From the Community

We Want Your Food Haiku!

By • August 13, 2012 • 59 Comments

+ Save 0

The Olympics may be over (and the Summer Food Fights, too) but that somehow our competitive urges still haven't ebbed away. That's why we're announcing the Feed52 Haiku Contest.

With a deadline of this Thursday, August 16 at midnight, we want to see your best food-related haiku, posted in the comments below. (The winner will receive nothing less than eternal glory -- sadly, no Le Creuset.)

For those of you who need a refresher -- here is a haiku written by yours truly, as inspired by the above photo:

Who hasn't spent time
brushing their cutting board of
cauliflower bits?

Here's another:

Chopping onions: root
on one end, hairy on the
other, tears inside.

It's simple: haiku do not rhyme, they don't concern themselves with traditional narrative, and they follow a three-line structure of 5, then 7, then 5 syllables. They can be quietly funny, or just suddenly beautiful, and they're short enough that you could certainly write one on your lunch break.

Happily, you have a wide variety of subject matter: food in any form is fair game. And there's no limit on poems you can submit! Give us your best shot.

Start counting those syllables -- may the best haiku win!

Feature-footer-thumb
Our new kitchen and home shop, Provisions, is coming soon!
Sign up now and get $10 when we open.

Tags: feed52, contests, poems, haiku, vegetables, fruit, poetry, writing, nozlee samadzadeh

Comments (59)

Default-small
Default-small
Default-small

9 months ago LaineyStarr

the juiciness flows
it slowly drips down my chin
i love pineapples

Default-small

9 months ago LaineyStarr

I season to taste
Bring to him on a big plate
Sit back as he smiles

Default-small

9 months ago LaineyStarr

Taking a big bite
Melting just like cotton candy
Oh wait, it is that

Img_7818

9 months ago EmilyC

Confronting my son,
A pile of thin, salty ham.
He grins: prosciutto!

Default-small

9 months ago DirectHeat

Into the wine, you!

Tough, fatty, stubborn, cheap roast.

Braised, tender goodness.

Default-small

9 months ago DirectHeat

Watermelon seeds
Spit from a sticky red smile
Mighty black missiles

Default-small

9 months ago DirectHeat

Water, hops and malt --
Throw open the abbey window;
Hark, fermentation!

Missginsu_bike

9 months ago MissGinsu

True love, the ripe peach,
Wraps the cool nights of summer
In a fuzzy coat

Dsc_6749

9 months ago em-i-lis

Emily is a trusted source on General Cooking.

I am so tired, but
dinner calls, make me now and
savor, nourish, love.

Sausage2

9 months ago fiveandspice

Emily is a trusted source on Scandinavian Cuisine.

The only way to
learn to cook is by messing
up a lot of meals.

397212_10101514662356398_1850800444_n

9 months ago Loves Food Loves to Eat

Mixer, whisk….or jar?
A labor of love that makes
stiff whipped cream mountains.

397212_10101514662356398_1850800444_n

9 months ago Loves Food Loves to Eat

Amanda’s Kids’ lunch:
Inspiring little meals.
Please pack me one, too.

397212_10101514662356398_1850800444_n

9 months ago Loves Food Loves to Eat

He slices, he rolls.
Tuna, uni…geoduck?
Shiro: sushi god.

Default-small

9 months ago Eliz.

Light fills stone vaults at
Midnight as tendrils rise green
Behind garden walls.

Default-small

9 months ago Eliz.

Charlotte, tears fell when
You died; grown up, I wrap melon
In prosciutto.

Kmd0412.2

9 months ago Katey501

A food of the gods
Figs, luscious, sensual, sweet
My now obsession

Default-small

9 months ago HobbsHouse

Hard times and work slow
As she put on the table, bread
It was the silver lining

Default-small

9 months ago Eliz.

Mosquito draws blood
For her eggs as I stand be-
Fore the stove, scrambling.

Default-small

9 months ago Eliz.

Partially hydro-
Genated fat, high fructose
Corn syrup miss you.

Img_1884_tillie

9 months ago vrunka

Despised by many
Belov'd by a select few
Anchovy, you're mine.

Img_1958

9 months ago gingerroot

Ode to Basil II

A queen among herbs,
summer's bright star - caprese,
curry and pesto.

Default-small

9 months ago rachelbirds

A cup of flour,
two eggs. Mix with hands, knead, then
roll. Homemade pasta.

Img_1958

9 months ago gingerroot

Ode to Basil

Your transformation
seed to flowering giant
is quick and brings bees

Default-small

9 months ago Anavonne

The sweet corn trumpets
the collapse of the season.
Here comes the cider!

Sausage2

9 months ago fiveandspice

Emily is a trusted source on Scandinavian Cuisine.

Garlic, salt, and oil
what else do you really need
to make food a meal

Sausage2

9 months ago fiveandspice

Emily is a trusted source on Scandinavian Cuisine.

Ha, funny. I just wrote a haiku to my buttermilk peach smoothie the other day for no particular reason:
Peaches, golden orbs
Buttermilk kissed with maple
Blend until frothy.

Mrs._larkin_370

9 months ago mrslarkin

Mrs. Larkin is a trusted source on Baking.

Chocolate Chip Cookie of My Dreams:

big, thick and chewy
where have you been all my life?
Kim Boyce, I love you.

Default-small

9 months ago Eric Michaud

When I am smoking
I am in my happy place
Charcoal fire and wood

Jc_profilepic

9 months ago Sadassa_Ulna

Liquid "Squid" [TM]:

bottle of fish sauce
you make ev'rything groovy
a dollar-sixty

Jc_profilepic

9 months ago Sadassa_Ulna

Nobody Will Know:

balls of cookie dough
to freeze for baking later
I eat them now, raw

Jc_profilepic

9 months ago Sadassa_Ulna

Bottle & Chopstick:

for a pie, I'd pit
a thousand cherries by hand,
OK a hundred

Default-small

9 months ago LLStone

Caprese salad
gorged July through August but
starved the rest of year.

Default-small

9 months ago LLStone

Summer's star basil,
recast in pestos, oils, salts
to brighten short days.

Default-small

9 months ago amysarah

Raspberry bushes,
sun warmed fruit, popped in my mouth.
This is luxury.

Default-small

9 months ago amysarah

A vibrant red claw,
golden butter, paper plate,
sunlight bouncing off the waves.

Default-small

9 months ago fancydoorbell

I don’t know what’s up
with weird veggies, like ramps (what?)
I should try pickling.

Default-small

9 months ago fancydoorbell

My mother taught me
table manners, to chop, and
corn is for horses

Grace_marian_astra_madeline_myrtle_jean_in_new_jersey

9 months ago TXExpatInBKK

Ha! My husband said to give you a high five. He is a "corn is for horses" person, too.

Default-small

9 months ago fancydoorbell

All I think about
When I hear lentivirus
Is beans, not the flu

Default-small

9 months ago fancydoorbell

The torrid summer
gives way to squashes of fall.
Will you make me soup?

Default-small

9 months ago A.M.

Mozzarella e Prosciutto
by A..M.

Buxom Miss Milky,
quit your elastic sisters.
Meet the salty prince.

Gator_cake

9 months ago hardlikearmour

hardlikearmour is a trusted home cook.

green tomatoes on
the vine kissed by summer sun
just waiting to blush

Img_1684

9 months ago Rachel Zarrow

eggplants cast aside
but why? they are kickass and
rock hard in purple

Dsc_0253_2

9 months ago Miranda Rake

Miranda is a contributor at Food52.

blueberry pie like
sticky summer perfection.
gone all too quickly

Default-small

9 months ago pizzamonster

Carrots, carrots, carr-
ots, carrots, carrots, carr-... Yes,
my favorite snack.

Photo-1

9 months ago brette warshaw

Brette is the Editorial Assistant of Food52.

Crunch crunch crunch. Sometimes
I like them with ranch dressing.
Don't tell anyone.

Me

9 months ago kenzi

Kenzi is an Assistant Editor of Food52.

Or peanut butter?
Or maybe that means I don't
like carrots at all.

Default-small

9 months ago LLStone

Roasted in Merrill’s
salad, they become sublime.
Crème fraiche truly rules.

Default-small

9 months ago pizzamonster

Heirloom tomatos
taste better bruised and ugly
from the seconds bin.

Default-small

9 months ago pizzamonster

Couscous, carrots, peas:
a bright purple meal! (When you
use purple carrots.)

Default-small

9 months ago pizzamonster

This apricot cake:
Wow! How many ways can we
bake you? Make it new.

Default-small

9 months ago Avocado Diva

Avocado. Oh
Heritage Avocado.
Oh! Avocado

Foodie

9 months ago LaVegetalFetiche

kale stokes my eternal flame
eaten everyday
can't believe i've not turned green

Default-small

9 months ago Rohwyn

Eggs, flour, sugar
Mix, bake, golden goodness, eat!
But lick the bowl first.

Mrs._larkin_370

9 months ago mrslarkin

Mrs. Larkin is a trusted source on Baking.

Ode to the Caseus Cheese Truck:

New Haven, You Rock.
Ikea…your meatballs…yuck.
Cheese truck forever!

Photo-1

9 months ago brette warshaw

Brette is the Editorial Assistant of Food52.

I love that cheese truck!!

Noz_photo

9 months ago nzle

Kenzi and I are fans as well! I always dreamed of doing the Cheese Truck Challenge...

Mrs._larkin_370

9 months ago mrslarkin

Mrs. Larkin is a trusted source on Baking.

my husband is dying to do the Cheese Truck Challenge. Road trip, anyone?

Dsc_0122.nef-1

9 months ago Panfusine

Cutting summer fruit
leaving behind tiny seeds
Scrape away next day!