Global Haiku Tradition--Kukai 2, Spring 2004
The
following haiku with authors are born, because
they have found a reader who loves each of them.
|
flannel nightgowns Jennifer Toney breakfast
on the deck Molly Pufall |
sparkling
dresses Katie Steimann (2) |
down stuffed
coat |
|
long summer
weekend neighbors
unite |
bright summer
sun Brianne Dilbeck I really like this haiku because of the tire swing. I imagine a beautiful summer afternoon and a little girl running outside to play with her tire swing that hangs off of the most perfect tree. It's one of those trees that stands alone on a "plantation type" home. I can see the big white Victorian home and fresh green grass surrounding the home, with one tree that is huge and perfect with the rope hanging from its branch with a black tire swinging from side to side. The last line "alone" to me isn't sad, but alone in the sense of freedom more than anything. I can picture the little girl swing away on the tire, having the time of her life all by herself. —Megan |
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afternoon
barbeque Sylvia Hilton Every 4th of July has been nearly the same for my family. Alternating years between the Toney and the Marty household, our family’s would always combine to celebrate the holiday with red, white and blue clothing, cooking on the grill, cool drinks and watermelon. I can easily visualize our families sitting on our back patio talking, laughing, awaiting dinner and the trip to the lake to see the fireworks. together
again 1st
homemade ice cream Jennifer Toney |
street light
flickers sunny morning
|
|
winter campfire a light mist |
morning chill Ben Kress This haiku takes me back camping every summer on Rock Island in Door County, Wisconsin. We always go in the summer but whenever I wake up early enough there was always a chill in the air. The chill could be missed if you slept in, but it was such a refreshing feeling just knowing the rest of the day was going to be sunny and beautiful. Camping is such a nice memory for me because it is a chance for my whole family to just put all the crap behind us and go out and enjoy nature for a week and half. —Cliff I see people sleeping in a tent. It is fall and it is the last time to go camping before winter. You wake up and don't want to get out of your sleeping bag because you can feel the cold on your face. You finally unzip the sleeping bag and step out of the tent to smell the morning smells of camping on a lake. —Julia S I love the camping imagery here. It takes me to Michigan, where I go to visit my grandparents every summer. One year, my friends Tim, Beth, and Shannon and I camped out in the backyard. In the morning, there's this chill, but it's not cold, it's refreshing. The smell of the lake is all around you, and it just gets you more excited for the day. We would go out and fish every morning, trying to catch lunch, but more than likely coming home empty handed. The imagery of the nest is great, because that is exactly what the sleeping bag is. It's so tight and warm, like your own private cocoon. Great imagery and it brings back fond memories. —Colby |
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huddled on
the porch Travis Meisenheimer (6) summer
downpour Leigh Ann Kitchell |
old country
road |
Caribbean
surf |
|
fireplace
glowing |
treading
on tiny mountains |
dog’s
eyes |
|
white Christmas
. . . |
looking up |
icy beach |
|
big gift Cliff Ault valentine's
day Jenny Schultz |
pink heart
tissue paper
Alida Duff (2) |
red candy
hearts the
water calms |
|
hot summer
day |
grandpa's
beach house Megan Minogue twenty
toes Abe Millikin |
long line Mike Mays |
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starry night Alison Burns I really enjoyed this Haiku. It put me back in the past when I was a kid and used to play flashlight tag with my friends out on the golf course. You could almost always see stars in the huge, black sky above us which is why we played on the golf course. After we were tired of playing, we would almost always sit out on the course and talk or tell ghost stories. It also brought back memories of Boy Scout Camp in the summertime. Ghost stories were a huge part of getting over your fears of being in the wild and were always told within my group. —Ben adults
by the bonfire Cliff Ault
|
unsealing
the envelope Katie Steimann (4) This haiku brings upon the reader a feeling of nostalgia. Everyone has been touched by their past, whatever the sentiment may be. I get a strong vision of a young girl searching through her mother's belongings after she has passed away. I see a large shoe or hat box covered with a layer of dust from sitting in the closet untouched for so long. The smell of dust and old paper is very distinct. It is full of old pictures, some black and white from her childhood, others, faded reds and greens from her teenage years: smiling pictures of her mother with her friends at college. The daughter reaches under the pictures at the very bottom of the box to find a dozen letters from her mother's past. They are funny and romantic and the daughter smiles and grins as she reads each one chronologically. —Sylvia I like this "unsealing" haiku because it gives me a seasonal feeling with the line "musty letters" and it creates a legacy of time throughout the three lines. I am able to see an old teenage daughter looking through her mom's hope chest and finding a tattered manila envelope that her mother has kept of old love letters exchanged between the mother and father amidst other informative letters of her past. I also feel that our senses as the reader are brought to life by the adjective "musty." We can all personalize that smell and understand the tenderness that has been given to these letters in order to preserve them, being stored in an attic, or basement, or simply in a hope chest. Our attention is focused on the letters, with crucial details before and after the middle line. My mom has old boxes of letters written by my grandfather to my grandmother when he was in World War II which are incredibly heartbreaking and romantic at the same time. She also has a collection letters that my father wrote to her when they were apart in their college years. There is something so tender and passionate about a collection of old letters that is really capitalized on in this haiku. —Molly |
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spinning
fast Sylvia Hilton I really liked this Haiku as well. It reminded me of when I used to throw pottery in the wheel for hours and hours at a time. After so long, you kind of lose yourself in the process and start o act on artist instincts. When you get to this state, you can look down one minute and have a ball of gooey mess and a couple minutes later a form will start to appear right in front of your eyes. I enjoyed this Haiku, because it took me back to that state almost immediately upon reading it and made me remember similar instances in my wheel throwing. —Ben |
funeral service Jenny McGeehon (7) This haiku evokes many memories, and I love it mostly because it captures a feeling common to all of them. A funeral itself always seems a strange ritual to me. I usually find no intrinsic value. Some say such a ceremony can provide "closure" or "relief." I have never felt this way. Relief, for me, always comes in a communion with nature--precipitation. Be it rain or snow, the first occurrence of precipitation is the factor that ultimately reminds me that things do change and life goes on. —Nick Wow, this one brought back a very vivid image of the day we buried my grandpa. It was such a bleak, snowy, gray day. I remember standing inside the blue tent next to the coffin as the minister spoke soft words of comfort, punctuated only by the soft sniffles of the few surrounding family members. It's funny how even though this haiku brings back the tranquility I felt that day, I'll never forget when that stillness was broken. The twenty-one gun salute was piercingly loud outside the tent. It was so honorable, but frightening none the less. —Leigh your
soul mate crying Tony Douglass snow-white
morning Megan Minogue |
|
calm water Jennifer Toney (5) I really like this one (calm water). I can see it in a pool or a lake, and just someone laying on it and just letting go of everything. The "drift" makes this very tranquil, very lazy, but it makes ME feel tranquil and calm just reading it. I also see the turtle having those huge cartoon-y eyes on each side and a big ol' smile on his rubber face. —Sarah church
camp Alida Duff |
fields of
gold Alison Burns (4) I just love the first image you are given in this haiku. "Fields of gold" . . . I see a field with tall wheat stocks on a farm, and these two children, around age 8, inventing a game in the stocks. The day must be bright and warm, because "gold" is such a bright image, and I can feel the wind on my face, with the country scent of dirt and grass all around me. It seems to transport you to the past, sometime when the prairie was new to the eyes of the settlers. When I was younger I attended a day of school at a historical one-room school house during camp. It just brings me back to that time in history. —Katie |
long road
back Travis Meisenheimer (5) I imagine someone who is coming back to college after Christmas break--perhaps someone from out of state just because of the "miles" counting. This person is either male or female. They are thinking of their significant other who they only get to see on breaks since they go to different schools. Home is sort of a half way point; one goes to school up north and the other goes to school in the south. By counting the miles, this person feels they can hold onto the pleasant times to help pass the time or just ease into the transition of being apart again. —Adam |
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talking trees |
your last
words Travis Meisenheimer (4) |
hands on
head |
|
late night
on the L |
lane lines |
sun shining |
|
rows of cookie
dough Spanish olives |
grandfather's
laugh Maureen Ritter (3 & Dr. Brooks favorite) This haiku gives me the giggles. I can hear the grandfather's loud guffaw from across the kitchen, and he's laughing at his grandson who, unwittingly, has taken a huge portion of horseradish sauce thinking it was something else. The grandson, probably twelve or fourteen years old, piles part of his helping of horseradish sauce onto a cracker and shoves the whole thing in his mouth, and grandpa watches in glee as the boy's face turns from hunger to horror. The boy manages to swallow his mouthful of horseradish and his pride and simply crosses the kitchen to dump the rest of it down the sink. —Jenny S Despite the lack of a literal seasonal image word, I envision a hot summer evening after a family barbecue. My grandparents have came to visit for the weekend, while Dad decides to cook out on the grill. The smell of grilled hamburgers and hotdogs smothered with sauteed onions and green peppers still lingers after dinner, but is then interrupted by the aroma of freshly cut watermelon in the kitchen. As we run into the kitchen to snatch our pieces of watermelon, Grandpa finishes one of his famous World War II tales of him and "two-finger Eddy" with his infamous laugh that fills our house with echoes of responding laughter. Over the sink, he scrapes the remnants of horseradish sauce into the sink, beaming with the smile that we've always associated with the booming laughter that is Grandpa- that is summer. Alida |
|
with great
pride |
swishing
legs |
snow beating
the windshield |
|
best friends Alida Duff (2) When I read this one loved it, it really spoke the truth about a daughter and her mother's relationship. My mom I my best friend, always has and she will always be. She has helped me grow and develop into the woman that I am today. I picture myself after college when I have moved away form home and the first month or so I am really homesick, so I call my mom every night to say good night and the I love her. I feel that this haiku really speaks a lot in so few of words. —Alison |
brown shoe
polish the Holy
Bible |
|
a baseball
glove Leigh Ann Kitchell cold
gray stone Jennifer Rule |
5
colored circles |
pressing
the pedal |
|
wiggling
all day
steering
wheel of ice |
two fingers Sarah Scheck I get an image of two brothers that are rolling around on the carpet wrestling when all of a sudden, one gets zapped by the other. This leads to an all out war between the two boys. They are now running around the room dragging their feet as they go so that they build up the static for the ultimate zap. One of the boys ducks under the coffee table, only to have the other meet him on the other side. The two are just laughing and having a great time. Their hair by now is standing on end and Mom has come in to see what all the giggling is about. Now the boys turn on Mom. She grabs the boys and finally gets them calmed down on the couch. —Jennifer R
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framed picture
of us Travis Meisenheimer (6) broken
frame Katie Steimann |
red bumps |
walk in the
door |
|
curtain up |
clammy palms |
crying eyes |
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middle age
pastime |
open gym |
body pillows Julia Shaver fresh
baked cookies Jenny McGeehon |
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a quiet night |
the window's
sun rays |
graduation
day |
|
ink stain |
playfulness |
a quilt on
the bed |
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lightning
crashes Brianne Dilbeck The haiku I chose for my response writing haiku was not one of my favorites, but the opening line really captured me to write. I didn't really like the clashing of the two elements (bread and lightning), and the sensory output it gave was mingled. At first I saw the lightning, but then smelled totally unrelated bread. It seemed a bit muddled to me. Anyway, as I said, it was the opening line that really got me, so that's what I'm going to be writing on. spring
evening Sarah Scheck |
new ballet
shoes Leigh Ann Kitchell This haiku (new ballet shoes) made me think of my childhood. For 5 years, I was involved in ballet, jazz, and tap dancing. This was a huge part of my life then. As I read this haiku, I immediately thought of the first time I went to ballet class. I had all the new stuff, shoes and leotard. I was so proud to be there and to start the class. This haiku just brought me back to my childhood again, and made me think of all the memories I had while taking ballet and other dance classes. anticipation
. . . Brianne Dilbeck |
steaks glisten Sarah Scheck (4) My favorite haiku from this selection is "steaks glisten." Now, I may be rather biased since I am hungry right now and don't get off work for another two hours, but I do like the strong image present. There are so many strong colors, the marbled red and white of the steaks resting on the (my imagined) bleached white butcher paper. The dark maroon of blood ("steak juice" if you prefer) puddled in a small amount on the paper. Then you have the smell of fresh, raw meat. This is a very simple haiku with a strong image. If I felt like it, I could extrapolate a lot of meaning out of it, but I won't. —Travis |
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still, humid
air Juliana Helt (4) When I read this haiku, I immediately remembered another wonderful memory of my boyfriend and I from this past summer. I had traveled to Pekin for the weekend to visit him and we decided to go out with our friends T and Chris like usual. We fixed and ate dinner at T's house then laid down to watch a movie. Well needless to say it was a very hot and humid night in the summer and so we decided to go outside for a midnight swim in the pool. That nighttime swim was one of the best memories I have from that trip, and in life in general. I can still hear the laughter and see the smiles we had on our faces that night! I can also remember exactly how his blue eyes had a radient glow to them in the moonlight. —Casey T
bare toes Nick Curry |
lining up
for school hairspray
lingers fathers and
sons |
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ocean faces Casey Wilen pale
purple moon Sylvia Hilton |
silence |
first date |
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hurried costume
change |
at the opera
house |
breakfast
table cleared |
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freshmen
geography
|
mid summer
morning |
summer night |
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seated on
his knee Sylvia Hilton This haiku stuck out to me because of my passion for new cultures. I loved the image that this haiku created. This summer, I will be in East Asia and in Taiwan in the fall; Asian culture intrigue me. What I envision is a Sunday afternoon, a young Chinese girl—bright, bouncy, still quite young - hops up on her grandpa's knee and says with excitement, "Grandpa, Grandpa sing me the song!" So her grandpa, in his not so tonal voice, sings his precious granddaughter one of her favorite songs. The reason that she loves this particular song so much is because of the heritage behind it; every time this grandpa sings to his granddaughter, he reminds her that this song has traveled down from generation to generation through their family. After awhile of the grandfather's solo singing, the young girl joins in, probably off beat, probably some wrong notes & words, but she knows that this song is special. The "in a foreign tongue" part comes in to play here from two possible areas: the tongue they would be singing in would be foreign to me. Or, the foreign tongue comes from the lack of musicality in their singing. —Maureen C Asian
mission Maureen Coady |
old fishing
knife Abe Millikin (2) eyes over
the counter faltering
ankles: |
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first snow
day Leigh Ann Kitchell snowballs
flying Ben Kress
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bundled up Leigh Ann Kitchell (2) This haiku reminds me of being a little kid playing out in the snow all day long. Finally, my mom would come and tell me to come in because its getting late. Of course I would want to play for just a couple more minutes. I wouldn't even think about how frozen my hands were or that my nose was running pretty bad, I would just want to finish that snow man. —Tony |
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away from
home quilt
of color Alison Burns (2) |
small chair Alison Burns I chose this haiku to write a response about because I saw a very clear picture when reading this haiku. I pictured a grandmother and her granddaughter sitting in a small old rocking chair. I saw the grandmother holding her granddaughter while they rock in silence. I enjoyed this haiku because it made me think of moments spent with my grandma. She had a very small old rocking chair in her living room that we would always sit in together even though it was too small for two people. Every time I came to her house, I would find her in the chair, rocking so quietly. I used to love to sit with her and rock. Sometimes we would talk, but other times we would just rock together in silence enjoying each other's company. —Jenny M |
©
2004, Randy Brooks • Millikin University
All rights returned to authors upon publication.