Joan Murphy, West Hempstead, New York | homeless couple … he steals a flower to give to her | |
| James Chessing, San Ramon, California | nightfall: ridgeline saguaros become stars |
4th Annual Zen Garden Haiku Contest, 2006
| Judges | Kathy Lippard Cobb and Marie Summers | |
| Contest chair | James Summers | |
| Number of entries | 428 from 105 poets from 6 countries | |
| Results announced | White Lotus 4 (Spring/Summer 2007) | |
| First Place—$100.00 | Ernest J. Berry, Picton, New Zealand | mother’s parasol I unfold the dust of other summers |
| Second Place—$50.00 | Ernest J. Berry, Picton, New Zealand | skid row a homeless box turns over |
| Third Place—$25.00 | James Patrick Haynes, Glasgow, Kentucky | bedside his favorite inkstone holding the white pill |
| 1st Finalist (listed in order of merit) | James Chessing, San Ramon, California | first orange: the taste of rain in the one just picked |
| 2nd Finalist | Sharon Hammer Baker, Findlay, Ohio | flooded cornfield ribbons of peach sunset between each row |
| 3rd Finalist | Emily Romano, Boonton, New Jersey | still waters … a lotus lifts me out of myself |
| 4th Finalist | Ernest J. Berry, Picton, New Zealand | neap tide we gallop through a gap in the Pleiades |
| 5th Finalist | Ron Moss, Tasmania, Australia | winter orchard— a fruit picker’s hut lit by the moon |
| 6th Finalist | Ernest J. Berry, Picton, New Zealand | hospice his firstborn spoon-feeds him |
| 7th Finalist | James Patrick Haynes, Glasgow, Kentucky | yard sale a childhood cheap |
| 8th Finalist | Ernest J. Berry, Picton, New Zealand | cancer ward a call from the other side of the wall |
| 9th Finalist | Anne LB Davidson, Saco, Maine | first light … the birds begin one more time |
| 10th Finalist | Kevin P. James, Woolwich Township, New Jersey | cherry trees her old kimono falls to the floor |
| 11th Finalist | Cathy Drinkwater Better, Eldersburg, Maryland | election night rain the results pour in |
| 12th Finalist | Elinor Pihl Huggett, Lakeville, Indiana | blizzard … now and then telephone poles mark the way |
| 13th Finalist | Cathy Drinkwater Better, Eldersburg, Maryland | peppermint tea she tells me she wants to be a man |
| 14th Finalist | Janelle Barrera, Key West, Florida | tea and sugarplums— after some time this illness becomes me |
| 15th Finalist | Amitava Dasgupta, Houston, Texas | under the mistletoe two stray cats lick each other |
| 16th Finalist | Joan Murphy, West Hempstead, New York | starless night— the foghorn’s sound o-ver and o-ver |
| 17th Finalist | Ernest J. Berry, Picton, New Zealand | first frost she ladles mist from the pot |
3rd Annual Zen Garden Haiku Contest, 2005
| Judges | Kathy Lippard Cobb, and Marie Summers | |
| Contest chair | James Summers | |
| Number of entries | 353 from 100 poets in 7 countries | |
| Results announced | White Lotus 2 (Spring/Summer 2006) | |
| First Place—$100.00 | Eric Frey, Williamsport, Pennsylvania | ocean foam— cold moonlight fades into blowing sand |
| Second Place—$50.00 | Chad Lee Robinson, Pierre, South Dakota | fallen leaves the throb of last night’s words |
| Third Place—$25.00 | Ron Moss, Tasmania, Australia | charred cedars— how cold the white of early snow |
| 1st Finalist (listed in order of merit) | Dave Bacharach, Alpine, New York | jazz solo drumsticks play the drummer |
| 2nd Finalist | Ernest J. Berry, Picton, New Zealand | summer dusk folding unfolding old loves |
| 3rd Finalist | Emily Romano, Boonton, New Jersey | dawn vigil— the sound of water down mountain stone |
| 4th Finalist | Ernest Sherman, Stony Point, New York | warm spring breeze— the school windows open to our drifting |
| 5th Finalist | Mark Smith, Keyser, West Virginia | distant thunder— maples quake in preparation |
| 6th Finalist | Laura Evans, Wisner, Nebraska | the rock cracked by a flower |
| 7th Finalist | Emily Romano, Boonton, New Jersey | calla lily the way its white throat swallows the light |
| 8th Finalist | Ernest J. Berry, Picton, New Zealand | long summer the water feature flooded with dusk |
| 9th Finalist | Emily Romano, Boonton, New Jersey | lotus lit from within firefly |
| 10th Finalist | Janelle Barrera, Key West, Florida | red leaves falling … the guilt over leaving accumulates |
| 11th Finalist | Ernest J. Berry, Picton, New Zealand | lotus adjusting to the flow october rain |
| 12th Finalist | Michele Bowers, Westmont, Illinois | heat wave— sunset drowns the overpass |
| 13th Finalist | Don Baird, Burbank, California | afternoon shadow a frog jumps over himself |
| 14th Finalist | Jan O’Loughlin, Japan | flooded paddies spread the spring sky everywhere |
| 15th Finalist | Latalya “Lesteen” Russell, Columbia, South Carolina | awake at night— the autumn moon drifts to another window |
| 16th Finalist | Joan Murphy, West Hempstead, New York | angelus bells … a commuter train wails its warning |
| 17th Finalist | Ernest J. Berry, Picton, New Zealand | starlit dusk one cicada after another |
2nd Annual Zen Garden Haiku Contest, 2004
| Judges | Kathy Lippard Cobb and Marie Summers | |
| Contest chair | James Summers | |
| Number of entries | 209 poets from 6 countries | |
| Results announced | Not stated | |
| First Place—$100.00 | Ron Moss, Tasmania, Australia | funeral day — between rain falling darkness |
| Second Place—$50.00 | Ellen Compton, Washington, D.C. | first snow house sparrows darken the hedgerow |
| Third Place—$25.00 | Ernest J. Berry, Picton, New Zealand | sunshower the flowering of umbrellas |
| 1st Runner Up (listed in order of merit) | Janelle Barrera, Key West, Florida | “mountain wildflowers” …… if two words can be a poem |
| 2nd Runner Up | Emily Romano, Boonton, New Jersey | one with the stump a small brown owl wrapped in shadows |
| 3rd Runner Up | Jan O’Loughlin, Kagoshima prefecture, Japan | typhoon over soft winds toss sunlight from tree to tree |
| 4th Runner Up | Bret Wooldridge, Santa Cruz, California | spring the snowman’s hat reaches earth |
| 5th Runner Up | André Surridge, Hamilton, New Zealand | Sunday collection … the nasturtium leaf full of raindrops |
| 6th Runner Up | Ernest J. Berry, Picton, New Zealand | cabin window cobwebs on the Rockies |
| 7th Runner Up | Emily Romano, Boonton, New Jersey | autumn wind lifts something here drops something there |
| 8th Runner Up | Ron Moss, Tasmania, Australia | All Saint’s Day— the cat’s skull in the lamplight |
| 9th Runner Up | Sean Lausé, Bluffton, Ohio | December rain Snowmen melting into tombstones |
| 10th Runner Up | Ernest J. Berry, Picton, New Zealand | grand piano my expression in the polish |
| 11th Runner Up | Emily Romano, Boonton, New Jersey | eventide a lone bird winging above the salt flats |
| 12th Runner Up | Shawn Whitney, Deerfield Beach, Florida | in the lean-to, the old wood stove gives no warmth |
| 13th Runner Up | Anne LB Davidson, Saco, Maine | purple lilac … learning to breathe all over again |
| 14th Runner Up | Emily Romano, Boonton, New Jersey | bamboo garden— the breeze and I rustle through |
| 15th Runner Up | Adelaide B. Shaw, Millbrook, New York | a telephone wire— coming and going the talk of crows |
| 16th Runner Up | Ernest J. Berry, Picton, New Zealand | women’s refuge a picket missing from the fence |
| 17th Runner Up | an’ya, La Pine, Oregon | kitchen window the icicle’s shape exiting itself |
1st Zen Garden Haiku Contest, 2003
| Judges | Kathy Lippard Cobb and Marie Summers | |
| Contest chair | James Summers | |
| Number of entries | 234 by 77 poets from 9 countries | |
| Results announced | Not stated | |
| First Place—$100.00 | Margaret Chula, Portland, Oregon | carrying moonlight into the house white peony |
| Second Place—$50.00 | Ernest J. Berry, Picton, New Zealand | memorial pond a legless soldier reflects |
| Third Place—$25.00 | John Bird, New South Wales, Australia | moonlit nursery the baby’s hands clutch at the stars |
| 1st Runner Up (listed in order of merit) | Ernest J. Berry, Picton, New Zealand | night fishing knee deep in the Pleiades |
| 2nd Runner Up | Earl R. Keener, Bethany, West Virginia | home from the funeral— her twin stares too long at the mirror |
| 3rd Runner Up | Nancy Stewart Smith, Athens, Georgia | the orphan in a single snowflake remembers himself |
| 4th Runner Up | Kirsty Karkow, Waldoboro, Maine | winds of war a woman wraps her veil tighter round her neck |
| 5th Runner Up | Ernest J. Berry, Picton, New Zealand | flames licking our old love letters curled up together |
| 6th Runner Up | Garry Gay, Santa Rosa, California | Nesting season the scarecrow looking thinner |
| 7th Runner Up | Martin Cohen, Egg Harbor, New Jersey | autumn rain … a leaf has curled into its shadow |
| 8th Runner Up | Nancy Stewart Smith, Athens, Georgia | curded sky— the sunset crumbles into fireflies |
| 9th Runner Up | Ellen Compton, Washington, D.C. | the loon’s dive . . . and an echo of its song |
| 10th Runner Up | Kevin James, Woolwich Township, New Jersey | bath steam— curling the rose petals on the wallpaper |
| 11h Runner Up | Art Stein, Northfield, Massachusetts | late spring snow wild turkeys moving the landscape |
| 12th Runner Up | Ernest J. Berry, Picton, New Zealand | morning walk i pause at the post she used to pee on |
| 13th Runner Up | Stanford M. Forrester, Wethersfield, Connecticut | writing a haiku in the sand … a wave finishes it |
| 14th Runner Up | Kirsty Karkow, Waldoboro, Maine | blue sky I almost miss the morning glory |
| 15th Runner Up | Anne LB Davidson, Saco, Maine | letting the phone ring … by the garden wall spring violets |
| 16th Runner Up | John Bird, New South Wales, Australia | boat harbour an old fisherman moored by his handline |
| 17th Runner Up | Mike Howell, Indianapolis, Indiana | first cold turning wordless in the sound of brush on paper |