Greetings from Your Haiku Judges!

“Twelve weeks a Haiku” has come to an end and I am proud to share the success that it has been! We (the judges) also wanted to congratulate our winners and give specific praise to two particular members who really, we thought, deserved special recognition.

In first place we have Battlemaster Misium from Clan Plagueis!

In second we have Seer Kenath Zoron from Clan Taldryan!

In third we have Major Alethia Archenksova from Clan Odan Urr!

Tra’an, Rosalyn, and I wish to offer our most sincere gratitude for the 34 participants who made this competition such a huge success.

Over the course of our twelve week adventure, we had a grand total of 149 unique entries, with week 2 being our most successful with 19 unique participants!

Throughout these twelve weeks, we’ve paid attention to how well each participant was doing, and there are two members who we feel deserve to be honored.

Knight Ryan Hawkins surprised all three judges in this last round of the Haiku by submitting what all three agreed to be the single best Haiku of the competition.

The Haiku below best exemplifies the prompt given “Great Jedi War” and really felt like a work that would come from the Oriental East, where the format originated.

Darkness grows stronger,

Feeding on its own shadow,

Power through conflict.

The Light now enters,

Still young, like a first sunrise,

Giving shadows pause.

Like falling, red, leaves,

The conflict is beautiful,

But crimson in death.

Both shadow and light,

Create and show each other,

Beauty of their way.

Through conflict, beauty,

Through competition, growing,

In proud Brotherhood.

In addition to not only being recognized as having the single best Haiku, Ryan showed that dedication and perseverance serves to earn rewards. Despite only participating in weeks 7-12 of Twelve Weeks a Haiku (the last six weeks), Ryan placed 7th overall, demonstrating how quality work can quickly elevate placement even with limited participation.

Prophet Keirdagh Taldrya Cantor also proved to be a strong contender. Whereas Ryan came in late to the game and worked his way up, Keirdagh was only able to participate in the first seven weeks of Twelve Weeks a Haiku, but still managed to finish sixth.

This is a particularly laudable feat because during the first six weeks, the Haikus were scored out of 20 total points, ensuring that the margin for error was tightest due to so few points being awarded. Keirdagh excelled, generating high placement after high placement. It is with respect that we tip our hat to his performance.

We wish him well in real life and hope that he will be able to return and participate again in the future.

Once again we say thank you all for your continued efforts, and a big thanks to all of the clans who participated.