empty apartment
she jumps
when the washer is done

Morgan Vogels

quiet morning
my hands resting
in the dishwater

Anna Harmon

dishes take longer
to pile up
with one diner

Savannah Riestenberg

a single dish
clinking
in the sink

Anna Harmon

quiet morning
my hands resting
in the dishwater

a single dish
clinking
in the sink

a single dish
clinking
in the sink

top quarter champion

TOP half Chamption

a single dish
clinking
in the sink

bottom quarter champion

alone
the runt of the litter
playing in a separate puddle

closing the book
after the last chapter
my only friends, the characters

alone
the runt of the litter
playing in a separate puddle

empty apartment
all my calls
go to voicemail

Owen Pulver

closing the book
after the last chapter
my only friends, the characters

Alyssa Becker

waiting for mom,
one string is plucked
on the broken bass

Ryan Sikora

alone
the runt of the litter
playing in a separate puddle

Shannon Netemeyer

TOP half champion

a single dish
clinking
in the sink

CHAMPION

a night walk
talking to the moon
bouncing back ideas

a night walk
talking to the moon
bouncing back ideas

BOTTOM half champion

the flowing river
I cast my line, wondering
what's for dinner

Jacob Morgan

day spent boating
the fish
his only companion

Morgan Vogels

autumn night
the moon
pushes through

Renee Sample

staring at the moon
and myself
together on the water

Douglas Sherrill

the flowing river
I cast my line, wondering
what's for dinner

staring at the moon
and myself
together on the water

staring at the moon
and myself
together on the water

top quarter champion

BOTTOM half champion

a night walk
talking to the moon
bouncing back ideas

bottom quarter champion

a night walk
talking to the moon
bouncing back ideas

a night walk
talking to the moon
bouncing back ideas

at the base
of the old oak
a single mushroom

a night walk
talking to the moon
bouncing back ideas

Douglas Sherrill

night breeze
nothing to do
I follow it

Matthew Vangunten

cold winter night—
huddled outside without the
fire of friendship

Jordan Comish

at the base
of the old oak
a single mushroom

Caroline Lodovisi

next door neighbor
comes to talk
while I grill

Owen Pulver

we move in unison
flowing like water
around and over the rocks

Jacob Morgan

teenagers
riding skateboards
in front of the grocery

Owen Pulver

the trampoline
our legs get tired
sprawled out watching the sky

Matthew Vangunten

we move in unison
flowing like water
around and over the rocks

the trampoline
our legs get tired
sprawled out watching the sky

we move in unison
flowing like water
around and over the rocks

top quarter champion

TOP half Chamption

we move in unison
flowing like water
around and over the rocks

bottom quarter champion

late car ride
with a friend
peaceful silence

late car ride
with a friend
peaceful silence

sitting on the porch
watching myself
chase the fireflies

late car ride
with a friend
peaceful silence

Caroline Lodovisi

something so beautiful
about the handwritten note
sitting on my desk

Morgan Vogels

the calm of the storm
bringing out
the children at play

Renee Sample

sitting on the porch
watching myself
chase the fireflies

Douglas Sherrill

TOP half champion

we move in unison
flowing like water
around and over the rocks

Karumi CHAMPION & Both page GRAND CHAMPION:
 

we move in unison
flowing like water
around and over the rocks

weeds sprouting
purples and blues
let them grow

BOTTOM half champion

the gigantic tree
we used to climb
a stump

Matthew Vangunten

deep in the woods
the fort
up in the trees

Matthew Vangunten

weeds sprouting
purples and blues
let them grow

Renee Sample

a spider
watches from the corner
of my bubble bath

Savannah Riestenberg

deep in the woods
the fort
up in the trees

weeds sprouting
purples and blues
let them grow

weeds sprouting
purples and blues
let them grow

top quarter champion

BOTTOM half champion

weeds sprouting
purples and blues
let them grow

bottom quarter champion

stepping from the car
a deep breath
I'm home

her tiny hand
wrapped around my pinky
twin smiles

stepping from the car
a deep breath
I'm home

she naps with her old teddy bear
his daughter
a child again

Shannon Netemeyer

her tiny hand
wrapped around my pinky
twin smiles

Douglas Sherrill

Christmas dinner
more than enough
to go around this year

Anna Harmon

stepping from the car
a deep breath
I'm home

Ryan Sikora

empty apartment
she jumps
when the washer is done

Morgan Vogels

quiet morning
my hands resting
in the dishwater

Anna Harmon

dishes take longer
to pile up
with one diner

Savannah Riestenberg

a single dish
clinking
in the sink

Anna Harmon

I feel this haiku on a deep level, mainly because this kind of thing happens to me all the time. I jump at every single sound when I'm alone in the apartment. Sometimes Doug will just be on the couch when I walk in and it always scares the crap out of me. He's the only one out of my two roommates who has succeeded in scaring me. Once, he was just standing in the living room in pitch black, drinking a glass of water. I walked in without turning on the lights, got right up to him, and screamed so loud my neighbors heard me. I then proceeded to fall to the ground and begin to cry. Doug was very traumatized. Alexsenia

I liked this haiku because it reminded me of when I first moved into my apartment at the beginning of this school year. I moved in a week before my roommates, so I was all alone. My meal plan was not active yet, so I had to cook every meal for myself. Since it was just me, I used very few dishes. This haiku just makes me think of that week because of the small amount of dishes I used. Owen

empty apartment
all my calls
go to voicemail

Owen Pulver

closing the book
after the last chapter
my only friends, the characters

Alyssa Becker

waiting for mom,
one string is plucked
on the broken bass

Ryan Sikora

alone
the runt of the litter
playing in a separate puddle

Shannon Netemeyer

the flowing river
I cast my line, wondering
what's for dinner

Jacob Morgan

day spent boating
the fish
his only companion

Morgan Vogels

autumn night
the moon
pushes through

Renee Sample

staring at the moon
and myself
together on the water

Douglas Sherrill

I think both these haiku do a great job of showing the loneliness. One talks about the struggle of poverty having to go day to day with the struggle of meals. The other, discusses the struggle of finding someone to spend time with.  I think integrate fishing very well. Ryan

I like this match a lot. I have an unreasonable amount of love for the moon and for what the moon represents in my life. I have always considered the moon to be God's way of showing himself to me. So when looking at both of those haiku, there is a very comforting feeling in the idea of being together with God on the water, and having God push through the rest of my world to make himself shown to me. Alex

I really enjoy this haiku match-up because they both incorporate the same aspect of nature from slightly different points of view; which I really appreciate the contrast between view-points due to m lack of ability to see more than one, so the more I read, the more I can understand and at least imagine that I see things from another point of view. Jacob

a night walk
talking to the moon
bouncing back ideas

Douglas Sherrill

night breeze
nothing to do
I follow it

Matthew Vangunten

cold winter night—
huddled outside without the
fire of friendship

Jordan Comish

at the base
of the old oak
a single mushroom

Caroline Lodovisi

I really liked the way that this haiku is written because I feel that it was written better than mine which it was matched with. I find myself lost in thought when I am outside walking. This tends to be amplified at night when nobody else is around to interrupt. I do not usually talk out loud during but I find myself bouncing ideas within my head. Matthew

I really like this haiku and the concept of peaceful loneliness it creates. The speaker never says they are alone which makes me believe they do not have a problem with their solitude. The speaker is content to have their only friend in the moon. I also like the use of the word bouncing in conjunction with the moon, since the round moon could hypothetically bounce. I also like personifying the moon since it is so often illustrated with a jolly face. Savannah

I chose this haiku as a favorite because I think that it really captures the spirit of haiku. I really like how laid back and carefree this haiku is. I just imagine this haiku to take place on a warm and pleasant night. I really like how this haiku plays upon our relationship with nature. I like that this haiku shows how we can interact with our surroundings and depicts our relationship with nature as playful. Anna

Honestly, I thought these two were a very good match for each other. They both convey a sense of loneliness as well as a simple will to do something to pass the time. In mine, I simply talk out loud and pretend the moon is responding so I had someone to talk to, and in the other, they're looking for something new, so they just go where the breeze takes them. I had a really hard time voting between these two in class, and ended up voting against my own. Doug

next door neighbor
comes to talk
while I grill

Owen Pulver

we move in unison
flowing like water
around and over the rocks

Jacob Morgan

teenagers
riding skateboards
in front of the grocery

Owen Pulver

the trampoline
our legs get tired
sprawled out watching the sky

Matthew Vangunten

This match was probably the hardest vote for me, because I liked both haiku so much. I really liked the feeling of togetherness in each individual line of the first piece, and I liked the emphasis of uniqueness in the second. As far as similarities go between the two, they both have a natural element to them, with the river/water and the weeds. Jordan

late car ride
with a friend
peaceful silence

Caroline Lodovisi

something so beautiful
about the handwritten note
sitting on my desk

Morgan Vogels

the calm of the storm
bringing out
the children at play

Renee Sample

sitting on the porch
watching myself
chase the fireflies

Douglas Sherrill

I like this haiku because I feel like it really reflects the depth of the relationship between the two people in the car. When riding in a car, you have to be on a certain level of friendship with a person to be able to ride in silence without there being awkwardness or tension. Renee

This was one of my favorites from Kukai 7. Being in the karumi style, this haiku takes a fairly commonplace object and makes it elegant and meaningful. The first line of the haiku sets itself up for this beauty, and it carries on through the haiku. The specificity of the handwritten note creates a sense of intimacy that would not have been realized had it been a typed note or just a note. I just love the little details in this haiku and how they bring it together to be so effective. Caroline

the gigantic tree
we used to climb
a stump

Matthew Vangunten

deep in the woods
the fort
up in the trees

Matthew Vangunten

weeds sprouting
purples and blues
let them grow

Renee Sample

a spider
watches from the corner
of my bubble bath

Savannah Riestenberg

I love this matching pair, though I am not sure they are the best match on the page. I love them for their differences. This first
haiku was my favorite on both sides of the paper. It resonated with me in a way that I wish I had written it, as I can relate to
it so well. As I mentioned in class, I like how the third line is a command. It could have easily been "letting them grow" or something similar, but making this last line a command gave it a new meaning. It was as if someone wanted to hack away these weeds (representative of something that had flaws) and another telling them to let them grow, as in these flaws were not something to attempt to crush, but to embrace. This second haiku was more fun. I thought about times when I have been in the bath or the shower or really anywhere and have spotted a spider. Theres a few minutes where you both just stay still, staring at each other, almost daring the other to move. This is what I got from this haiku. I saw it as a more lighthearted work. Shannon

This was my favorite haiku from the matching contest because I love the imagery. The line “purples and blues” makes me think that the weeds, while they are still weeds, are pretty because of the colors. I also liked the comment that someone made in class about the last line being more of a command than a statement. Morgan

we move in unison
flowing like water
around and over the rocks

Jacob Morgan

weeds sprouting
purples and blues
let them grow

Renee Sample

This was a match that came about later in our matching contest, and I love the match! For me when I read these poems I relate back to challenging times in my life. In the first haiku I think about relationships, and the rocks are the challenging parts of the relationship. Whether we are moving around the potential challenges or overcoming them, we are working together and communicating. We are in one throughout the journey, like water. In the second haiku I see the weeds as challenges as well. I have always held a special place in my heart for challenges. When I thank God for the blessings he has given me, I also thank him for the challenges that he has given me because they have helped me to grow into who I am today. In this poem the weeds grow into beautiful purples and blues. What may be seen as a problem to some people is seen in my eyes as a beautiful flower of opportunity. Alyssa

she naps with her old teddy bear
his daughter
a child again

Shannon Netemeyer

her tiny hand
wrapped around my pinky
twin smiles

Douglas Sherrill

Christmas dinner
more than enough
to go around this year

Anna Harmon

stepping from the car
a deep breath
I'm home

Ryan Sikora