01 Matching Contest - Love & Fitness - July 2021 • Millikin University

Love Haiku

ocean breeze
the little thumb rub
as we hold hands

Crystal Claros

This haiku is really vivid. I can feel the ocean breeze as I walk with my lover holding hands. The little thumb rub is so familiar to me that it immediately takes me there. I can sense the sand below my feet as I walk the shoreline. This haiku is especially relatable to me because I am a little thumb rubber! Brandon Lockhart, July 2021

touching
ballet fingers
encore

Brandon Lockhart

This is my haiku. I wrote this haiku from my experience. There is something so relaxing and sensual about letting the fingers glide over smooth skin, moving about in a soft, elegant manner. It’s romantic and fun and tempting. You don’t want it to stop. I imagine a boy and girl laying in bed and his fingers dancing around her stomach and navel. You can let your imagination take this haiku as far as you’d like. Brandon Lockhart, July 2021

some nights typing
hugs
just don't cut it

Kame’Ron Graham

we cuddle and watch tv
the whole world
fits in my arms

Crystal Claros

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ocean breeze
the little thumb rub
as we hold hands

arrow down

we cuddle and watch tv
the whole world
fits in my arms

 

arrow down

ocean breeze
the little thumb rub
as we hold hands

top quarter champion

 

TOP half Chamption

ocean breeze
the little thumb rub
as we hold hands

 

bottom quarter champion

like a tree in the wind
I bend so low to the ground
not broken


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like a tree in the wind
I bend so low to the ground
not broken

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childhood sweetheart
two goodbyes
in one

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like a tree in the wind
I bend so low to the ground
not broken

Kame’Ron Graham

I thought this haiku was beautiful. To me it speaks on the beating we take in life and the constant compromise it takes to find compatibility in this world. This life is heavy, and it weighs us down often. Many of us bend until we break, but this haiku speaks of resilience. I bend so low to the ground… not broken. They are strong. Maybe they have become this way over time. They have learned to take a beating; learned to bend without snapping under pressure. Brandon Lockhart, July 2021

aggression
hurled possessions
fork in the road         go

Brandon Lockhart

This is my haiku. I believe it is my favorite haiku I have written. I tried to create a vivid image of an argument between a couple. Anger, fighting, throwing each other’s stuff. This has led to an inflection point, a fork in the road. They have to decide whether to remain together and travel the same route or split at the fork. The decision is made with the last word of the haiku: go. This is meant to be an indication of one of the lovers telling the other to leave. Brandon Lockhart, July 2021

childhood sweetheart
two goodbyes
in one

Crystal Claros

desperate love
we are forever
friends

Brandon Lockhart

 

TOP half champion

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ocean breeze
the little thumb rub
as we hold hands

 

 

CHAMPION

ocean breeze
the little thumb rub
as we hold hands


 

 

his singing echoes—
my kitchen
is his stage

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BOTTOM half champion

head on his chest
his heartbeat
feels like home

Crystal Claros

his singing echoes—
my kitchen
is his stage

Crystal Claros

nausea
light-headedness
"I love you"

Crystal Claros

I have decided
this is as good as it gets
I give up on love

Kame’Ron Graham

his singing echoes—
my kitchen
is his stage

nausea
light-headedness
"I love you"

© 2021, Randy Brooks • Millikin University. All rights returned to authors upon publication.

 

Fitness

early sunrise
perfect time
for a leg day

Crystal Claros

running
the wet mud
invites me

Brandon Lockhart

butt down
back straight
push up

Brandon Lockhart

crowded gym
a foot away from me
a man does push-ups

Crystal Claros

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running
the wet mud
invites me

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butt down
back straight
push up

 

arrow down

running
the wet mud
invites me

top half champion

 

Chamption

running
the wet mud
invites me

 

bottom half champion

empty gym
free weights section
my playground

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clinking
lifting
heavy metal

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empty gym
free weights section
my playground

arrow up

clinking
lifting
heavy metal

Brandon Lockhart

each rep
is dedicated
to the new me

Crystal Claros

he lifts double his weight
I ask myself
if I could do that too

Crystal Claros

empty gym
free weights section
my playground

Crystal Claros

© 2021, Randy Brooks • Millikin University. All rights returned to authors upon publication.