Global Haiku • Fall 2019
Dr. Randy Brooks

Burnt Pink Moon

by
Madeline Curtin

When I write, I make sense of the world around me. Usually this is done by longer poems or essays, but haiku has challenged me to stop trying to work everything out at once, and just appreciate and reflect on what’s going on around me. My haiku are reflections and observations of my past, the people in my life, love, my health, and myself. Hopefully you can see some of yourself in them.

About the Author

Maddie Curtin is a Theatre major and Dance minor with a love for writing. As vice president of lyrical ammunition, a spoken word poetry group on campus, she mainly writes spoken word pieces, but has fallen in love with haiku thanks to the Global Haiku class.

paper winter skies
the meds 
stopped working

parasites—
the ghosts we leave
unchecked

anxiety. the friend 
you don’t
want to invite to the party

gibbous moon,
a sky not
full enough.

freezer raspberries
I try to take with me
the last of Summer

Van Gogh’s sunflowers
all the yellow happiness,
you are mine.

more pills
more doctor offices
“we’ll figure it out, we always do.”

burnt shaving cream can
our one night
as rebels

Orion’s belt
she holds it
together

paper torn up
scattered
Saturn’s moons

starry sky
i try to feel
your presence

I made a promise to
my body. I said
I will love you.

crescent moon
burnt pink sky
we drive

day 26 
on Zoloft
I notice colors again

old moon
I know you shine on his face.
Keep him safe. 

soldier boy
why do you have to run
away from backyard wars

you held 
my hand
first

mulberry stains
my skin only knows
the summer

small silver necklace
you found a way 
to hand me the moon

curve of his nose
pressed to my temple
whispers “I love you.”

blanket wrapped 
around shoulders
brother missing