Contest

We Want Your Food Haiku!

August 13, 2012

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.)

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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!

See what other Food52 readers are saying.

  • LaineyStarr
    LaineyStarr
  • EmilyC
    EmilyC
  • DirectHeat
    DirectHeat
  • MissGinsu
    MissGinsu
  • em-i-lis
    em-i-lis
I'm Nozlee Samadzadeh, a writer, editor, farmer, developer, and passionate home cook. Growing up Iranian in Oklahoma, working on a small-scale organic farm, and cooking on a budget all influence the way I cook -- herbed rice dishes, chicken fried steak, heirloom tomato salad, and simple poached eggs all make appearances on my bright blue kitchen table. I love to eat kimchi (homemade!) straight from the jar and I eat cake for breakfast.

59 Comments

LaineyStarr August 16, 2012
the juiciness flows
it slowly drips down my chin
i love pineapples
 
LaineyStarr August 16, 2012
I season to taste
Bring to him on a big plate
Sit back as he smiles
 
LaineyStarr August 16, 2012
Taking a big bite
Melting just like cotton candy
Oh wait, it is that
 
EmilyC August 16, 2012
Confronting my son,
A pile of thin, salty ham.
He grins: prosciutto!
 
DirectHeat August 16, 2012
Into the wine, you!

Tough, fatty, stubborn, cheap roast.

Braised, tender goodness.
 
DirectHeat August 16, 2012
Watermelon seeds
Spit from a sticky red smile
Mighty black missiles
 
DirectHeat August 16, 2012
Water, hops and malt --
Throw open the abbey window;
Hark, fermentation!
 
MissGinsu August 16, 2012
True love, the ripe peach,
Wraps the cool nights of summer
In a fuzzy coat
 
em-i-lis August 16, 2012
I am so tired, but
dinner calls, make me now and
savor, nourish, love.
 
fiveandspice August 16, 2012
The only way to
learn to cook is by messing
up a lot of meals.
 
Loves F. August 16, 2012
Mixer, whisk….or jar?
A labor of love that makes
stiff whipped cream mountains.
 
Loves F. August 16, 2012
Amanda’s Kids’ lunch:
Inspiring little meals.
Please pack me one, too.
 
Loves F. August 16, 2012
He slices, he rolls.
Tuna, uni…geoduck?
Shiro: sushi god.
 
Eliz. August 15, 2012
Light fills stone vaults at
Midnight as tendrils rise green
Behind garden walls.
 
Eliz. August 15, 2012
Charlotte, tears fell when
You died; grown up, I wrap melon
In prosciutto.
 
Katey501 August 15, 2012
A food of the gods
Figs, luscious, sensual, sweet
My now obsession
 
HobbsHouse August 15, 2012
Hard times and work slow
As she put on the table, bread
It was the silver lining
 
Eliz. August 14, 2012
Mosquito draws blood
For her eggs as I stand be-
Fore the stove, scrambling.
 
Eliz. August 14, 2012
Partially hydro-
Genated fat, high fructose
Corn syrup miss you.
 
vrunka August 14, 2012
Despised by many
Belov'd by a select few
Anchovy, you're mine.