Florida's vultures never got a lot of love from the public; much less were they the subject of a whole bunch of Japanese poems.

That changed earlier this summer when Audubon Florida asked for people to write the best haikus in a contest involving the creatures — and 2,700 entries from around the United States were submitted.

Audubon Florida asked poets from Southwest Florida and the rest of the state to write haikus — the first and third lines each have five syllables; the middle line has seven — in a contest celebrating turkey and black vultures ahead of International Vulture Awareness Day, which is celebrated on the first Saturday in September.

While at least one of the 15 winners mentioned that vultures are known as “nature’s cleanup crew,” the haikus mostly mention the animals’ more majestic features, such as their “onyx elegance” and “soaring grace.” 

Five of the winners are from Florida. They all will have their haikus installed along an outdoor walkway at the Audubon Center for Birds of Prey, a Maitland- based animal clinic that treats raptors.

The winners:

Amanda Bowen
Carry-on? Yes sir
Yes I have my carrion
Tray table? No need!

December Cuccaro
The spark of life stills
Black wings wheel through a blue sky
Death is not the end

Nicki Drumb
Cleanup crew arrives
No tax dollars required
You’re very welcome

Kathryn Jory
Great wingspan unfurled
Soaring grace on thermal swirls
Joy in vulture form

Olivia Kafka
A kettle flying
A committee when it's perched
Gathered is the wake

Linda Kenyon
Dead tree comes alive
—  Vultures perch on bare branches:
A candelabra!

Matt Levitas
From so high above,
endings look like beginnings
circling back again

Katie McFarland
Soars high searching down
Landing hopping on the ground
Death cleaned once it’s found

Susan Leslie
Lonely winter wind.
Black shadow on brilliant blue,
Spring has come again!

Jen Handsel
Gliding Möbius
Carrion charcuterie
Onyx elegance 

Paula Hilton
Gliding, side by side,
Turkey Vultures mate for life
they are lovebirds too

Derlim Sandres
Sleek wings cleave the sky,
Nature's silent, healing grace
—  Death turns into life.

Ian Voves
Bold vulture!
Few men so brave as to rock your look
—  bald and unbearded.

Katie Craig
Resting in the pines
The cleaning crew slumbers deep
Dreaming of gliding

Bonnie Demerjian
Wings canted, it glides
Vulture turns in lazy gyre
Our eyes mesmerized

Environmental reporting for WGCU is funded in part by VoLo Foundation, a nonprofit with a mission to accelerate change and global impact by supporting science-based climate solutions, enhancing education, and improving health.

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