Haiku Matching Contest - 2 - Wabi Favorites
PACE Global Haiku Traditions October 2009
a letter yellowed with age Trudy Karr |
age spots and wrinkles Amy Jedlicka |
read every day Jamie Houchins |
wooden Jesus Jeff Crabtree |
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age spots and wrinkles |
wooden Jesus |
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top quarter champion age spots and wrinkles |
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top half champion grandma's wedding ring |
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bottom quarter champion grandma's wedding ring |
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needle still skipping |
grandma's wedding ring |
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needle still skipping Juanette Plato |
worn out legs Mandi Sy |
20 years of marriage Juanette Plato |
grandma's wedding ring Danielle Seider |
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top half champion grandma's wedding ring |
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champion smell of diesel
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bottom champion smell of diesel |
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| bottom half champion smell of diesel |
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extra bottom half champion looks like a tree |
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hub cap missing Doug Taylor |
old Chevy truck LeAnn Dossett |
in the garage Samantha Sloman |
smell of diesel Jeff Crabtree |
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hub cap missing |
smell of disel |
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top quarter champion smell of diesel |
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bottom half champion smell of diesel |
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bottom quarter champion molded to my hand |
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molded to my hand |
splintered wooden sword |
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molded to my hand Stacy Bourous |
old ball cap Jeff Gulley |
splintered wooden sword Doug Taylor |
pink and white sneakers Mandi Sy |
Bonus Round (Extra Bottom Half)
grandmother’s cuckoo clock Charlotte Ryan |
mommie's hand mirror Michael Clark |
handmade angel Renee Robbynes |
looks like a tree Jeremy Fraught |
mommie's hand mirror |
looks like a tree |
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extra bottom round top looks like a tree |
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extra bottom half champion looks like a tree |
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extra bottom round bottom no sight, no sound |
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no sight, no sound |
moonlight shining Gay Helgemo |
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Pairs Discussion
20 years of marriage |
grandma’s wedding ring |
grandma’s wedding ring |
age spots and wrinkles |
I love this haiku pair. I imagine that the first is about a spouse that has lost the other, and is now facing life alone. And the second I imagine is by a bride, writing about her grandmother that has also passed away. Death is a powerful subject for haiku. Even though they are sad haiku, they are very meaningful. I ended up picking “grandma’s wedding ring” as my favorite. Having been a bride myself a few years ago, I really related to this haiku. The traditions of something borrowed, something blue, etc. are really special and I love that this haiku reflects that. Amy I envision images of marriage. It almost appears as if these two haiku were written with each other in mind. I see a woman reminiscing about her husband, thinking about their lives together, times they shared sitting on their porch in the swing. I feel a sense of loss in the image that links into the second haiku. The grandma is still alive, and wants to provide her granddaughter with a sentimental token to begin her new life with her husband. Because the grandma loved and appreciated her husband and the life they shared before he passed away she chose to let her borrow her wedding ring. Charlotte I liked these to matching haiku because they can almost tell a story. I pictured a couple whose kids were all grown and it was just them in the house together. I pictured them going out to the porch and seeing the empty swing and remembering the full life they have had. How maybe they would sit on that swing and watch their kids run around the yard. I then imagined one of their grandchildren getting married. I imagined a close strong family, at least close enough where the grandmother let her borrow her wedding ring. That to me is a strong family bond. These haiku are both happy feeling poems. Mandi The obvious thing that these two haiku have in common is the theme of marriage. The haiku about the swing speaks to me because that is a place where my husband and I have spent many hours of conversation during our marriage. The contrast between the 2 haiku is that while one speaks of a long period of time being married, the other talks about a marriage just beginning. Trudy |
I love how these haiku match up. They both are about grandma. They flow very well together. When I read the first one I can literally feel grandma’s little thin hands on mine. Although old they are still very comforting. As I read on to the second one, I can imagine that she has taken my hands in hers to give me her wedding rings on my wedding day. I don’t have something “ borrowed” and with grandpa not with us any longer, grandma feels it appropriate to let me where her rings. I believe these haikus fit together well. Jamie I really liked this two haiku because they both have a special meaning to them. I can picture both of these images in my head. They both have a warm, loving feeling about them. Also, the first one makes me think of my grandma, while the second one has grandma in it. I thought these two were a good pair. It’s like how do you pick between her thin hand covering mine or borrowing grandma’s wedding ring. It was a tough choice for me. But in the end I chose grandma’s wedding ring. Borrowing your grandma’s wedding ring for your own day is something I would never forget. That is a priceless memory that no one will forget. LeeAnn These were and interesting match to me, because I can see two different views of someone’s grandma. In the first poem, I feel a very personal connection with an elderly person and their family. This may be in a nursing home, or at a time when the elderly person is not doing well. The other poem I think of a grandma that is attending the wedding of a grandchild. She is thrilled when her granddaughter asks to borrow her ring for her wedding. The poems are similar but I get a sad feeling from the first one, and a happy feeling from the second. This was a good match. Zac I really like this haiku because it reminds me of all the talks and quiet times with my grandma. Each time I would get a lecture or a time of encouragement, she would always demand me to come closer and every time, she would put her hands over mine. Each time she would also say honey I sorry my hands are cold. Of course, as she put her hands over mine when I was younger each time I would look at them and wonder what they hand touched or been through over the years. Juanette |
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hub cap missing |
old Chevy truck |
smell of diesel |
chopped wood |
Wow, great visualization on both of these. Good pairing for a matching contest. Both the trucks and the brand names have long traditions in our American culture. “Hot Dogs, Apple Pie and Chevrolet,” made everybody in America smile with patriotism as the commercial ad ran. It has literally been years, ok more years than I care to admit, since these ads ran, yet I can still see them running on Television, hear them being played on the radio. The jingle aside, you knew you were getting a solid product, one which would endure as long as or longer than the two other images in the commercial. The Chevy in this haiku is old - very old, dented to the max and yet still running strong. How do you compete with that? You get tough, “Ford tough.” Ford another staple in American culture, has made Americans tough, where Chevy took the softer side, (as did sears, years later) Ford wanted you to know their trucks were rugged, sleek, and tough. They could handle your daily work load during the week, and keep you going on the weekends out in the wild – hunting, camping, fishing, mountain climbing, driving in rough terrain - Ford is your truck. Look at the great image in this haiku, old ford truck, still willing to haul, even missing a hub cap, the truck doesn’t care and neither do we, it is still going; it is Ford TOUGH. This is such a good matched pair for these contrasts and similarities. But let’s get real here, times are tough everywhere nowadays, so this is perhaps one reason why the old ford truck kicks some butt in this matching pair. Robyn I found this pair to be humorous. The reactions of the class when both were read were funny. The actual Haiku went away and it turned more into a battle between fords and chevy’s. As Americans we get real attached to brands and it’s funny to see how people try to stay true to their brand no matter what the context. Like the rival sports teams Cubs and Cardinals, you are either one or the other and if you don’t choose a side someone will for you. Sam The pair from our contest just fit together. They could both be adds for a wheels and deals magazine. Together the feeling brought up by this pair harkens back to the days my friends used to argue about which car company made the best vehicles. The useless contest would usually digress to poems and disparaging jokes about the others choice of their dream car. I get a strong male bonding vibe from this pair. They strongly impress the strengths and obvious weaknesses of the vehicles but there is love there too. The word linkage of still in “hub cap missing” ties emotion to the old ford, I can see a weather worn and callused hand smoothing along the fender as the owner audibly recounts his truck’s virtues to no one but himself. Jeff Crabtree |
smell of diesel I can see grandpa as a man of few words or emotions; he probably doesn’t do a lot, grandma and the rest of the family love him to death though. I see them living in a farm house and are the type of family that have Sunday dinner religiously. This particular Sunday the entire family was outside enjoying the weather and they heard a loud roar from the farm shed< then the smell of diesel. They all walked hurriedly over to see what grandpa was doing and what he had bought. They came around the corner and saw a smile on grandpa’s face that most have never seen and some not since he was a young man. He sat inside an old hot rod truck like the one he got when he was younger. Michael The air is crisp, the day is coming to an end, and I have split a pile of wood. It’s a beautiful fall day and night couldn’t come fast enough. The hard work and hours of splitting wood will soon be a big blaze with people standing around it enjoying the heat and light from it. A bonfire is in the making. Michael |
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molded to my hand |
old ball cap |
molded to my hand |
splintered wooden sword |
I grew up loving everything about baseball and these two haiku took me there. I had a glove for about 15 years and it was the best glove I ever had. It “fit like a glove,” as they say and was broke in perfectly. The second haiku reminds me of having to wash my own hats. Sometimes they needed washed from being so dirty. Other times they were new fitted hats and needed to be shrunk a little, to fit my head correctly. Washing a hat a few times is fine to do, but do not dry them if you do not want them to shrink. I had a hat washed before that was accidently stuck in the dryer. When I took it out, I was thrilled to find out it still fit. I voted for “molded to my hand” both times it was up, but it was eliminated after the 2nd round. Jeremy
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My response to the above matching Haiku is as follows: In the first lines of the two Haiku above, there is a connection between them. I envision that “molded to my hand” and “splintered wooden sword” implies that a person has used or held these items in their hands. It adds a feeling that the item is personal and has been used many times and contains a piece of the persons being. In the second lines of both Haiku there is a sense that the “worn out leather” and “hanging on the wall” means that these items may or may not be still functional, but they still have great personal value to the owners of the articles. In the third line of each of the Haiku, they continue to have a similar theme that runs between them. The “clinching the final out” and “my japanese soul” both give me the feeling of a conclusion to a long journey and the aura of the bond between the person and the item. It goes beyond the mere possession aspects of owning either item. Doug |
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© 2009,
Randy Brooks • Millikin University
All rights returned to authors upon publication.