Mount Vernon seventh grader Jonathan Winkler was the winner of the seventh and eighth grade division of the Hawkeye Haiku contest held in early November.
“It felt kind of surreal hearing that I was the winner, knowing all the number of people and states that were competing in the contest,” Winkler said.
According to the Hawkeye Haiku contest parameters, winners were asked to “develop a traditional haiku that captures an aspect of winter. The contestant may interpret winter in many ways, including building snow sculptures, drinking hot cocoa, or cheering on your favorite hockey team.”
Winkler noted that the form of haiku, the number of syllables in the form especially, was important.
“Word choice really mattered for that form,” Winkler said.
He was writing the poem as part of a creative writing class at Mount Vernon Middle school, as the class was doing a unit on poetry in class. The teacher mentioned the contest, and that spurred Winkler to enter.
He noted one of the words used to describe winter gave him the idea for one of the sentences in his poem.
His poem, Winter, was featured on the For Iowa website. It’s also included here.
Winter
Bare, shivering trees
Dark clouds gather; north wind blows
Everything bathed white
The poem was also featured in the live, online broadcast of Holidays with the Hawkeyes, which aired Sunday, Dec. 5.
Winkler noted his favorite subjects in school are mathematics, art and communication arts classes. He’s been involved in a number of athletic activities this year, including wrestling, soccer, basketball and baseball.