2023 Marlene Mountain Memorial Contest

his turban folds her free will

– Hifsa Ashraf

This beautifully worded ku brings to mind how a turban is associated with family honour in India and how the onus of keeping that honour intact is on the girls, who are conditioned to be submissive and obedient. They are taught to unquestioningly accept and respect boundaries and discouraged to have a free will and a voice. I like how this is conveyed without it being in-the face.

Commentary by Vandana Parashar

Honorable Mentions - 2023 Marlene Mountain Memorial Contest Results Judged by Rowan Beckett and Vandana Parashar -  217 one-line poems entered 

Five Fleas Itchy Poetry, 2023

rusty lock the smell of rain


counting on the power line crows


a refugee’s dreams sinking in the small boat

Five Fleas Itchy Poetry, July 30, 2023

take 5ive, 2023

the point where

I am left alone
river bends
and I move away
from my origin


train window
a refugee child wipes
the night fog
that blocked his view
of the stars


swirl around
the hollow trunk
autumn leaves
this urge to get settled
after displacement


Take 5ive : Themed Issue - The Plight of Refugees

Book 7, the place where they come across the moon

Two collaborative tan-renga with John Hawkhead 

spilling over 

the neighbour's fence 

a tea rose 

one last glimpse 

before his goodbye

John Hawkhead (UK) / Hifsa Ashraf (Pakistan) 

autumn drizzle 

a red cicada thrums 

from an old can 

the old hobo steps out 

into his morning shower

Hifsa Ashraf (Pakistan) / John Hawkhead (UK) 

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https://ko-fi.com/s/7da567acb2?fbclid=IwAR1mlaLgnQ1cmQdm-QlIIv52YVYAoWP7KuNIFwLVwNWenPAgPl56YEaBcTM

A tan-renga and tanka book 7 "the place where they come across the moon" edited by M. R. Defibaugh

tempslibres, 2023

queue for food --
the growling stomachs
break the silence

la file d'attente pour la nourriture...
les estomacs qui grondent
rompent le silence

Haiku in action - June 14th - June 18th
cco 2023-06-2

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monsoon in Rawalpindi
meandering through the alley
colorful paper boats

mousson à Rawalpindi
serpentant dans la ruelle
bateaux de papiers colorés

in the Vol. 10, April 2023 of Seashores.
cco 2023-04-1

https://www.tempslibres.org/tl/tlphp/dbhk01.php?auteur=ashr-h&lg=e&fbclid=IwAR3jyCeVu6cCQQw6neD8PtDfBdy_ZOIOTpvgWAXcaKXh5DVbTsuV13Zn0vs

H. Gene Murtha Memorial Senryu Contest, 2023

tunnel’s end… 

the sunlit face 

of a migrant child


Highly Commended - H. Gene Murtha Memorial Senryu Contest, 2023, organized by Prune Juice and Failed Haiku Journals.

https://failedhaiku.files.wordpress.com/2023/06/murtha-contest-finals-2023.pdfhttps://failedhaiku.files.wordpress.com/2023/06/murtha-contest-finals-2023.pdf