WHC New Year's Eve Haibun Kukai

WHC HAIBUN KUKAI
  FIRST PLACE
SECOND PLACE
THIRD PLACE
SPECIAL AWARD
HONORABLE MENTION 1
HONORABLE MENTION 2
HONORABLE MENTION 3

  HONORABLE MENTION 3

OYSTER SHELLS AND LILIES
hortensia anderson

my mother always felt dreams to be products of the creative process at the purest level. since early childhood, my sister and i dutifully reported the dreams we had each morning. we examined each one lovingly as we might a poem - looking back,
i consider our dream sessions my first poetry workshop. my mother also felt that the most important dreams were the ones we had on the evening of the New Year. for 2001, i dreamed that i was at a party during the 1920s on a polished wood porch
overlooking the ocean. the women had magnificent costumes from the flapper era and servants in tuxedo served oysters and champagne. the snow fell, sparkling in the moonlight but the breezes blew warm as if in very late spring. just as i became
aware of a wonderful scent, i saw lilies with the snowflakes, falling from the sky.

the new year -
oyster shells and lilies
in the champagne pail