bright Easter morning
serving breakfast
for the entire congregation

mowing
the smell of rain
lingers

Lauren Taylor (7)

I really enjoyed this one because one of my most favorite smells in the whole wide world is the smell of rain off the pavement, and the smell of freshly cut lawns. I have always enjoyed being outside after a rainfall because the smell is overwhelming and yet calming at the same time. Although I am not allowed to cut the grass at home, long story for another time, I still enjoy helping my dad and smelling the freshly cut grass after a rainfall because it is so fresh and damn with dew and rain, so full of life. Not to mention the grass gets on everything and often dies your gym shoes green! —Chrissy Hulse

I don't particularly like the smell of freshly cut grass, however I do welcome it because it's a sure sign of summer.  It seems that when you cut the grass the day after a rain, the smell of rain is still there.  It's as if cutting the grass releases the smell into the air again.  I had this experience of Easter break.  I cut the grass the day after it rained, and the smell was just so strong.  Rain mixing with fresh grass, it's a powerful scent and one that makes me happy because it promises warm days, sunshine and fun.  That's the main reason why I like this haiku so much, because it makes me happy. —Jennifer Griebel

This haiku also brings me “happy thoughts”! It captures spring so well. I love the smell of rain, especially when my dad has just cut the grass. The damp soil and freshly cut blades create a smell that to me, is the ultimate sign of spring time. Rain is not always appreciated, but when you can smell the lawn with it, it reminds you that rain is good and helping summer to come! —Michele LaBrose

I found this haiku to be one of the most enjoyable from the group that I selected because I could really envision myself being the person mowing the lawn while waiting for a huge thunderstorm to hit. When I was a child, if it looked like there was a storm on the way, then we'd hurry and mow the lawn as fast as we could before it would rain. I initially imagined the mowing prior to the storm . . . however, after reading it a second time I thought maybe the author was implying that it had already rained and the sun was out, and the person really didn't care if the grass was wet—it just needed cut.  Regardless of how the author intended it to be, I think the scent of rain is really amazing, especially if you add in freshly cut grass. —Julie Forehand

old minister—
weathered fingers grip
her wooden cane

Bri Hill

I like the image created by this haiku.  I can imagine an old lady that posses a "strong and powerful" personality.  She also went through many tough experiences through out her lifetime, as indicated by the descriptive words "weathered fingers."  Now that she is old, she is still the independent person she once were.  Not searching support from others, she grips on to her wooden cane.  I like the overall image created by this haiku. —Xiu Ying Zheng

after viewing grecian art—
pride at the crook
in my nose

windy afternoon
the golf ball
rolls over the hill

St. Louis field trip
behind schedule
we rush past my   candy store

steaming soup
small fingers numb
from the snowball fight

Bri Hill (7)

This was my favorite haiku from the kukai. I picture small siblings coming in from the cold winter outside. They have been playing together for a long time and their bodies are numb. It is lunchtime and so they have come inside for chicken noodle soup. I think this is a great haiku for many reasons. First of all it is alive to the senses. You can smell the soup, and feel the chill of the snow and the heat of the soup. I also see rosy cheeks and runny noses from the cold weather outside. I also like this haiku because it is very simple. It takes the “nothing special” element of zen, and makes the moment special. I like this haiku the best because of it's simplicity and vivid detail. —Stacey Orr

I like this haiku because it really evokes the senses.  With the initial 'steaming soup' I imagine a bowl of vegetable soup just sitting there waiting to be devoured.  Then the author brings in the numb fingers.  Chills run down my back as I think of how cold it must be outside to make fingers numb and then I realize it is from handling snow.  At that point I get the vision of small children outside playing in the snow, not caring how cold it is.  It doesn't really matter because no matter how cold they get, there is a warm bowl of soup waiting for them when they come inside. —Courtney Ruffner

This haiku takes me back to my childhood.  I can just imagine playing in the front-yard with my friends.  After freezing outside, all I want to do is go inside and have something warm to eat.  As soon as I walk in the door, I can see mom ready with a hot bowl of soup.  However, my fingers are so cold that I have to wait until my fingers thaw out.  I enjoy the joyful experience that this haiku creates though the winter element during childhood. —Paul Schershel

home again
no longer
the tallest

Chrissy Hulse (4)

This haiku makes me smile because I know exactly what the author is talking about.  I have a little brother who is almost 7 years younger than me, so I've gotten very used to being taller than him.  In the past year or so every time I've gone home for a visit it seems that he had grown a whole inch!  He's almost 15 now, so that means it's time to grow like a weed.  He's been taller than me for awhile now, but I still remember the trip home when someone first noticed that he was taller.  My brother got this gleam in his eyes and spun me around so we could stand back to back.  He had mom make the final call, and sure enough he was taller.  Needless to say he was jumping up and down and to this day is still rubbing it in.  So I really like this haiku because it brings back a silly and happy memory. —Jennifer Griebel

your surprise visit
chocolate milkshake
sweeter than usual

Xiu Ying Zheng (6)

When I first read this haiku, I envisioned a young teen-aged girl sitting next to her father who no longer lives at home with her. I imagined that the two of them made a habit of going out to a local icecream shop when he finally did make it home to see her. The fact that he was there while she drank her milkshake, made the whole moment sweeter...and she imagined that it made the milkshake sweeter as well. I just really like the overall sense of pleasure that this moment creates without ever mentioning that sensation outright. —Bri Hill

I like this  haiku as well.  It seems like the visit from this girls boyfriend or friend was the surprise.  It also seems that the milkshake is sort of a habit or something that they do or he brings to her quite often.  But with his surprise visit it makes the milkshake just that much better. —Liz Hattan

Thursday night
drive around town
we talked about     nothing

Xiu Ying Zheng (4)

easter morning
the sound of my alarm
not enough sleep

Aaron Meyer (3)

discussing pasts
the piercing silence
cuts through the bedroom

Chrissy Hulse

I really like this haiku becuase it has happened to me, recently.  It is a great image, the silence is making the loud noise, not the talking.  Both people in this haiku feel hurt, but shouldn't.  they are both trying to be understanding towards the other and because of this, they don't know what to say.—Lauren Taylor

my best friend
no longer with me
Mom's shoulders never fail

Easter Sunday
last year's dress
too tight

Jennifer Griebel

I liked this haiku because I believe that everyone could relate to it onetime or another especially when most college students gain the "freshmen 15."  I just think it is funny because you were planning to wear the same dress two Easter's in a row but you don't find out that it doesn't fit you until Easter morning. —Miranda Baker

purple blossoms
carpet the earth
beneath our tree

quiet drive home
     he decides
to come to church

Jennifer Griebel (4)

Nerf hoop
stuck to the glass
looking for an opponent

rainbows
spread around the yard
peacocks fan us

Courtney Ruffner

i like the imagery in this one and the metaphor used for a rainbow...very creative...the picture i think of is very vivid and beautiful...almost magical-the most beautiful rainbow only seen once in a lifetime and all are staring in awe up in the sky... Tricia Scholl

inhale . . . exhale . . .
open the door . . .
family dinner

Mary Reed (2)

crowded dancefloor
the tired ballerina
sits out every one

summer morning
milking the cows
splatter of poop

slobbers
on my face
angel kisses

windy spring day
somersault
of the soda can

Paul Scherschel (7)

late night snowstorm
cigarette smoke ventures
beyond the awning

colored eggs
I find one…
filled with money

Liz Hattan (3)

I like this haiku because it reminds me of going on easter egg hunts at my grandparents house when I was a little kid. Every once in a while I would find an egg with money in it. It wasn't much, but as a little kid it seemed like a lot, so I really get a nice image from this haiku. —Jared Stahl

needing solitude
into the water
she dives

Candace Golden (2)

I like this haiku because it reminds me of me (oddly enough). I used to love to swim at the bottom of public pools, simply because all the noise and the chatter from everyone else melts away and it so peacefully quiet. Also, I like the wording of this haiku, it seems like it was written backwards. I think if this haiku was just simply stated it would lose the edge it has. —Erin Osmus

little big city
matchbox cars
buried in the sandbox

Nathan Carden (3)

This haiku reminds me so much of my childhood.  I was quite the tomboy growing up, mainly because I only had brothers.  I wanted to be just like them so I'd do whatever they'd do whether it be play with guns (toy of course) in the back yard, ride motorcycles, or play with matchbox cars in the sandbox.  I can remember going outside, dumping out the cars in the sand and then taking turns picking the cars that each of us got to play with for the day.  I was usually stuck with the ones that were all banged up and didn't have working wheels.  We'd start to make roads in the sand and then building parking lots and buildings.  Then we'd just sit out there all afternoon driving our little cars around in our little sand city.  At the end of the day, it was always inevitable that we'd start picking up our cars and have to go digging for lost ones in the sand.  This haiku just captures that memory perfectly for me. —Courtney Ruffner

homeless man's extended hand
my daddy passes by
looking only at the ground

warm summer bike ride
untied shoelace
stuck in the chain

Nathan Carden (6)

This reminds me of the same memory that I have from many bike rides.  More than once in my life I have been riding around on my bike and without notice my shoelace gets caught in the chain and quickly winds itself so that you cannot pedal or remove your foot from the pedal, causing you to fall with the bike stuck to your foot.  Although falling down off your bike isn’t any fun, it is somewhat funny how that works out. —Amy Soderberg

I enjoyed this one because I totally have a phobia of things getting stuck in the bike chain and me being propelled off my bike and breaking my teeth on the cement.  When I was younger it was my shoelaces; now it is my pant cuffs.  I think I would like the haiku even a little more if "warm" was edited out, making the first line a little less wordy.  It makes me think of summery things like lemonade, cutting the grass, and kids climbing in trees.  It's a very good prelude to the upcoming summer. —Alyson Ludek

graduation
10 family members
6 tickets

gray chilly afternoon
walk along the lake
i skip some stones

not realizing
it is abuse
I cover my bandage

surrounded by family
taking her last—
breath

Easter egg hunt
   a cloud passes over
      "who turned out the lights?"

chocolate crumbs
on her pillowcase
…evidence

Bri Hill (6)

I think this haiku is very funny.  I know from several Catholic friends that for this year's Lent, they have given up chocolate.  I imagined the character in this haiku to be a little girl.  She doesn't really understand the implications behind Lent yet, and is craving for chocolate.  Thus, she sneaks chocolate into her room and eats it at night.  I continued to imagine, that this little girl has an older sister.  The older sister, knowing how much her younger sister likes chocolate, suspected that she has been sneaking and eating chocolate at night.  One morning she went to check out her younger sister's bed and found chocolate crumbs . . . she looked at the crumbs on the pillow and thought to her self, "I knew she was sneaking in chocolate—now I have evidence—and I can't believe she didn't share it with me!" —Xiu Ying Zheng

cell phone ring
we smile at each other
it's    him    again

family,
like puppies
six squeezed on the couch

roommates
lay on linoleum
and breathe out stress

an unexpected gift
his smile
is mine

Dad's departure
like a candle
in the wind

a toothless smile
explodes from beneath
her pink Easter bonnet

Michele LaBrose (8)

I picked this haiku as my favorite from this selection.  I really like this haiku I think it’s very cute and completely explains little girls dressed in their Sunday best.  Especially when little kids loose their teeth they love to show off their toothless smiles and show people they’re growing up. I also like the use of the word explodes, that is such a great word for the haiku it just really works with the way the kids act and there excitement for simple things in life. —Liz Hattan

This haiku made me smile.  I pictured this little girl on her mothers shoulder.  All you can see from the back is her eyes under the bonnet.  All of a sudden she picks up her head and smiles, the toothless smile.  It's a picture of innocence. —Lauren Taylor

grandpa walks up the hill
rusty old tractor
sits in the barn

out with friends
     Easter break
we talk about . . . graduation

in boots
a boy
runs           st     l     s      runs
                   u  b e
                     m

the egg's
discovery!
Christmas Day

Julie Forehand (5)

I like this haiku because as soon as I read it, I laughed. I can totally relate. I think every year we fail to find one Easter egg and it always turns up sometime around Christmas. It brings back happy memories for me. I think of years ago when we couldn’t find one egg at my grandparents’ house, and even of this year-we are still missing one egg! It is always a big joke and when we do find it, we all laugh and reminisce. —Michele LaBrose

the blind man trips
i adjust
my glasses

Jessica May (5)

spring day
everywhere
apple blossoms

drunken blur
he whispers
“you're gorgeous”

Erin Osmus

I like this one because I think most girls (or maybe even some guys) can relate to it.  I think of being at a bar, having a good time with friends, and having some random guy (usually a much older one) coming up to you and slurring words into your ear.  You let him buy you a drink and then avoid him like the plague for the rest of the night. Even though it's kind of gross, it's still a little nice to have drunk guys telling you you're gorgeous. —Alyson Ludek

waxy crayons
color of skin
under my nails

minus her right heel
the drunk blonde
limps home

Mary Reed (4)

Easter dinner—
the frosted lamb cake
decapitated

Chrissy Hulse

Every year someone in my family makes a cake in the shape of a bunny.  This is all well and good for an Easter party but no one quite thinks about the consequences.  When a cake is made in the shape of an animal, the only way that the entire cake is going to be eaten is if someone either takes off it’s head or it’s body.  Either way it can seem a bit gruesome in a very funny way.  I like that others have shared this experience. —Amy Soderberg

spring afternoon
lawnmower e c h o e s
through the Woods

Courtney Ruffner (3)

This last haiku that I picked as my favorite caught my eye as a peculiar haiku.  I can relate to this occurrence because I like to hear the sound of a lawnmower because it represents spring.  After a long winter, finally spring comes around and you hear lawnmower's running all over town.  Although they can be loud and annoying at times, it still represents a nice atmosphere and gives off the sweet smell of mowed grass.  I also relate to this haiku because I also live in the Woods at Millikin.  I like the way this haiku could be read by someone else and they could picture a person actually in a wooded area with trees around.  They could have a totally different feeling about this haiku. —Aaron Meyer

Mainly, I like this haiku because of the second line.  I really enjoy the author's use of the word "e c h o e s ".  There is a great element of nature in this haiku.  Someone is walking around in the woods and hears the echoes of a lawnmower.  This individual could be alone or could be with other people walking along a path through the woods.  The lawnmower could be someone cutting some grass somewhere in the woods, or someone in a yard that is directly next to the woods.  Regardless, this haiku places me in the woods with all the peace that spring can bring.  A nearby lawnmower breaks the noise of nature with the noise of a machine.  —Paul Schershel

white comforter
she presses her palm
against cold glass

sitting on my desk
last minute
projects

Lauren Taylor

I can relate to this haiku very easily.  For Easter break, I have been procrastinating on many of my coming due projects.  I think it's because graduation is so close in touch, it's just so hard to motivate myself to start on certain projects.  Starting Thursday night of Easter break, many projects has been lying in on my desk, stacked high! —Xiu Ying Zheng

as the funeral procession
passes
a leaf falls

Jessica May (3)

evening on the porch
we watch the traffic
slowly pass by

Stacey Orr (7)

This haiku creates a very peaceful and calm image. I picture a couple on a porch on a summer evening, sitting in a bench swing just watching the traffic go by. I like the phrase “slowly pass by.” The “slowly” adds to the calmness of the haiku, and I think it works a lot better than just saying “pass by.” —Jared Stahl

leaving home
even the tree branches
     wave goodbye

Jennifer Griebel

i like this one because although i love being here at millikin, it's like my second home; when i do get a chance to go home and see my family its takes me forever to say goodbye because i don't want to say goodbye...i have lived in my home for 15 years and have built soooo many memories that just saying goodbye to my entire home is hard. —Tricia Scholl

white buds
bursting
from the mangled branches

Michele LaBrose (4)

I especially enjoy this haiku because of its imagery. I love spring for it apple blossoms and magnolia trees. There is something so beautiful about the last line and the “mangled” branches. The branches that arch and turn in the most stressful of ways are often time these most aesthetically pleasing to look at. The idea of the white buds “bursting” from the trees is an excellent verb. They are not budding or growing, they are “bursting”, it is very dynamic. —Erin Osmus

just me & dad
walk in the woods
like old times

ripe orange
the juice
from chest to navel

Ryan Jones (5)

returning home
last trip
. . . back to college

Julie Forehand (3)

stepping from the bus
ashes from her forehead
on her skirt

nursing home activity
we all smile
at the blooming trees

anniversary dinner
my secret crush
walks in the door

loss of a friend
only to find
her cozy in bed

first aquarium
nose prints smudge
the glass

Alyson Ludak (7)

I like this one because I was there when my niece got her first aquarium.  She was one year old and so excited.  Every time I would go over there she'd say "Shishy" (meaning fishy), grab my finger and lead me to her fish tank where she stood with her hands and nose on the glass staring at the fish.  This haiku just really brought back a cute memory. —Bill Flowers

Walmart trip
new black pants
in the goth's shopping cart

bright white eggs
swirl in plastic bowls:
the scent of vinegar

Alyson Ludek (7)

When I first read this poem, I was immediately taken back to the Easter celebrations of my childhood. I distinctly remember the excitement of dropping the eggs into the dye and watching them swirl around and slowly absorb the color. What I particularly liked about this haiku, however, was its use of the scent of vinegar. I distinctly remember leaning in too close to the egg-dying bowls and receiving that huge, disgusting whiff of vinegar. It is something that probably most people remember and associate with Easter unknowingly. —Bri Hill

I chose this haiku because I thought the senses were very pertinent to the event and enabled me to really get a sense for dyeing Easter eggs again.  It has a good contrast with the "bright white eggs" that are then placed in the colors, but it's not said, just implied.  The descriptiveness of the elements of this haiku is really outstanding—bright, white, plastic (bowls) really just placed me in a much more visual place with this haiku. And the scent of vinegar really speaks for itself, because its scent is so definitive and potent, you can really almost smell the dyeing party happening. Also the fact that basically everyone can relate to dyeing Easter eggs, can be brought back to their childhood again with this haiku. —Julie Forehand

the bulemic girl
asks for her food
to go

home for Easter
the last time
I'll be visiting

Liz Hattan (2)

This one was a little sadder because it describes what I, as a senior, am going through right now.  I, too, was just home for Easter and had the exact same thought run through my head, "This will be the last time I visit home from college."  It was really kind of depressing but his haiku really hit home.  These are the last three weeks of the best four years of my life. —Bill Flowers

open umbrella
under the mayapple
a robin

Grandmother appearing
in her favorite gown
Easter Best

silent subway car
the kid wins
his cell phone game      again

solitude
a small fly
buzzes around my head

Christmas morning
candy cane
beneath my pillow

pitch black
...10 missisippi
ready or not here i come

Nathan Carden (3)

I liked this haiku because it reminded me of the summer time at my grandparents house when I was a child.  All of my cousins would spend the night and we would play ghost in the graveyard. We played for hours.  Then when it was time for bed, we all would sleep up stairs and my grandmother would tell us bedtime stories. —Miranda Baker

Lent is over—
she loosens another button