Transatlantic Haiku Competition

On May 8, the first mate hosted a Haiku competition, open to trainees and crew members with the inclination to poetically express their thoughts on virtually any aspect of the crossing in the traditional Haiku form which, incidentally, nobody seemed to know for sure. So all entries were accepted as long as they looked like a poem. Special consideration was, however, given to poems in 5-7-5 meter.

Here is a sampling of the entries which pass congressional guidelines for decency.

Whitecaps froth on cresting peaks smell of spindrift in salt air pump the bilge in A compartment Don Caley	Heaven, water, clouds, Busy people. Wind, please tell me Where is my home? Josef Heil
Dot on wall chart measures not the time to Bristol but the time from home Don Caley	A ship alone on an empty ocean - that is us - a little world Barb Johnstone
'Neath the vast starry heavens Spread the frigate's wings Bound for ancient albion. Frank Mitchell	The Rose sails On the sea swells The Rose sails Anonymous

The remaining Haikus were contributed by George Hill. The first poem won first prize in the competition.

[Authors note on the first poem (a good haiku always seems to have footnotes at least twice as long as itself): On this voyage, the ship carries a cargo of Samuel Adams beer, much of it stored in the trainees' locker space. But the beer may not be broached en route, however much yearned for, because the ship has a dry policy. The sails, of course, are made by Dupont from recycled beverage bottles.]

Ship in bottle - freed! Bottle cargo - must not drink! Sails - made of bottles!	Rose to ocean swell; Sank between waves like mountains - A thousand times more!
Wind trapped in our sails (Spread with hope and such cunning) Cares not where we blow.	Rose's white petals: Humming-bee breezes love them: Harsh winds blight their curves.
Zigzag across chart: Much effort left no footprints: No line marks next steps.