Mukai Farm & Garden is proud to announce the winners of the Mukai Haiku Festival 2025.
The festival received over a hundred haiku from twelve countries around the world. The prize winners and their haiku are below.
Youth 5-13
1st: Aiden Hermmans
Jungle
Green, leafy, wet, cool
It is an ecosystem
Canopy of life
2nd: Peter T.
Colorful koi fish
Leaves under a floating log
Deer skip in the road
3rd: Qorxi Goertzel
Pandas
In bamboo forests
black and white furry creatures
fuzz balls in China
Youth 14-18
1st: Antonia Chersan
Cherry petals
all the dolls dressed
in wedding dresses
2nd: Amalia Cojocariu
Kite in the wind
the waving
of wheat ears
3rd: Carter Harmon
The Truth Pond
I stare at the pond
The water ripples and moves
I know my truth
Nature
1st: Richard L. Matta
Fireweed
the pink stitches
in hillside ash
2nd: Robert Keeler
Crows on a wire
Four crows on a wire
properly separated
all wearing black masks.
3rd: Benjamin BlAsi
On the rocky trail,
bluer than the entire sky:
resting butterflies
Reflections
1st: Margaret Chula
Forget-me-nots
I leave them in the garden
with my memories
2nd: Matthew Fontaine
The Brass Band
Saxes honk, drums pop
trumpets soar, trombones slide show
the tuba chugs in time
3rd: Shiva Bhusal
Autumn dusk
an artist paints
his own shadow
History
1st: Jeanie Berwick
Ramshackle relic
becomes bustling Food Hub
Blossom to Berry
2nd: Ma Ra
Sweet Sunshine Laughter
Grampas’ strawberries
strong hands churning vanilla
sweet sunshine laughter
3rd: Sebastian Chrobak
Heritage preserved!
stories from the past still fresh
just like strawberries
Social Justice
1st: Ibrahim Nureni
Refugee camp
a child builds a house
out of snow
2nd: John S. Green
Social justice
I wash whites and darks
together
3rd: Horst Ludwig
A homeless woman
a feather in harvest breeze
stuck against a wall
