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2003 VALENTINE AWARDS
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Overview
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Readers’ Choice —
Poet of the Year
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John Stevenson
- Readers’ Choice —
Favorite Poets
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paul m.
Peggy Willis Lyles
Anna Tambour
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Readers’ and Editors’ Choice —
Poem of the Year
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paul m.
- Readers’ and Editors’ Choice —
Favorite Poems
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Billie Wilson
Anna Tambour
Connie Donleycott
Hortensia Anderson
Jim Kacian
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Special
Mentions —
Page 1
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- Special
Mentions —
Page 2
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Readers’ Choice – Poet
of the Year
John Stevenson
Dear John,
Good news. Readers of The Heron’s Nest have voted you the Most Popular
Poet for 2002. Eleven of your thirteen poems from Volume IV received
votes as people registered their favorites, and the final tally shows
you the clear winner of this heart-touching award. I know you will be
quietly pleased, quietly proud even. You should be. We haiku poets are
fortunate in our readers. They are appreciative and discriminating.
Congratulations, John! But beyond that, thank you. You richly deserve
this honor. You involve us in a world that was always ours, but that we
might not notice so keenly without your gently drawing our attention to
what is right before our eyes. Your haikai twists refresh our
perception and encourage our human capacity to expand and connect.
In Nest poems last year, you asked questions that continue to resonate.
shooting star
what do fish
see at night?
a hard rain
what cloud
could have held it?
peony bud
can an ant
relax?
I can imagine witnessing that shooting star with you and making the
leap as you perceive its likeness to a fish in the dark sea. How simple
then to leap again and wonder about what fish see looking above them at
night. I follow your unstated comparison. In ways we can barely fathom,
those fish are like you and me, seeing their version of what we see as
we look up at the vast night sky. Alive to a moment, you convey
vibrations that go far and deep, interconnecting human beings with the
universe. Coleridge described poetry as “the best words in the best
order.” Great poetry leaps, I think, delivering the stars and the sea.
You take us along as you move through the sometimes lonely
landscape of being human
childhood home
twilight
as I arrive
and validate our daily lives by calling attention to ordinary things and
human hopes.
almost spring
the untouched mousetraps
in the attic
summer night
the sound of a car
about to go by
parkas
out shopping
for a wedding dress
You help us appreciate the other side of things.
coming home
on the train
. . . the backyards
fireworks
I close my eyes
for a second look
You ponder our connection with other creatures and imbue readers with
your insights.
right now
while we chat
fish in the deep ocean
Amish country
the deer beside the road
stare at us
Thank you for reminding us of how nature calls to our humanity and of
the individual’s longing to connect with other people.
a change in their voices
children finding
a fledgling
warm evening
an open door
to someone’s living room
Yours are superb haiku, John, genuine contributions to world
literature. They are as challenging as they are accessible and
inclusive. That makes them particularly deserving of recognition from
the sensitively-tuned readers of The Heron’s Nest. The editors take
pleasure in gathering these thirteen in one place for everyone to enjoy
again.
—Peggy Willis Lyles
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