2026 Wisconsin Sijo Competition
Winners | Judges | Winners' Sijo
Winners' Sijo
Adult division
Itemized
Seventy-two dollars, the doctor says, confirming the bill. We charge for the entire bottle once the seal is broken. We didn't let you take it home because it had a broken seal.
Sijo Reading by Jeremiah David
The Winner
“Let’s play chess!” You love this game. Colonel Mustard, rope in the hall. My ships sink, I go bankrupt, I pick up eight, Jenga blocks fall. “Ha! Checkmate!” When you smile at me, I feel I’ve won. Take it all.
Sijo Reading by Genevieve Dwyer
Senior division
Childhood Home
Old oak tree, creaking doorway, smells of raindrops and summer days. Where I ran, where I hid away, back when time was slow and golden. Now I’m grown, wandering further, seeking paths that lead me back.
Why I Love Birthdays
Wrap the presents, blow the balloons, and bake a cake. The day is here. Now the card (my favorite part). My only goal: write from the heart. Read my card, but now he’s crying. See how much I love you.
The Stubborn One
The maple tree has shed its copper coat upon the frozen grass. One stubborn leaf still grips the heights, defying the winter’s first breath. It finally falls not in defeat, but to dance with the waiting wind.
Sijo Reading by Sawyer Kiefer
The Unchanged Hue
Warm breeze blows, through clear skies, water flowing, I feel alive. The golden fields fly by my feet while life beats in my chest. Suddenly white, everything shifts, Yet the beauty stays even through change.
Sijo Reading by Samuel Ruppert
Junior division
The green grass feels like a soft bed of water on the ground. You put your hands on the grass and feel the softness of the grass and then the glowing sun comes up and the grass fills up with lightness.
Legos click when you build them, putting things together. You can make anything you want, if you follow directions. But when you are done, you want to do it all over again.
When I was five I started playing violin and I loved it. So I followed my dream and played harder and harder songs. Now I’m ten and I write my own songs. Music is my life.