Cool lemonade
Drinks with friends
Shade

nothing gets better
but we must try anyway
so they say

every ten seconds a new wish
flashes across the milky way

friends
shade
cool lemonade

shade
cool lemonade
with friends

This feels a lot better, to me, when the setting is in the beginning, then filling it with the drinks and friends. The emphasis on shade instead of the drink just gives it a more... “haiku” feel, for lack of a better word. It's more about the entire picture than any part.

cool shade
lemonade
with friends

Austin Brettshneider

in the shade
I drink lemonade
with friends

summer afternoon
cool lemonade with friends
in the shade of the trees

cool lemonade
friends
shade

lemonade
with friends
cool shade

nothing gets better
try anyway
so they say

after the funeral
nothing gets better
but we must try

I tried a hundred permutations with Rob, this one seemed to work a little better, the setting makes it a little more of a focused kind of tragedy instead of just a bleak vision, and I suppose that makes it a bit more powerful.

broken plate in the sink
nothing changes
still I try

Austin Myers

(I found this difficult without feeling like I added too much and made an entirely new haiku)

nothing to try
they say
it gets better

stargazing
nothing gets better
but we must try

meditating
nothing gets better
so they say

after the funeral
nothing gets better
but we’re told we must try

every ten seconds
a new wish
flashes across the milky way

ten seconds
another wish
flies across the dark sky

every ten seconds
across the milky way
a new wish

milky way
a new wish flashes
every ten seconds

every ten seconds
a new wish
streaks across the milky way

every ten seconds
across the Milky Way
a wish

clear night
milky way
a flashing wish

Skya Gentle

ten seconds later
a new wish
flashes across the milky way

a new wish
across the milky way
every ten seconds

every ten seconds
a new wish
streaks across the galaxies

cookouts--
knowing school
is just around the corner

Blue Ridge Mountains roadtrip
dog puke
no more court dates

extreme drought
dead grass
children do a rain dance

cookouts--
school is
just around the corner

burgers grilling
yet knowing school
is around the corner

burgers on the grill
in the back of my mind
school

Jarred Leeper

cookout—
knowing school
is around the corner

passing through
Blue Ridge Mountains
the divorce over

James Farris

children do a rain dance
to bring back
the grass

extreme drought
dead grass
children do a rain dance

dead grass
instead of playing,
a rain dance

Geoffrey Eggleston

stomping dead grass
young children
do a rain dance

on dead grass,
children dance
asking for rain

children do a rain dance
bring back the grass

yardwork
i'm handed lemonade and cookies
thanks Grandma

summer nights
toasted marshmallows
too good to let cool

tent camping at midnight
it's still too hot
to cuddle

thanks Grandma
yardwork,
lemonade and cookies

yard work
cookies and lemonade
thanks Grandma

yardwork
lemonade and cookies
thanks Grandma

We decided this one was pretty much fine, the only thing really holding it back was the awkwardly long middle line that gave it a clunky look and feel, and we don't need “I'm handed” because it's obvious that the refreshments have to get to you somehow.

yard work done
Grandma’s
lemonade and cookies

yardwork done.
Grandma serves us
lemonade and cookies.

yard work completed
grandma’s lemonade
and cookies

break from yardwork
lemonade and cookies
thanks Grandma

Hannah Gifford

summer evenings
toasted marshmallows
too good to let cool

summer bonfire
roasting marshmallows
too good to let cool

R Nicole

camping at midnight
too hot
to cuddle

tent camping at midnight
still too hot
to cuddle

sharing a tent
still too hot
to cuddle

Austin Myers

heat of the night
cuddling is nonexistent
in the tent

camping out at midnight
it’s too hot
to cuddle

camping at midnight
still too hot
to cuddle

camping
at midnight . . . too hot
to cuddle

camping at midnight
too hot
to cuddle

camping at midnight
crickets whisper
it’s too hot to cuddle