Washington State Ferries seeking haiku on the ‘ferry experience’

The Washington State Ferries (WSF) inspire people to do a lot of things, like taking a million windy selfies, going on quick weekend getaways, or switching to a boat commute. But for those that are moved to poetics, WSF is running a Twitter haiku contest judged by Washington State poet laureate Claudia Castro Luna.

The contest has three phases: First, entrants post a maximum of three haiku on Twitter using the #WSFHaiku tag from Monday, March 5 through Friday, March 9. Then, WSF staff will select 25 entries “most relevant to the WSF experience.” Those entries will be sent to Luna, who will choose three finalists—then those go to a popular vote based on Twitter likes on March 19.

Unfortunately, this appears to be a paid-in-exposure situation, with the winner appearing on the Spring 2018 sailing schedules—but at least submissions are very short.

Poems must be traditional haiku, following the five-seven-five syllable structure on three lines, and must be original work. The contest winner will work with WSF to choose a photo to accompany the poem. Whether the poems win or not, WSF may use submissions in marketing and communications—which is basically the prize everyone is competing for, anyway.

We’re sure this will result in a few haiku from folks that don’t find the “WSF experience” to be a good one—but with arguably the prettiest views out of any public transportation option in the region, there seems like plenty to write a haiku or three about.

• Poet and want to show it? Enter our haiku contest [WSF]