Global Haiku • July 2017
Dr. Randy Brooks

The Spaces Between Us

by
Nick Adams

I have learned a lot about haiku over the past few weeks. I came into this class knowing very little about haiku poetry. I was always taught growing up that haiku poetry was generally written about a nature topic and contained a certain number of syllables in each line. The poem totaled 17 syllables and they were written with 5-7-5 syllables in the three lines. I was also taught that is was a traditional Japanese poetry style. After this class, I have learned that haiku can be much more than nature poems that only contain so many syllables. It is also interesting how each poem can be interpreted so many different ways. To me that is the biggest learning experience. Seeing that each person may see something different in a poem that is only three likes long.

These are my favorite haiku poems that I wrote during the class. They are my favorites because I like their openness and their abilities to be taken in several directions. I like giving as little detail as possible. letting the reader fill in the rest with what they feel. The Space Between Us gives us an instant to think about where the reader wants to take the haiku and how they will interpret the work.

me time
alone
in my car

still
ever changing
reflecting pool

one loud thud
crash
we count the rings

they eat alone
every night
together

chipped paint
dust
the abandoned house

hidden
behind the gate
traces of the past