perfect curves
dark eyes
icy heart

Kort Branscome

the bony prostitute
opens the car door . . .
another long night

Austin Evans

long legs
straight brunette hair
What is my name?

Adam Falasz

the coffee ring
on the mahogany table
proves she was here

Lexi DeSollar

the bony prostitute
opens the car door . . .
another long night

long legs
straight brunette hair
What is my name?

long legs
straight brunette hair
What is my name?

top quarter champion

TOP half Chamption

long legs
straight brunette hair
What is my name?

bottom quarter champion

up the drive
prancing happily
a new family member

sends text
ding
it's so over

up the drive
prancing happily
a new family member

sends text
ding
it's so over

Jenna Farquhar

he left me second
I left me
first

Lexi DeSollar

up the drive
prancing happily
a new family member

Jenna Farquhar

as i step
outside my wrecked car
the dog lies still

Dillon Damarian

TOP half champion

long legs
straight brunette hair
What is my name?

CHAMPION

following my dad
his prints too big
his stride too long

following my dad
his prints too big
his stride too long

BOTTOM half champion

old war medals
the boy asks grandpa
what they mean

Blaine Buente

braided pigtails
she chatters away
in grandpa's hat

Lexi DeSollar

driving his grandpa's truck
by himself
but never alone

Aaron Fleming

milk and cookies
grandpa's mustache
retains the white

Kort Branscome

old war medals
the boy asks grandpa
what they mean

driving his grandpa's truck
by himself
but never alone

driving his grandpa's truck
by himself
but never alone

top quarter champion

BOTTOM half champion

following my dad
his prints too big
his stride too long

bottom quarter champion

following my dad
his prints too big
his stride too long

whispers
I try to fly
from whispered words

following my dad
his prints too big
his stride too long

she punishes her daughter
for foul language
the lyrebird sings

Lexi DeSollar

whispers
I try to fly
from whispered words

Jackie Dumitrescu

tear-stained cheeks
teenage girl washes away
the pain

Jackie Dumitrescu

following my dad
his prints too big
his stride too long

Adam Falasz

perfect curves
dark eyes
icy heart

the bony prostitute
opens the car door . . .
another long night

long legs
straight brunette hair
What is my name?

the coffee ring
on the mahogany table
proves she was here

I really like this pairing because of how much it contrasts. The first poem gives me a picture of a girl who i would just love. Someone who I could spend the rest of my life with, and maybe someone who I have even approached with this in mind. However, she has turned me away, maybe multiple times, without so much as a second glance, crushing my hopes and dreams under her heal. The second poem gives me a picture of a girl dressed in sleezy clothing, with too much makeup on. She looks worn, and maybe even dirty. She is smoking. This isn't a girl I would go chasing after. However, the contrast lies in the fact that she is willing to throw herself at me without a second thought. This contrast really made me think for some reason, and i enjoyed bouncing it around in my head. TJ

I liked this haiku pair the most out of all the kukai 2 pairs.  Usually you hear girls talking about being in love, but these haiku make me think that the men are in love.  I think it is a little more meaningful when a guy admits that he is in love because sometimes girls overuse the word.  They may not specifically say it, but their actions tell otherwise.  The man in the first haiku falls in love at the first sight of a beautiful woman.  He is left speechless by her.  The man in the second haiku has been seeing a woman, but they do not date.  She stays the night every once in a while, but is always gone in the morning.  He might not admit it, but he loves her and wishes she would stay a little longer.  As he stares at the coffee ring, he thinks of how amazing she is and how he wants to spend even more time with her. Heather

sends text
ding
it's so over

he left me second
I left me
first

up the drive
prancing happily
a new family member

as i step
outside my wrecked car
the dog lies still

This pair of haiku that faced each other in the contest was my favorite, as it probably was for most people. What I enjoyed about it is the contrast it offers. The two feelings in a way strengthen each other, depending on how it is viewed. Like many people, I pictured a new dog as the new family member. This is a scene I have been in. Taking a dog to its new home for the first time is a very great feeling. But then, immediately following that, the feeling is taken away. I have never hit a dog, but I have had to swerve to miss dogs that have run into the road several times, much like this author did in the haiku, except their swerve was to no avail. Having the great feeling of seeing a new dog for the first time, immediately followed by the feeling of having accidentally taken a dog’s life is very interesting. To me, going back and forth between the two strengthens each feeling due to the fact that they are both presented at the same time. The reader gets the best and worse feelings that can be related to an animal. Aaron

I hate to choose my own haiku, but this one relates to me very personally because this incident is by far one of my deepest regrets in my life. I was driving home from a school trip at around 11 at night my sophomore year. It was really foggy and I was going 55 in a 55 where I normally go about 65-70. All of a sudden, a german shepherd ran out in front of my and there was no time to stop. He was chasing a rabbit across the road. I slammed the brakes and got off the road. I was saying to myself “please be a coyote” over and over. When I walked over to the dog, I broke down immediately. I could not find a nametag on the collar and I was really upset I ended up leaving the dog there. My biggest regret is not taking it and trying to find the owner or burying it. I myself own a German shepherd and cannot imagine him not coming home and finding him on the side of the road. Dillon

old war medals
the boy asks grandpa
what they mean

braided pigtails
she chatters away
in grandpa's hat

driving his grandpa's truck
by himself
but never alone

milk and cookies
grandpa's mustache
retains the white

When I read these two haiku again, I almost felt like two different author had somehow written about the same grandfather. The two haikus connected so well and become part of ton story to me. I imagined that the “old war medals” haiku happened first. Grandpa has gotten pretty old but he still has enough strength to go upstairs and explain to his grandson, who is about 7 or 8, what all of the medals on his uniform mean. I imagine that maybe the boy’s sister who is a couple years younger may have peeked in and asked grandpa if one day she can have his hat from his uniform. Years later, you see her grown up a bit more around the age that her brother was when grandpa explained the meaning of the medals, maybe a tad older. Grandpa died a few years ago, but she stills keeps him in her memory and in her heart by wearing his military hat, which he left in her possession as he had promised. Jackie

What I particularly loved about the above two haiku is how specifically closely they are related in content. In both of them, the central figure (the grandfather) is specifically referenced as “grandpa,” eliciting a feeling of hominess and family togetherness. Furthermore, they are extremely similar in structure; they begin with a specific image, follow up the image with an action, and provide specificity of the action in the last line. Because of this they sound nearly identical in rhythm as well. It was really amazing to see my own thoughts so close to those of one of my classmates that they appeared to have been written from the same prompt even though they came from separate responses. Lexi

This haiku makes me picture a young man driving his grandpa’s truck that he left him when he died. It is an old chevy, late 80s early 90s model. He is flying down a back road and tears roll down his face as he remembers all the times he went fishing, hunting, and so on with his grandpa. There is even a picture of them together taped to the dash. This is his way of coping with his loss. Dilon

old war medals
the boy asks grandpa
what they mean

driving his grandpa's truck
by himself
but never alone

I picked both of these haiku because they are related but so different. I wrote this first haiku, but that is not why I like it better than the second one. I like the first one because it is more visual and takes more thinking. When I visualize it, I see a young boy sitting down to a story about the war. The young boy sees the violent side of the war, but the grandpa sees everything that went on during the war: the violence, brotherhood, exhaustion, etc. This makes for a very good story and this is why I like this haiku better than the second one. The second haiku is very straight forward. I see a man driving his deceased grandfather’s truck and just knowing in the back of his mind that his grandfather’s spirit is there with him. Maybe I don’t understand this type of connection between man and grandfather, but I still believe that it is just too “easy” of a haiku. Not in a bad way, it just comes too easy to me, and I like a challenge. Blaine

she punishes her daughter
for foul language
the lyrebird sings

whispers
I try to fly
from whispered words

tear-stained cheeks
teenage girl washes away
the pain

following my dad
his prints too big
his stride too long

A note on a previous haiku we discussed it a little I thought that you would like to know the original intention behind the meaning. The last line references a lyrebird which is an animal that can repeat a vast variety of sounds and noises (such as a camera shutter, a chainsaw, etc.) based on what it hears around it. Many times, it even imitates the songs of other birds in the same manner the daughter is imitating her mother. I recently found a video of it on the internet and it inspired me to write the above haiku! Lexi

This haiku was my favorite from the second kukai. It brings out an emotional attachment that every young kid has for their father, whether they are around or not. Every little boy wants to be like their dad, and attempt to mimic them in everything dad does. Overall I just really love the imagery and feelings that this haiku brings out. Jeremy