smokey bar
her forced smile
goes unnoticed by him

Jenna Pelej

another tipsy night
bar smoke in her hair
walk of shame

Lorin Glazer

no music between bands
the drunk man
still dances

Brittney Gillespie

full house
alone in the corner
he drinks the night away

Chonita Ziegler

another tipsy night
bar smoke in her hair
walk of shame

no music between bands
the drunk man
still dances

top quarter champion

another tipsy night
bar smoke in her hair
walk of shame
 

top half champion

another tipsy night
bar smoke in her hair
walk of shame
 

bottom quarter champion

a couple dances
his friends rate the girl
only a 6
 

retail transaction
an older man stares
…where he should not.

a couple dances
his friends rate the girl
only a 6

low cut shirt
the trucker drools
as she passes

Brittney Gillespie

retail transaction
an older man stares
…where he should not.

Alya Saqer

he laughs at
a joke
he never found funny

Jenna Pelej

a couple dances
his friends rate the girl
only a 6

Jenna Pelej

top half champion

another tipsy night
bar smoke in her hair
walk of shame
 

champion

elderly woman
adjusts her panties
in the middle of the mall
 

bottom half champion

elderly woman
adjusts her panties
in the middle of the mall
 

working at the mall
looking at the people
mullets everywhere

Phil Koberlein

elderly woman
adjusts her panties
in the middle of the mall

Lizabeth Hare

bags in hand
child wants to go in
the answer seems to be no

Jay Johnson

admist the stocked shelves
the nerd
is in heaven

Brittney Gillespie

elderly woman
adjusts her panties
in the middle of the mall

top quarter champion

elderly woman
adjusts her panties
in the middle of the mall
 

bottom half champion

elderly woman
adjusts her panties
in the middle of the mall
 

bottom quarter champion

park bench
I am so glad I don’t laugh
like that
 

on the subway
sketch pad in hand
did he see me draw him?

park bench
I am so glad I don’t laugh
like that

walking to class
looking at people
looking back

Phil Koberlein

on the subway
sketch pad in hand
did he see me draw him?

Amy Hoffstetter

taking a big puff
from a cigarrette
pumping gas

Lindsey Jones

park bench
I am so glad I don’t laugh
like that

Whitney Minor

working at the mall
looking at the people
mullets everywhere

elderly woman
adjusts her panties
in the middle of the mall

smokey bar
her forced smile
goes unnoticed by him

another tipsy night
bar smoke in her hair
walk of shame

At the mall you see everyone and everything.  That's what I like about these two haiku.  Both of them are about people who really don't care what other people think and are just going to do their own thing.  The mullet heads are making the statement and the elderly lady is just making personal adjustments.  Both of them seem oblivious to someone sitting on the bench watching them and writing haiku.  It's also a good combination of the old and the young.  The mall is a big equalizer. Cindie

These two haiku crack me up because the truth within them. I used to work at a kiosk right in the middle of the mall. The people walking by never seemed to realize that other people are around and could be watching them. Brittney

These two haiku shows how some people just have no scruples! Some people will just do anything, some for attention and others for comfort. They demonstrate how diverse a mall can be and just how many encounters one can have while at the mall. Shannon

The haiku gives the image of an old lady that is adjusting a part of her clothing that should not be shown to others in the mall. I can feel the laughter and giggles as the people see this in the mall when they pass the elderly lady. If this was my relative I would die of embarrassment because it is not something that is done in public. Anyway, this haiku allows the reader to view the action through the writer’s eyes and feel what she feels when she watches the action that is occurring in the haiku. In addition, the mullet haiku gave the same feeling as the elderly lady because you see these people in hairstyles that are a decade old and you wonder why they want to look horrible and repeat the same mistakes as previous generations have done in certain hair styles or clothing. These haiku shows that many people also like their individuality and that people’s view of what to do in public and what not to do has somewhat come up to interpretation. Alya

These two haiku simultaneously embellish people watching and satire. Although I give the nod to the granny panty entry, the mullets must’ve been an obvious observation of the times when the mullet was prevalent The beauty of the granny panty entry is that it is timeless…granny’s can adjust theur panties in the middle of the mall regardless of decade. TRULY a timeless classic. Jay

I think that as college students we can all really relate to both of these haikus. We have either seen these people out or about, or we have been those tipsy people at the bar. I think it is interesting how much people can judge one another when they don’t even know the other person. I also like the elements in both of these haiku, because I think they are so easy to visualize and to actually feel like you are there as a part of it. Whitney

On the surface, both of these haiku have to do with people in bars and the strange sort of rituals people go through while dating. But more interesting is the sort of shame and awkwardness that inhabits both scenes. The smoke is vital in both haiku, lending a feeling of uncleanliness, and also acting as an agent of masking. The forced smile is unnoticed by the man because of the atmosphere of the bar, and the ritual of the date, something like that usually isn’t ignored in day to day life. Similarly, the woman ignores her mixed feelings of the previous night’s activities by relating them to the atmosphere in which they originated. The bar itself seems to be a place where people can do things or forget things, and have a ready reason to excuse those actions. Deirdre

I liked both of these because as a female I know that I have gone through both of these situations. I like the use of the word tipsy also. Andi

smokey bear
her forced smile
goes unnoticed by him

I ended up liking these for a reason almost completely different from the subject matter. Specifically how it sounds like Smokey the Bear and forests were referenced. "Remember, only YOU can prevent forest fires!" :D  Rider

no music between bands
the drunk man
still dances

full house
alone in the corner
he drinks the night away

another tipsy night
bar smoke in her hair
walk of shame

a couple dances
his friends rate the girl
only a 6

I wanted to compare these two, because I think it shows two extreme cases. In one case a man is a dancing fool even when there is no music. The other is based more on a man that drinks alone and doesn’t want contact with people. I think that it is funny to see fools, but it is more observant to notice the quiet people sitting in the corner. Rachel

I chose these two haiku to compare because drunk people are funny people! They are just so care free. When you’re drunk, you really don’t care what people think about you, and that’s what these two haiku are all about. The man from the first haiku doesn’t care that he looks like a fool dancing to no music. And it doesn’t seem to bother the man in the second haiku that he is all alone when he’s surrounded by tons of people. Chonita

I really like this pairing, because it show a single man, and the two aspects of his drunken state. He is having fun, in the first, oblivious to his ridiculous state, and then begins to sober up and become depressed with his loneliness. John

I think these two are very similar. I like the way they both are describing people being people. They really emphasize the point that no one is perfect. They both speak to the fact that it is human nature to judge. In the first example the girl is judging herself and is ashamed. In the second example the boys friends judge the girl. I like the differerent perspectives they have to offer as well. In the first it is an introspective view while the second is an outside perspective.

low cut shirts
the trucker drools
as she passes

he laughs at
a joke
he never found funny

low cut shirt
the trucker drools
as she passes

retail transaction
an older man stares
…where he should not.

These are both very similar in my mind. Both show how men are towards women. In the first one the trucker is only concerned with how low the women’s shirt is cut. It doesn’t mention anything else about how she looks or her personality. In the second one it goes to prove that the man has no interest in what the women is talking about. He is interested in something else. I am fortunate that my husband loves me very much for who I am. Lindsey

I liked the pairing of these two haiku because they both discuss the inappropriateness of strangers. In both haiku the men happen to be quite creepy and the females in each are completely unaware of the gawking. I like that the women are unaware, but it is another person like another customer or another passenger in the car that notice the men checking out the women. This is something that I’m sure happens all the time, but they don’t always get caught in the act. I also like that both haiku use the stereotypical creepy man as the main characters. Jenna