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CARNIVOROUS NIGHTS PRESENTS THE WINNERS OF "A BEASTLY HAIKU CONTEST"
***Grand Prize Winner*** (Tasmanian Tiger Award):
Carl Mehling of New York City for
"Passenger Pigeon" and "The Yeti Story"
Passenger pigeon
Once as common as bison
Until you met us
I just saw Bigfoot
In fact a whole family
Camera batteries dead
Cryptids are for real
They are everywhere on Earth
Most are small insects
The Yeti story
Lacks a voucher specimen
Abominable
If we continue
Despoiling, we, too, will be
Endangered species
We better find him
This old Sasquatch character
Before sprawl kills him
--Carl Mehling, New York City
**Runners-up** (Tasmanian Devil Awards):
Christopher Lane of Sedona, Arizona
for "Glen Canyon Damn"
Lynne Wander of Oakland, California, for "Texas Ocelot"
Chris (youcantryreachingme) of Sydney, Australia
for "Did You Know, Huh Huh?" and "Bye-bye Wallaby"
David Traver Adolphus of Bennington, Vermont
for "A Sampling"
Aaron Spriggs of Fort Collins, Colorado
for "Acid Rain" and "Urban Runoff"
Texas ocelot.
The state has fewer left than
people on death row.
Polar bears drowning
Sounds like it could be a joke.
Nope! Global warming.
--Lynne Wander, Oakland, California
"A Sampling"
Thunderous black wings,
Harbingers of fell passage
Behold! The Grackle!
Oh how slovenly
Unable to breathe the filth
Is the wastrel sloth.
Narwhal singing songs
Of being a whale at sea
Horny ocean songs.
In the deep grass hide
Eleven dreadful badgers
Bright and quivering
Little vulture chicks
Like the ugly ducking tale
Except in reverse.
Little footprints ran
Along the frozen streambed.
A weasel was here.
Now, after the fall,
I must daily contend with
Giant mutant apes.
Heaving, grunting beach.
Fur-covered, piniped grubs.
Mating time for seals.
Aggressive monkeys
Ripping flesh from the tourists.
Running and screaming.
Lemurs everywhere
Why are all these lemurs here?
So many lemurs.
Rabbit hopping there
Oblivious of the hawk
Stooping to the kill.
--David Traver Adolphus, Bennington, Vermont
*Joggers-up* (Spotted-tailed Quoll Awards):
Jon Swabey of Flinders Lane, Australia, for "Doolagarl Spoor"
Gurpreet Jawa of Raleigh, North Carolina
for "Will Dolphins One Day" and "Through Urban Jungles"
"Doolagarl Spoor"
Wattle afternoon--
Claw Marks on the Gum, musk-stink
stains the clear cool air.
--Jon Swabey, Flinders Lane, Australia
Prizes: The grand-prize winner will receive a Tasmanian tiger prize pack, including: a Tasmanian tiger T-shirt, a jar of Tasmanian leatherwood honey, a DVD of the "Howling III" featuring a Were-Tiger, a signed copy of Carnivorous Nights: On the Trail of the Tasmanian Tiger, and one signed copy of the book for the library of his choice. The five runners-up will each receive one signed copy of Carnivorous Nights and one copy each for his or her favorite library. The two joggers-up will each receive one signed copy of Carnivorous Nights.
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