Global Haiku • January 2021
Dr. Randy Brooks

Bitter With Sweet

by
Sarah Obert

I chose to title my work Bitter With Sweet because I feel it directly summarizes the tone I take in life. As I’ve grown up, and watched loved ones grow up around me, I see the way life plays its complicated melodies on each of us. Sometimes, the melodies are beautiful, and swarming with light and love. Other times, our melodies can sound like death and despair. I love this lyric by the beautiful Carole King . . . “Hey, well, it’s true what they say, if you wanna feel complete, don’t you know that you’ve got to take the bitter with the sweet”. I think it’s important to recognize and live in the harder-to-accept moments. Because of the pain we feel, we are stronger, and because of the failures we face, we are wiser. Haiku has taught me that the ‘good’ and the ‘bad’ we face are equally beautiful, in their own ways. Recognizing, and even finding gratitude for each moment, is a step forward in creating a life of abundance.

Haiku has taught me a heck of a lot. Firstly, I want to thank this class for helping me value the beauty of simplicity. I think I am someone who overcomplicates things. I love that Haiku doesn’t need a lot to get its point across — it exists simply in the reader’s mind. We, as humans, feel we need to fill spaces with our words and actions. But, with Haiku, I realized that the beautiful things we are writing about are often the smaller things- the moments in life that are ‘just being’. Global Haiku came at a low point in my life, and swept me off my feet with simple and easy words. I feel I can turn to Haiku when I need to find gratitude again, and I will. I don’t want to live a life that overlooks the moment-to-moment joys and transgressions. Additionally, Haiku has shown me the value of our words. One word has the power to create an avalanche, and because of that, I want to start seeing the words I write and use in such a way. Words can uncover universal truths in all of us, something else I have seen through Haiku. None of us share the same life experiences, or tread the same walks of life, but we can surely feel the same emotions. It’s a wonderful feeling, knowing just how much we share with the world around us.

an unwarranted k i s s
pushed away
a car door slams

a keyboard clicking
the smell of something
burning

snow pants on
full bladder
warm thighs

nightly prayers
around a bed
someone missing

a flag that burns
the hearts of half a nation
uncertain

doggy footprints
engraved on a stone
her little empty bed

family recipe
disaster
pizza delivery!

my stomach grumbles
I choose
one last lap

the shooting
a young woman
holds her baby tighter

palm springs vacation
the young couple
now bedridden

a “nation in control”
and a funeral home overrun
by surprised guests

an apple a day
she thought
reaching into the bag of pringles

crisp autumn afternoon
I take my bike out
for a ride around the stables

deep inhalation
downward dog
a bark in the distance

frosted winter evening
when mom isn’t looking
I turn the thermostat higher

middle finger callus
words
no one will read

boardwalk at dusk
you mimic
the honk of a goose

laughter into midnight
the space between us
unimportant

window shopping
a wedding dress store
turns our cheeks red-hot

a glitter of gold in your eyes
the color
I dyed my hair when you left

midnight bus
a woman
removes her wedding ring

sheet music laid out for her
page turn
unfamiliar melody

a line stretched to Mars
for entry
the only porta potty at this festival

I watch in awe
the hands that held me
caress the piano keys

the symphony breathes together
as the baton falls
someone sneezes in the back

youngest of three
with a voice
that could direct traffic

mother and daughter painting
I wonder if their conversation
is as good as ours

the same silver moon
we laughed
many moons ago

friends gather
around the toilet
she unwraps the stick

Irish folk song
an old couple
does their favorite dance

I studied abroad last year, and so many memories will stay with me from my time there. I went to Dublin with two friends, because we had time and resources to travel. When there, we followed our hearts to a small hole-in-the-wall pub. It was a cold, rainy night. The pub itself was dimly lit. The pub smelled of smoke and beer. Right when we entered, we were surrounded by (mostly) older people and live Irish music. We stayed for a while, mostly just sitting and listening in awe. The passion these musicians had could be seen in their faces. What I remember most was a woman and man, seemingly a couple, standing up when a specific song came on. They began doing a dance, and it looked choreographed - that’s how perfect it was. There was joy in their faces, and that joy spread through the pub like wildfire. I will never forget the moment.

the man on the moon
waves hello
I wave back

stale popcorn
in the places floss
won’t fit

childrens’ laughs
echo in
the hospital cafeteria

new bikini
attracts only
a bumblebee