Global Haiku • June 2018
Dr. Randy Brooks

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LenaRotramel
Lena Rotramel

My Thughts Are Kind

by
Lena Rotramel

I first learned about haiku in grade school, and all I knew about it was that it was difficult and that I didn't understand it. After taking Global Haiku Traditions with Dr. Brooks, my mind has changed. What I loved about this class was getting to learn about each other in depth simply through the art of haiku poetry. I loved being able to submit my work to my classmates and to hear their interpretations. My favorite thing about haiku is that they're so subjective and that they can bring wildly different things to different people, while still telling your story. It may be a different story than the one in my head, but that's the greatest part about it. I will undoubtedly be writing haiku in my head for a long time to come, and I will forever look at haiku in a different way.


stopping to watch the robin hop
bringing in the groceries
in pouring rain


afternoon sun beats down
telling my mother
"happy fathers day"


emerald forest pool
her red hair
ablaze in the sunlight


frowning at me
leaving for a party
she fixes my hair


house built
decades ago
my handprint in the sidewalk


holding the door for me
I pretend I didn't hear
him fart


father of six
preparing dinner
for himself


emergency room
my sister watches over
my dreams


a deep sadness
he wraps his arms around me
a new beginning


counting breaths
I realize
my thoughts are kind


warm afternoon
thinking of you
pouring another glass of wine


years of love
he gifts to me
his bug collection


cloudy memories
grandma's boney fingers
twist the radio knob


soaking in
my grief
watering a plant


tightly clenched hands
late to work
funeral procession


surrounded by friends
in leotards
my twisted leg


© 2018, Randy Brooks • Millikin University
All rights returned to authors upon publication.