NANFA-L-- Please vote for the best Haiku

Irate Mormon (archimedes at bayspringstel.net)
Wed, 19 Oct 2005 22:37:51 -0400

OK gang, the contest is offically closed. You guys are awesome - there were a
lot of great Haikus! Here, in the order I received them, are the entries.
Please vote for ONE and ONLY ONE haiku. Send your votes to my personal email
address as it appears in this email header, so as not to influence others.
Also, I am not indicating authorship at this time, so as not to influence your
vote. You are not prohibited from voting for your own haiku...but really, I
mean, c'mon, show some modesty!

Under Amber Moon,
Poacher's arrow targets gar.
Warden nabs his ass.
***
A madtom stung me
On the ball of my right thumb.
He's dead and sorry.
***
With a monstrous maw
Stretching and straining wider,
Sculpin swallows prey.
***
Diablo's holdout:
Thrashing in the desert sun,
Pupfish perishes.
***
Climbing out of creek,
The game warden yells to me,
"What's in the bucket?"
***
How was I to know,
Happily seining minnows,
This was a trout stream?
***
As the spring rains fall
Creeks swell with fishermen seeking
A fishy treasure
***
As the spring rain falls
Dogue Creek Snakeheads crawl upstream
Caught for a bounty
***
Slithering Channa
Among the native cyprinids
Devour the Potomac
***
Big teeth, swims on land
Thousands so near Capital
They are here to stay
***
But, it is DC
Politicians, Lawyers
One more slimy thing
***
Congress fights, bickers
Endangered Species Act torn
What an awful waste
***
Other problems loom
Asian carp leap into boats
Knock down man, bring doom
***
Eat all the plankton
Filter water clear, no food
For mussels, young fish
***
Water plants grow
Eurasian Water Milfoil
Hyacinth and more
***
Block our waterway
Grow fast, kill our plants and fish
No one cares, they stay
***
No big teeth on these
Cannot crawl overland, breath air
SciFi, no movie.
***
No one cares unless
Monsters of the deep be made
Or a bounty paid
***
They are here to stay
Exotic species every
place we look and find
***
Too little funds and
Too few studies done to know
How their spread to slow
***
Gentle bowfin As the spring rain
falls As the spring rain falls
Mistaken identity Diapause ending for the
Salamanders awake
Killed as snakehead Hidden buried eggs
Crawl to vernal pools

- Hey, this is how they came formatted when I got 'em! I dunno how they are
supposed to read.
***
As the spring rain falls,
The pH and hardness drops
Spawning time has come
***
Lepomis with grace
Muddy banks offer safe shelter
Whither goest thou?
***
The dace swims calmy
Neither knowing nor caring
Its name has been changed.
***
The cavefish trembles.
Upstairs, thousands of people
Are flushing toilets.
***
The extinct darter
Worries about our future
Entombed in a jar.
***
The moon is rising
The fish are always biting
My lure is chuggiing
***
Kerplunk, and kerplunk
The bass can't resist any more
My nerves are on edge
***
How scary it is
When the loon wails at night
Right next to my boat
***
My Rainbow Darter,
Vying for national fish,
Will you beat Bowfin?
***
Bowfin, a fish "dog".
You eat all that is in sight.
Can fame escape you?
***
Cyprinid minnow!
Pick one? How can it be done?
All are so lovely!
***
Pumpkinseed sunfish!
Protuberant or hump-backed?
National beauty?
***
Oncorhynchus fish.
A wild river you call home;
Or, at least, your young!
***
American flag,
A fish reflects your color!
And eats algae too?
***
Wisconsin grows cold
Fish retreat to murky depths
To be caught no more
***
A net in my trunk
You want to seine the water
Should I let you out?
***
A frozen seine net.
I pull you from the water.
What was I thinking?
***
effervescent waters
turbulent wild in power
my soul is soothed
***
gaze on the surface
reflections all eternal
diversity below
***
daily distractions
harried life, not for living
some will never know
***
what treasure
such primitive obsession
promises to bestow
***
Unforgettable,
Inspiring Admiration:
Alligator Gar
***
Aphredoderus:
Urogenitalical
Abnormality
***
parched desolate desert
a pool of water glistens
pupfish paradise
***
Proud springtime bluegill
Guarding their little castles
Each one is a king
***
Stealthy pickerel
Waiting, watching, silently
Flash! Gulps down dinner

--Irate

If at first you don't succeed... redefine success.
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