Late in September the Australian Haiku Society, HaikuOz, informed readers of an invitation by Riverbeats to take part in a spectacular free live show to be held on the banks of the Parramatta River on Sunday 31 October. The Parramatta City Council and New Writers Group asked for contributions of original haiku on the theme of water and our relationship to it. The selected poems were to be recited and/or projected on massive screens as part of the live light and sound performance.
Many members of the Australian Haiku Society accepted the challenge. Here are the results.

Riverbeats Live 09 Haiku Competition Winners:

Musical Director’s prize

Gayle Barbagallo:

the river at night
black water mirrors the sky
I float in the stars

NWG Inc Editors’ Awards

Quendryth Young Joint First:

riverside gym
all the treadmills
facing the water

gathering clouds
galahs tumble through
dusty river gums

a spider
in the rain gauge
clear sky

Nathalie Buckland Joint First:

rusted handrail
on the jetty’s edge –
rain-speckled river

sluggish river
the swimmer leaves
a line of splashes

sigh of wind
in the river gums
a crow calls

John Bird Joint Second:

dry dam
cold moonlight fills
old hoof prints

twilight surf –
something quick and silver
shares the wave

summer flood
a stranded cow bellows
into the twilight

M L Grace Joint Second:

footprints
in the empty waterhole
wander the mud

river birds song
the stillness between
each note

eels trail
silver ribbons on a near
empty dam