2025 Touchstone Awards for Individual Poems — Long List
The Touchstone Awards for Individual Poems recognize excellence and innovation in English-language haiku and senryu published in juried public venues during each calendar year. The Touchstone Awards are an international affair, as English-language haiku and senryu nominations come from around the globe — our heartfelt thanks to the editors, contest coordinators, and poets who nominated poems. In 2025, we received 1,501 distinct entries submitted from 55 journals, 7 contests, and 252 individuals in 35 countries.
In the first round, the five panel members consider the anonymous roster, and each selects what they perceive to be the ten most exceptional poems. These are combined to form the Long List. In the second round, the panel ranks their top selections from the Long List, of which the highest-scoring poems form the Short List. In the final round, the panel selects the top haiku and senryu from the Short List to be recognized as the Award winners for 2025.
Many thanks to our distinguished panel: Thomas Haynes, Annette Makino, Sarah Paris, Dan Schwerin, and Mary Stevens. They put much time and effort, and especially careful thought and evaluation, into this challenging selection process.
Please join us in cheering on these fine poets!
Matthew Markworth
Coordinator, Touchstone Awards for Individual Poems
half-moon the tingle of a phantom breast
— Rupa Anand, haikuKATHA, Issue 40, February 2025.
undocumented
a man without
a planet
— Cynthia Anderson, Prune Juice, Issue 46, August 2025.
taking a detour
after the diagnosis-
scarlet sky
— Hifsa Ashraf, Suspect Device, Issue 17, October 2025.
snowflakes
each breath of the newborn
on its ventilator
— Bisshie, Wales Haiku Journal, Spring 2025.
darkness
pressing on the house
my hands in warm dough
— Shawn Blair, Modern Haiku, Volume 56.3, Autumn 2025.
dry spell…
the magpie rattles
a peach stone
— Sabrina Blom, Creatrix 71 Haiku, December 2025.
secrets she did not mean to keep the war
— Claire Vogel Camargo, whiptail: journal of the single-line poem, Issue 13, June 2025.
moonlight
the shimmer-sound
of an electric car
— Louise Carson, Frogpond, Volume 48:2, Spring/Summer 2025.
news cycle
the same explosion
from a different angle
— Sandip Chauhan, haikuKATHA, Issue 41, March 2025.
an old olive tree
listed
among the dead
— Adele Evershed, Frogpond, Volume 48:2, Spring/Summer 2025.
stroke by stroke
midnight falls
on my father’s face
— Bill Fay, First Frost, Issue 10, November 2025.
taking her history of falling leaves
— Barbara Fink, Mariposa 53, Autumn/Winter 2025.
winter stars the history of exclusion
— Goran Gatalica, Heliosparrow Poetry Journal, December 20, 2025.
ICU
the fragments and phrases
of your breath
— Lee Gurga, Modern Haiku, Volume 56.2, Summer 2025.
long migration
a whale’s flukes studded
with stars
— Lorraine Haig, The 6th Star Haiku Contest, July 2025, Honorable Mention.
hospital corridor
the touch of
two wheelchairs
— Vladislav Hristov, Heliosparrow Poetry Journal, September 6, 2025.
blue eggshell
something in me
made of sky
— Edward Cody Huddleston, The Heron’s Nest, Volume XXVII, Issue 3, September 2025.
forest stream
a fawn steps into
itself
— Edward Cody Huddleston, 2025 Porad Haiku Award, Honorable Mention.
sunday dosing winds in parts per willow
— Jonathan Humphrey, Acorn 54, Spring 2025.
dusk
fine tuning the dark
around a cello
— Jonathan Humphrey, NOON: Journal of the Short Poem, Issue 27, April 2025.
low-slung sky
the rain hanging
by a hundred prayers
— Anju Kishore, The Heron’s Nest, Volume XXVII, Issue 4, December 2025.
the doctor shrugs nothing he can for me withering wind
— Kat Lehmann, Rattle, March 26, 2025.
w a n i n g
gibbous
forgett
ing
to
e
a
t
— Kat Lehmann, Rattle, March 26, 2025.
river cloud
the X of this body
unsolvable
— Kat Lehmann, Rattle, April 25, 2025.
as much as I want to be still these wild flowers
— Kat Lehmann, Rattle, May 27, 2025.
prairie walk
our conversation
mostly pauses
— Tanya McDonald, Frogpond, Volume 48:2, Spring/Summer 2025.
— Scott Metz, Acorn 54, Spring 2025.
god ray
the goldfinch
adds an exponent
— Sarah E. Metzler, Frogpond, Volume 48:3, Autumn 2025.
lambing season…
snowdrops
on a long forgotten grave
— Isabella Mori, The Pan Haiku Review, Issue 6, Autumn/Winter 2025.
big
enough
prayer rug
— Peter Newton, Modern Haiku, Volume 56.3, Autumn 2025.
lavender-eyed frogs
my place on the spectrum
of visible light
— Marianne Paul, trash panda, Volume 9, Summer 2025.
eventide—
a murmur of pigeons
folds the night
— Madhuri Pillai, Echidna Tracks, Issue 15, Winter/Spring 2025.
new nest,
mornings begin early,
at my window.
— Vaishnavi Pusapati, Autumn Moon Haiku Journal, Volume 8:2, Spring/Summer 2025.
summer solstice
every day a little more
daughter than son
— Marjolein Rotsteeg, The Mainichi, August 21, 2025.
pentimento
a dusting of snow
on the saguaro
— Barbara Sabol, The Heron’s Nest, Volume XXVII, Issue 2, June 2025.
island sound waves of silence between us
— Kelly Sargent, Rattle, Issue 87, Spring 2025.
before autumn unpetals the last word inoperable
— Rich Schilling, whiptail: journal of the single-line poem, Issue 13, June 2025.
wind-bent reeds
the part of me
that won’t stop swaying
— Nalini Shetty, haikuKATHA, Issue 49, November 2025.
old tin shed
a bullet hole
for the wind
— John Shiffer, Acorn 55, Fall 2025.
whitening pine
the crow shakes itself
back to black
— Laszlo Slomovits, Geppo, L:2, May 2025.
not enough
to become an angel
first snow
— Richard Tice, Geppo, Volume L:2, May 2025.
raising the host
a glimpse
of the priest’s tattoo
— Stephen Toft, Haiku in Action, August 18, 2025.
canopy of stars
the magnitude
of not knowing
— Kevin Valentine, Autumn Moon Haiku Journal, Volume 8:2, Spring/Summer 2025.
the ache
at day’s end
prairie moon
— Evan Vandermeer, hedgerow #148.
catching sun
around the pool
descendants of reptiles
— Joseph P. Wechselberger, Five Fleas Itchy Poetry, August 21, 2025.
emptying the house
story by story
winter’s end
— Susan Yavaniski, Acorn 55, Fall 2025.
a prayer without translation border fence
— Nitu Yumnam, whiptail: journal of the single-line poem, Issue 13, June 2025.
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I feel surprised that my comments were “deleted”. If tell me if that is to be as my Email is given. Huge Congratulations to all the featured poets. My thoughts:
Anonimity–it should be triple blind, throughout. Publication, nominee and who nominated.
Awards— since it leans heavily on English minimalist/ micro-poetry, it may be more aptly named than the Japanese term.
Panel— if it is not English micro-poetry, a panelist from each haiku writing continent may be present. As this event is considered so prestigious.
Thanking you with regards,
Subir Ningthouja
Hi Subir, and many thanks for the comments. I can see your other comment, and I’m not aware of anything that’s been deleted. Regarding anonymity, panelists don’t see the poet’s name or publication details until they’re made public in this post. Also, the names of nominators aren’t shared.
Congratulations to all featured poets. I think many have worked with haikai for long years. I feel I am not adequate to comment. I am a nominee, nominated by someone else, whom I never know personally. May I be allowed to put my thoughts:
Anonimity– It should be triple blind all through. The publication, the author and who nominated.
The Awards– It is no longer haiku or related forms. It is Western Concept micro-poetry. The Awards can be aptly named.
Panel— since it is such a prestigious event, I feel there should be panelist each from the haiku writing continents. Of course, if it is English micro-poetry, there is no such need.
Thanking all with respect,
Subir Ningthouja
Hi Subir, and many thanks for the comments. Regarding anonymity, panelists don’t see the poet’s name or publication details until they’re made public in this post. Also, the names of nominators aren’t shared.
I am so humbled and honored for my poem to be long-listed alongside such amazing poems and poets and to have been selected by poets whom I admire!
A wonderful and touching selection, congratulations to all.
Thank you Matthew– so is that now the policy, to select only from journals and contests? Just curious, really.
It’s my pleasure, Megan, and happy to help. Good question, and there haven’t been any changes in that regard.
Delighted to see a lot of poets who worked with Call of the Page represented here, and also congratulations to Isabella Mori, representing The Pan Haiku Review.
Congrats to everyone else here too!
Alan
Alan Summers
founder, Call of the Page
founder, The Pan Haiku Review
Congratulations to all the poets selected for this year’s longlist. I have a couple of personal favourites but will keep those to myself for now. Congratulations to the committee as well; it must be a daunting task to work through all the entries to hone the list down to this selection. I’m looking forward to the shortlist!
I read this selection with interest and noticed some trends that seem to continue those already present in last year’s selection.
I have always appreciated the generosity of the haiku community, and I know that different readers and writers are drawn to different qualities in haiku. For my part, I find myself especially drawn to poems that leave more space, that remain open, and whose resonance continues beyond the first reading.
With that in mind, I feel a certain distance from some aspects of this selection. I can see the care and quality in many of the poems, but the overall style is not always close to what I myself look for in haiku. That is perhaps also why this selection leaves me somewhat estranged at first reading.
Dear Sebastien,
I’ve thought a lot about your post here and on FB. I feel this is just one place for recognition. I was nominated by a lot of editors myself, which is reward in itself. And you have fans of your work, including myself!
Many of us have distinctive styles in writing our own work, and I try to set that aside when I’m a judge myself. And at Call of the Page we are incredibly inclusive of so many different styles too.
The great thing about the internet now is we can find our particular community, and also, why not start up your haiku journal. I, for one, would be delighted.
warmest regards,
Alan
Congratulations to all the nominees. All the best. Many of them I had read before, many I am reading for the first time. All so good, it would be really hard for me to pick if I were a judge.
Warmest congratulations to all! 👏
There is a tenderness in si many of these beautiful haiku and then there is this
which still brings vulnerability
old tin shed
a bullet hole
for the wind
— John Shiffer, Acorn 55, Fall 2025.
Congratulations all
Some very enspireing ku here. ………
Congratulations to all the poets!
Congrats to all!
Always interesting to look at trends. Very few haiku chosen from the “old guard”– poets publishing in the 90’s and still active. There are at least 9 poems that touch on the subject of illness. Maybe that’s similar to last year, I’d have to check. Are haiku chosen from books that were published in a given year? Poets sometimes include things that were not published in journals.
One standout for me:
whitening pine
the crow shakes itself
back to black
— Laszlo Slomovits, Geppo, L:2, May 2025
Hi Megan, many thanks for your comments and question. All the poems this year are from journals and contests, although in previous years some were from books when that’s where they first appeared.
Thanks you Matthew– so is that now the policy, to select only from journals and contests? Just curious, really.
It’s my pleasure, Megan, and happy to help. Good question, and there haven’t been any changes in that regard.
A wonderful array of stirring, heart heavy and beautiful poems. Congratulations poets!