evening drive through town
a family of deer in a meadow
at the side of the road

Lisa Wilder (3)

mountains of pancakes
the line of football players
dig in

Kelley Larrick (5)

This poem brings back more recent memories of living in Atlanta, Georgia. My neighbor and best friend was a professional football player and our house was the place for all the single football players to congregate for holiday meals and weekend cookouts. I used to joke with my husband that I always needed to know not only how many were coming for dinner, but who was coming for dinner. Believe me, a 350-pound offensive lineman can eat a lot more than a 180-pound running back! Tracy

This one is good. This gives me the image of an epic battle between the Jedi Knights and Sith Lords, America and Russia, the North and the South, Godzilla and Mothra, or Andre the Giant and Hulk Hogan. Each of them fighting to remain who they are. Each sizing each other up and the football players taking the first blow. I wonder who won. Matt

stormy night
mother patting the backs
of two small children

Jill Friesner (7)

saying goodbye
a sea full of men
the first tear trickles down

Katrina Farris (7)

I can envision a National Guard Armory filled with thousands of people, along with a sea of Army soldiers. Everyone is saying their last goodbyes before the soldiers head off to war. All the parents, wives, husbands, siblings, children, and friends try to be brave and not shedd a tear until the soldiers are loaded on the bus and out of sight. As the bus drives away, the first of many tears trickle down the faces of the ones left behind. Kelley

I really liked this one as it touched on the emotion of watching someone you love travel away. “The first tear trickles down” was very realistic and something I could relate to. It tugged at my heart. Lisa

This haiku gives a vivid picture of a military man leaving for his tour of duty and saying goodbye to his wife. I see the wife being the one with a tear trickling down her cheek. However, I also can see the husband being the one with the tear; holding it back until he turns away after giving his wife her last hug for awhile and the tear just brimming over the edge of his eyelid before he is able to catch it. He doesn’t want her to see his tears because he needs her to be strong in his absence. Leslee

a parent's choice of pink
for the daughter’s coffin . . .
she hated pink

Leslee Finney (4)

This haiku is so sad. The parents’ are young and their daughter was just a baby. The painful process they are made to go through of picking a coffin was almost too much to bare. They ultimately decided on a pink one. Pink was the color of their baby girl’s room. After the funeral was over, every time the mother saw the color pink, she was reminded of her daughter and became overwhelmingly sad. The mother now hates the color pink. Jill

I like this haiku, although it is sad. I picture a young woman around twenty. She has died from some unexpected tragedy, maybe a drunk driver, or maybe she committed suicide. Her parents never really saw who she truly was or they would have known she hated pink. They only saw what they wanted to see; which in itself is tragic. Now they will never get to know her. Crystal

pulling out of the driveway
children crying
good bye, Daddy

Connie Volpe (5)

This haiku is very sad, too. Three little children have just spent their regularly scheduled weekend with their father. They had so much fun! They went to the beach and swam all day long. He took them to McDonald’s and to a movie the next day. It was time to go back to their mom’s but the kids didn’t want to because they had so much fun with their dad. He tries to explain that this is how it has to be since him and their mommy do not live together anymore. As he sadly and very slowly pulls out of the driveway after dropping them off, both he and the children are crying. Jill

fading sunset
flickers on
the pink marble cathedral

John Byler (2)

cool November morning
the phone rings and I know
she is gone

Crystal Lutz (8)

joy and pride
Granddaughter starts
to read on her own

two grandmothers together
rinsing, rinsing,
the New Year’s rice

John Byler (3)

I like this because it reminds me of the creative things we'd do as kids. Many poems do this, however this
poem reminds me of a specific time in my life. This takes me back to a Thanksgiving family party. We were
at my aunt's house and my cousins and I wanted to make a haunted house. I remember the light from outside coming in and showing his blue wall in one little spot. Well, that didn't work for our haunted house. So, I colored it with a black crayon. Well when the adults found out, of course they weren't too happy. I
didn't get in very much trouble though. I would've prefered to get in trouble than to have what happened
next. What changed focus that kept my butt from getting beat was a phone call. My grandpa "was sick and they took him in an ambulance." I think they didn't want to tell me before bed that he was already dead. They told me the next morning. From John's entries in the Kukai, I think he has a good grasp on haiku. He seems to try to relate more to the traditional haiku form. Matt

summer vacation
a million stars
listening to crashing waves

Jill Friesner (5)

This reminds me of when my husband and I went to the Outer Banks of North Carolina. We stayed in a beautiful oceanfront home that we rented. At night we stood arm in arm gazing up at the stars, and the only sound was the waves as they crashed against the shore. Stephanie

Every summer, my family would take a vacation to the shore with friends. We usually drove, with the five kids crammed into the back of the station wagon, the 12 or 14 hours to the newest and best resort that year. Nags Head, Hilton Head, Myrtle Beach, Virginia Beach: we hit them all. By the time we got to the hotel, checked in, and threw our bags in our rooms, it was usually dinnertime. After dinner, the nine of us would sit on the darkened beach and watch the stars so high in the sky. Because the beach was so silent, except for the roar of the ocean, the stars appeared to be listening in as the waves crashed ashore. This Haiku successfully conjures up memories of vacations at the beach. Tracy

I can imagine being on a summer vacation. Taking a vacation for the first time without the kids. The vacation spot is on a secluded beach. We are staying in a beach house near the ocean. At night the sky is full of stars and you can hear the waves from your deck. Terry

snowing lightly
home from the funeral
a salty salty ham

water seeping from me
three weeks too soon
it’s a GIRL!

Jill Friesner (2)

lying in bed
intense recurring pain
it’s time

delivery room
the doctor leaves
why am I the only one crying?

This takes me back to when I delivered my twin boys. After both boys were delivered and I knew they were okay, I began to cry. I looked around the room expecting to see someone else crying, but instead they were all going about their business cleaning, stitching, and rearranging. Stephanie

rippling water
a frog’s eyes survey
the water’s edge

step onto crowded elevator
silence
door opens on your floor

Terry Mallory (4)

pain in my mouth
at last
the glint off the needle

Tracy Nash

frightened sisters
twin beds
pushed together

Jill Friesner (8)

Halloween night
grandmother’s wheelchair
becomes our cave

John Byler (5)

no boogeyman
lightening bug lantern
on the nightstand

in the garage
a gust of wind
then the rain

Grandma’s dresser drawer
filled with glittery scarves
two little girls dress up

the bigger the puddle
the splash that
little feet make

Stephanie Meis (3)

This makes me laugh. It is so true. Children, at least me children, can’t resist a puddle. I can hear the laughter of a child splashing in the puddle and the sound of the water. Then my son asks, “Just one more time, please”. Crystal

smoky hair
tequila breath
in a strange bed

Matt Lee (5)

breezy Jamaican day
only him and me
I do

black lace
anxiously awaiting
a tug boat's horn

Katrina Farris (3)

on a treadmill
feet moving quickly
going nowhere

Leslee Finney (5)

This made me laugh. It made me think of a hectic day at work. You peddle as fast as you can, but seem to get no where! I can picture someone walking as fast as they can only to remain standing in the same spot. Lisa

full moon
from the dock
I hear a loon

winter chill
wearing the housejackets
made just for us

John Byler (2)

anticipation rises
what is the diagnosis…
it’s pink!

I chose this one because of the twists the writer takes the reader on. What is the reader anticipating? An upcoming wedding? A new job? Whatever it is it denotes a positive experience. I pictured a Christmas morning with children eagerly awaiting the time to open their presents. The next line shows fear---I think of a patient who might have cancer anxiously awaiting the results of the tests. The last line brings it all together. I see a pregnant woman sitting with her husband. They wait for the doctor to tell them the sex of their unborn child and are overjoyed to learn that they will have a baby girl. John

walking down the aisle
he tightly squeezes my hand
I love you too, daddy

Jill Friesner (7)

This brings back memories of my first wedding day. I was getting married to a man that my family was not real thrilled with, but was happy for me. My father was having a real hard time dealing with not only me marry this guy, but also I am his little girl. I can remember standing behind the closed doors with my dad right beside me. As the music started to play and the doors opened, my dad grabbed my hand and got a little choked up. I can remember looking at him and saying to him that I loved him and that I always would. He looked at me and said I love you, too. Kelley

This one tugs at the heartstrings. I see the bride with her dad at the beginning of the aisle as they are getting ready to walk to the front where the groom is anxiously awaiting their arrival. Everyone in the church is already standing, ready for the bride and her dad to proceed. The dad can’t quite say the words out loud because he doesn’t want to cry, or he just isn’t good at saying those words out loud because they mean so much to him. He squeezes his daughter’s hand and she knows what that squeeze means, and feels exactly the same way. Leslee

The scene is a father walking his daughter down the aisle. As the music plays, he silently squeezes her hand and lets her know he loves her. It is a bittersweet moment for they know that she is going off to start a family of her own. But the bride reminds her father that she will always be his little girl. John

I imagine a wedding; a Father is giving away his daughter. His little girl is all grown up now. He probably has thoughts of his daughter when she was just a child, and several memories of her growing up. As he walks his daughter down the wedding aisle his emotions overcome him. He can’t get the words out that he wants to say so he just squeezes her hand. Terry