Haiku Attempts 1 Favorites
Global Haiku • Millikin University • June 2016
calm starry night Briana Curtis |
smoldering afternoon Alexa Duncan (4) In this one I see the image of a child growing older and moving on from the things he once loved, to the things he will love in the future. It shares that bittersweet essence of progressing in life and letting go of things in the past. Dan |
warm sunny day Briana Curtis |
sleeping amongst the stars |
two avocados Jasmine Gregory |
looking in the mirror Emily Holthaus I like this poem because it reminds me of my childhood. I remember when I was younger and my friends came over to my house. Every time my friends came over to my house, we would have to play dress-up. We had three different outfits that we would use to play dress-up. One outfit was a white ballerina dress. Another outfit was a pink 60’s dress. The last outfit was a Victorian dress. I enjoyed playing dress-up. Playing dress-up with my friends when I was younger made me happy. Teresa |
4 years gone by Briana Curtis I like this one from kukai 1 because it talks a bout a real life experience which is when the years start passing by very quickly. In addition, the question who am I chose that some people grow older without accomplishment anything, even after the years they don’t know who they are. Rakan |
man she was stunning Tives Gardner (2) |
silent, dark apartment Daniel Koffman (4) |
in a crowded car Daniel Koffman (6) |
lining up the silverware |
hold your breath Emily Holthaus (3) |
deserted island |
she gets pretty for the night |
they say call Jasmine Gregory (4) |
the water is cool |
cornfields Alexa Duncan (8) |
crooked feet |
Summer road |
at the beach |
water |
a gleaming saber Daniel Koffman (4) |
hotel room at night Daniel Koffman (4) |
stay up late |
his heart shatters |
the day of the dead |
they just want Jasmine Gregory I like this poem because most people just want something that is right now and temporary most people don’t want to stay for the long hall. I feel like our generation live by this code where we get bored with something no matter what it is we seem to like it for a period of time and just kick it out. Ty |
200 dollars Jasmine Gregory (3) This haiku is extremely simple, but has a humorous effect on me as a reader. It is painfully true that that is how fast we sometimes go through money. It relates to me completely because it seems like a fly through money that I earn on my paycheck. I spend it faster than the hours that I put into earning the check. But the good thing about money is you can most of the time always make more. Emily |
hunger strikes |
fresh cut smell of grass |
MVP to the team Jasmine Gregory (2) What I think is really excellent about this haiku us the ability to connect to so many different types of readers. As I imagined it, this was a young girl with very serious self-esteem issues. While she is surrounded by people that love her and value her, who may even tell her out loud that they recognize her worth in life, she does not feel that internally. I think it can resonate with anyone who ever deals with internal struggles, especially with self-esteem or self-worth. Mackenzie |
midnight |
the missing stone |
masquerade ball Christa Hunt I get a really interesting image from this. The setting is immediate and strong and drops you in the middle of it. I imagine all these people in a ritzy penthouse, all clad in slinky dresses and tuxes. They may not have masks on (of the physical sense), but their mannerisms and ways of viewing the world are all hidden underneath the figurative masks they’ve invented for themselves. This haiku is a cool way of exposing the intricacies of relationships and how we always hide parts of ourselves. Alexa |
the façade |
seagulls on the wall Alexa Duncan (4) To me, this haiku perfectly captures the sudden horror that is cancer. It starts so simply, and then builds, the situation getting worse until the reveal, when the person’s life is turned upside down. It really gives that feeling of things being fine one week, and incredibly dire and terrifying the next. Dan |
moving day |
spring break |
mom is frantically yelling |
relocation |
warm vanilla in the kitchen |
across the graveyard |
silver heart Mackenzie Larrick (5) This haiku makes me picture a couple that is in a relationship and are stuck. They both have held on for so long, that neither one knows how to let go of the other and move on. So when the littlest thing happens to them, they take advantage and finally call it off. So their relationship is what is dangling by a thread, or in the haiku’s case a chain. The chain finally broke so to me I imagine the couple moving on and going their separate ways and both being okay with where their relationship ended. Emily |
wolves gnaw at the page Alexa Duncan (3) I really like the first haiku because it puts into my mind the story of Little Red Riding Hood. It’s like a remake of the childhood story. The story of Red Riding Hood was a fairy tale that I first experienced as a young girl. Over the years it has been remade many times. The remakes have had variant endings; some are more suited for adults so I can fall in love all over again. To me this is another twist on the ending. Christa I enjoyed this haiku from the Kukai. In this poem, you think of the story Little Red Riding Hood. In this poem, I think of a child is being read this story for the first time or just learning how to read for the first time. The child has just discovered the magic of reading and books in the moment of this poem. You can feel how exciting the story is from the “wolves gnawing at the page.” This poem brings me back to when I was a child and how much I loved to read new stories. Teresa |
stormy weather Rakan Algatani (6) Such a wonderfully evocative haiku. The stormy weather of words brings to mind a particularly intense conversation between two people who love each other as much as they hate each other. However, the last line of this haiku really elevates it to a level beyond your standard storm haiku. “Between two planets” is an amazing way to extend this haiku out from the physical and into the metaphysical. This couple’s anger isn’t even a force of nature. It’s a celestial event. And it’s brilliant. Alexa I love the use of metaphor in the haiku. I see the two planets as two very strong, very different people. The stormy weather of words is fights and arguments which are pushing them apart, almost as a planet’s orbit would push them away from one another planet. It’s very simple, yet the lack of the human presence makes you reflect more deeply into the situation. Mackenzie |
magnetic fields |
sparkling lips and splotches of pink |
do you love me |
mom smells Alexa Duncan (4) |
tiptoeing in nightgowns |
6 o'clock alarm |
jumping so high I can touch the sky Teresa Brase (4) |
dinosaurs roam the yard Teresa Brase (3) |
cold winter night |
I could die tomorrow Tives Gardner (6) Unfortunately, this is our sad reality. The constant brutality of our Black men is disgusting and heartbreaking. I have a little brother and I hope he does not become another statistic. The Black community have been through enough being slaves for 400 years. Although, the sad thing is as Black people we are still enslaved by a corrupt system. This also makes my fight and fire for Black Lives Matter that much stronger. My fight and the fight of my brothers and sisters gives me hope that one day we will have the equality we deserve. Briana I like this one two because it talks about race issues or the mistreated communities in the world today, as the death of a person does not change anything, as if it is just another road kill. Rakan |
a tiny whine |
small, plastic Casio |
history: |
lost in the woods Teresa Brase (4) I relive a childhood memory when I read this poem. My siblings and I would always play football in the back yard. One day the football went over the fence in our backyard. Behind the fence were a ton of huge tress, broken branches, and crowded. We all went behind the fence to retrieve the football and that moment was so special and fun. My brother even got hit in the face with a branch and we all burst into laughter. Good times! Briana Maybe I’m just feeling a little nostalgic but I picture Hansel and Gretel. I imagine a twist on this ending as well. In my version Hansel and Gretel are the ones to be weary of. The witch has cast a spell on them so now they help to lure unsuspecting travellers to the witch. I would place Tim Burton as the director. To give it like this creepy sinister, eerie, feel, the kids are more like goblins yet they maintain their original appearance. Christa |
desert night Rakan Algatani (4) |
I am not the Tives Gardner (4) |
climbing a tree |
tramping through the trees |
christmas morning Emily Holthaus |
winter comes Rakan Algatani (2) I love this poem because it brings me back to the Christmas memories were the whole family gathers around the fire and just share stories and talk about new year resolutions they want to accomplish. This poem reminds me of family. Ty |
pink and purple hearts Mackenzie Larrick (4) |
shallow existence Christa Hunt (4) |
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© 2016, Randy Brooks • Millikin University
All rights returned to authors upon publication.