FPS: Falling Leaves Challenge Winners

Welcome to the first stop in our Fall Poetry Series!

How do we judge a haiku? Beyond the rhythm and the 5-7-5 rule, it’s less about counting syllables and more about catching a feeling. Does it paint a clear picture? Make you laugh? Make you stop for a second? The best ones don’t need to be picked apart, they just land softly and stay with you.

For the Falling Leaves Challenge, we asked writers to capture the quiet magic of autumn in 17 syllables. A haiku about change, color, and the beauty that fades too fast. What came back were moments that felt suspended in time, leaves caught mid-fall, memories pressed between seasons, and the hush that comes when the air first turns crisp.

A note on AI generated content:

We love haikus but we obviously shied away from them a bit recently because AI generated content detection is tricky when we're talking about just 17 syllables and only a few words. So to give you a little "inside-baseball" into our process for this challenge: once our shortlist was created and we had our potential winners picked out, our curation team did a quick review of the creators’ profiles to confirm they were real. We didn’t do deep dives into their full body of work or run extensive AI checks, just a quick gut check, especially for creators we weren't as familiar with (Lamar, you're good, we already recognize your game!).

🏆 Winners

Final Waltz by Lamar Wiggins

This one lingers like the last warm rays of autumn, inviting a bittersweet gaze at fleeting beauty.

The Field Remembers by Rebecca A Hyde Gonzales

Evokes a sense of loss, turning the landscape into a tapestry of remembrance.

s u s p i r e by Kristen Balyeat

A breath of crisp morning air, like the forest itself whispering goodbye as the leaves fall.

time of dying by Raistlin Allen

The imagery glows with intensity, capturing that bittersweet moment of transition perfectly.

to see fall more than once by Leigh Victoria Phan, MS, MFA

A striking image that makes the heart swell, the red leaf stands out like a pop of hope amid the urban gray

🎖️ Runners-up

• Laudamus Te by Daniel Bradbury
• Autumnal by ROCK aka Andrea Polla (Simmons)
• phoenix wisdom, ii by L.C. Schäfer
• We were almost winter by Daniel K
• Autumn Sunset by Ema Salvi
• Authorial Autumn by D. J. Reddall
• Delicately Durable by Kelli Sheckler-Amsden
• leaflight & cinnamon by Sara Little
• The Moment Before by Steve Lance
• Only Here by Ellen Stedfeld
• The Dying Flame by Tim Carmichael
• A Breath Before Nothing by Miss. Anonymous
• Velvet Incarnadine by Ian Read
• Mid-Air by Natasha Collazo
• The Fall by Hannah Moore

🏅 Honorable Mentions

• Time Falls by Stacey Mataxis Whitlow (SMW)
• Aspen Song by K.B. Silver
• The Backdrop by Jon Emm
• Sacred Gifts by Pamela Williams
• Scarlet Leaves by Cadma
• Suspension by Meredith Harmon
• College Migration by Justin
• Hanging In by Katarzyna Popiel
• Fiery by TheSpinstress
• My Exhale by Aubrey Rebecca

Check out the latest on Vocal Challenges.