Catku Contest Winners
The Catku contest the-haiku-club.deviantart.com/… has now been judged and it is time to announce the winners! It was very tough for both the judges (
and 
) to choose between all the entries. Please don't feel you have failed if you aren't even an honourable mention. This does not mean that you didn't get any votes, just that there were so many good entries. The following were the Prompts for the contest:
Write about cats
Write about subjects related to HalloweenThe winners:
First Place:
Judges comments: this piece included both themes, cats and Halloween, perfectly. Plus, the "tiny grinning Cheshire skulls" is a very nice, spooky image. A danse macabre in words.
silently he leaves
he'll get his own dinner and
bring back leftovers
bloody bits of tattered flesh
tiny grinning Cheshire skulls
Second Place:
Judges comments: mysterious and seasonal. The end of October always reminds me of shortening days and darkness falling earlier. Again another good combination of cats and hallowe'en, and I like that the cat is only implied. Also commendable to give both a Japanese and English version.
Kanji:
光道辺静吐いてみる目を失せる
Romaji:
kou michibe
shizu tsuite miru
me wo useru
English:
lights by the roadside
though I try to breathe quietly
the eyes disappear
Third Place:
Judges comments: Pantoums are so hard to pull off, but I thought this one was perfectly presented and great fun too! The chosen words are wonderful, they make a bit of a tongue twister.
haunches flare
whiskers twitch
arc'd in air
pert ears switch
whiskers twitch
back curved long
pert ears switch
grooming tongue
back curved long
thrumming purr
grooming tongue
flowing fur
thrumming purr
arc'd in air
flowing fur
haunches flare.
Honourable mentions:
Judges comments: I loved the sound of this one. The words are grand in the way a cat is grand, and to say them is to lick ones lips rather like a cat and luxuriate in their richness. The last line is a beautiful summing up of a cat at rest.
candescent orbs of
atramental mien observe
temperate and still
Judges comments: this one totally creeped me out and I like the horror imagery.
Clouds like tear shed eyes
Eerie purrs fade to shadows.
Scarlet stained cat paws.
Judges comments: pure fun, makes me think of ninja cats...
Cat Scratches Fleas,
blurred paw
Hidden by the Leaves Master Put purrs
"This is not a matter for martial arts,
the Way of the Putcat!"
Congrats everybody!
Personal Stuff
Just thought I'd tack this onto the end of this journal here... my life is like so up and down lately, but at the moment it is chill again! I suspect this will last at least until the next year starts.
More interestingly, my very first niece was born on the thirteenth of this month. I am so in love with her. Her name is Violet and she's the most adorable baby I've ever seen. Though I am biased. This is my first time being an auntie and I'm already all about it! I got to feed her and everything, haha. Wow, it's funny how you fall in love with those little babies. Maybe I'll write a poem about it. I can't believe I didn't think of that earlier.
Ta ta, everybody, and have an awesome Winter Holiday!
