black forehead smudges
I wish I could believe
so proudly

Cori Grzenia

we don't repent
but we put on our faces
that we did

Marah Kittelson

mark on our foreheads
remind us
we are all the same

Lauren Montesano

tiny crumbled
ashes slashed
across their foreheads

Katherine Viviano

black forehead smudges
I wish I could believe
so proudly

mark on our foreheads
remind us
we are all the same

black forehead smudges
I wish I could believe
so proudly

top quarter champion

TOP half Chamption

a father
wipes away ashes
and leaves for work

bottom quarter champion

a father
wipes away ashes
and leaves for work

40 days
40 nights
without ice cream

a father
wipes away ashes
and leaves for work

mother calls
remember, Wednesday, Lent
cheeseburgers for dinner

Taryn Pepping

40 days
40 nights
without ice cream

Whitney Gray

parents gone
for another mardi gras
their turn to be kids

Tyler Trzcinski

a father
wipes away ashes
and leaves for work

Natalie Smith

TOP half champion

a father
wipes away ashes
and leaves for work

CHAMPION
 

enticing
I want to see her
without the mask

enticing
I want to see her
without the mask

BOTTOM half champion

peacocks celebrating
in the nude
plucky and proud

Genevieve Breitbach

no make-up
she is barely
herself

Marah Kittelson

shouting and screaming
in our drunken stupor
she lifts her shirt

Michael Barber

silly boy
up on the roof top
he yells

Emilio Tejada

peacocks celebrating
in the nude
plucky and proud

shouting and screaming
in our drunken stupor
she lifts her shirt

shouting and screaming
in our drunken stupor
she lifts her shirt

top quarter champion

BOTTOM half champion

enticing
I want to see her
without the mask

bottom quarter champion

enticing
I want to see her
without the mask

put on your mask
violet and green
to forget the night

enticing
I want to see her
without the mask

gold
purple
green
bring out the masks

Katherine Viviano

put on your mask
violet and green
to forget the night

Grace Ganley

enticing
I want to see her
without the mask

Alexis Dockins

masked eyes see through me

Whitney Gray

black forehead smudges
I wish I could believe
so proudly

Cori Grzenia

we don't repent
but we put on our faces
that we did

Marah Kittelson

mark on our foreheads
remind us
we are all the same

Lauren Montesano

tiny crumbled
ashes slashed
across their foreheads

Katherine Viviano

I chose this pair because they stuck out as the best matched pair of the entire contest. I like how they both concern the idea that many people act to be more religious or have more faith. Many times, people just participate in Ash Wednesday or Lent or any other religious activities because their parents tell them to or expect them to without their own inclination. Personally, my favorite of the two was the first, the ‘black forehead smudges.' I liked it because I have felt this way myself. I participate in Ash Wednesday, and wish to have more faith, but sometimes it is very difficult. I also really like the word choices like ‘black' and ‘smudges' and especially ‘proudly.' I feel like those word choices made the haiku even better. Whitney

I love these two haiku because they address a topic that is very common in people who participate in organized religion, but is never talked about. Every church is full of people who are there because they want to learn more about God, love him, and be close to him, and it is also full of people there for other reasons. There are children whose parents take them to church but are too little to understand its significance. There are teenagers who are starting to question whether God is even a real thing, but they know their parents would never accept that, so they sit in church anyway. There are twentysomethings who barely have a relationship with God, but they go on Easter and Christmas purely out of habit, and there are parents who promised their spouse that they would raise the children to be religious, so they take their kids to every service and barely pay attention. Whatever the reason, many of the people we saw last Wednesday with smudgy crosses on their forehead didn't have them there for what many would say is "the right reason." Most of the time, you would never know the difference between these people and the rest of Decatur's churchgoers. These two haiku remind us that they are everywhere, and provide interesting perspectives from their point of view. Natalie

I really like these two haiku separately, but I think they are much more meaningful put together. The first one (mine) is from my point of view as an outsider to religion. I grew up in the Methodist tradition, but have always been forthcoming that I hold no religious beliefs. Part of me wishes that I fully believed all the things I said on Confirmation Sunday and that I could be a faithful person. I could have gotten my ashes, but I feel as though I would be acting inauthentically, because I don't strongly hold those beliefs. The second haiku is coming from someone within the church's practice, who may not fully believe or is surrounded by people who do not. Opposite of my not wanting to mock a strong believer's ashes with my non-existent beliefs, this person sees people that go through the motions, despite squandered beliefs. These two perspectives speak to two very different character beliefs. Cori

These two matched pairs are my favorite, because of the ideas that they get across. This event seems to have lost its significance it meant. These two haikus is disheartening to me, because they sound like they are going through the motions. I feel like people are just doing this to for face worth. I want to ask why people do this, if they don't believe in what they are doing. These two are very frustrating to me, and I feel as though these people are lost. I feel as though these rituals have now become more based on making sure everyone gets through in a timely fashion. It is obvious that in this place where ashes are put on the forehead, people obviously feel like a number. This feeling as a number prevents people from actually pulling away a message from the sermon leader. Noah

enticing
I want to see her
without the mask

Alexis Dockins

shouting and screaming
in our drunken stupor
she lifts her shirt

Michael Barber

black forehead smudges
I wish I could believe
so proudly

Cori Grzenia

mark on our foreheads
remind us
we are all the same

Lauren Montesano

enticing
I want to see her
without her mask

Initially, I relate it to someone celebrating Mardi Gras and possibly meeting a girl and want to see her whole face. Also, I take it to mean that maybe a person wants to see her without the front she puts up. Get to know the real her. Grace

shouting and screaming
in our drunken stupor
she lifts her shirt

When it is related o Mardi Gras, I think of this crazy crowd, full of drunk people celebrating, possibly down in New Orleans and then this is the result of one too many drinks. Although it is a bit different and crazy, I interpret it as a fun vision. Grace

These two were not two originally put together, but I liked them as a pair the most. They got into the final round together and I really enjoyed both the similarity and differences between them. I wrote the second one, so I know the main intent behind the Haiku. I was writing it because even though I am a catholic, I don't usually go to mass on ash Wednesday or really go to church at all. When we were told to write about ash Wednesday, I was very intrigued because I have really only experienced the ceremony a couple times. With this haiku, I was trying to express what the first one did; the feeling of celebrating your faith that you barely even have. Even though many people wear the ashes on ash Wednesday, that doesn't mean that they are a devout catholic or even practice Catholicism, but it seems as though they are all the same, and in the same boat. Lauren

I liked this match because they both make the ashes seem kind of bad or separate from what they are supposed to be. They are supposed to make you proud to be who you are and a part of god. These haiku make them seem like a typical tradition we were raised in, and something we get just because we have to. The haiku both create a kind of empty feeling around the ashes, even though it says we are all the same it still seems sort of individual. Alexis

mother calls
remember, Wednesday, Lent
cheeseburgers for dinner

Taryn Pepping

40 days
40 nights
without ice cream

Whitney Gray

parents gone
for another mardi gras
their turn to be kids

Tyler Trzcinski

a father
wipes away ashes
and leaves for work

Natalie Smith

This pair from really stood out to me. As a Catholic, I definitely relate to the ashes on the forehead every year. However, I never really celebrated Mardi Gras growing up. I thought it was very interesting and quite clever that both of these haiku incorporated parental figures and their activities on the widely celebrates Tuesday/Wednesday that are Mardi Gras and Ash Wednesday. It reminded me that adolescence doesn't really every leave the hearts of us…for the same traditions can be carried out for years and years no matter how old we get. Viv

I enjoy these haiku because I feel like they tell a story together. The first one sets a scene of a parents that went out the night before Ash Wednesday and probably did a heavy amount of sinning. Then the next morning, the father got the ashes on his forehead because he felt obligated to, but before he went to work, he had to wipe off the ashes because he did not feel worthy to have them on. His dirty mardi gras out made him feel shameful to wear the ashes. Jaco

peacocks celebrating
in the nude
plucky and proud

Genevieve Breitbach

no make-up
she is barely
herself

Marah Kittelson

shouting and screaming
in our drunken stupor
she lifts her shirt

Michael Barber

silly boy
up on the roof top
he yells

Emilio Tejada

I like this pair together because it could almost be about the same person(s). I imagine a woman who normally cakes on makeup to feel beautiful and confident, and is instead spending a day completely free and bare faced. Instead of being her normal concealed and masked face, she is "plucky and proud" and isn't like herself at all, but it is in a good way. I like these two together, because although they seem to be about completely different things, the ideas can be spun to be really cohesive. Taryn

no make-up
she is barely
herself

Marah Kittelson

enticing
I want to see her
without the mask

Alexis Dockins

These two weren't actually matched on the sheet, but we talked about them being a pair, and I really liked the idea. I wrote the first one, because I've started to wear make-up less often, which is usually hardly at all. I feel like if I'm showing my true face, it makes it easier to be confident in my true personality - it's sort of a reminder that everyone already knows what I look like without makeup on, so they might as well see my real personality. I struggled for a long time with being a different person around different people so that everyone would like me. This brings me to the second haiku. Over break, I decided that I want to be who God wants me to be, and be that person unashamedly. I shouldn't have to change myself to make people like me. If they don't like who I am, that's their problem (as long as I'm not mean or self-centered or spiteful). I spent some time with people who love me for me, and it gave me that reaction: enticing. I wondered what it would be like to live this fully all the time. I'm finally learning what I'm like without the mask, and I hope that other people will see that, too. Marah

These two haiku go together very nicely. They are both about identity and using different forms of masks to cover up the face. The first haiku reminds me of a masquerade ball, sort of like Romeo and Juliet. With a mask on a person's appearance can be mysteriously beautiful. On the other hand the second haiku is saying that without make-up on the girl is not herself. Maybe she doesn't feel beautiful without something covering her face.  The girl without makeup could be wearing the mask. Maybe if she unveils herself, she would be self conscious. The mask may help her socialize at the party better. Tyler

This "enticing" haiku really brings me into a mardi gras scene with everybody in masks. Of course there is the lad whom is looking for a mate, and he spots a possible woman for enchantment. He cannot trust the fact that she is wearing a mask because he is going for the most beautiful one at the party, and he is just so anxious to see her. Joe

gold
purple
green
bring out the masks

Katherine Viviano

put on your mask
violet and green
to forget the night

Grace Ganley

enticing
I want to see her
without the mask

Alexis Dockins

masked eyes see through me

Whitney Gray

I liked this match up because of the difference between the content of the two. The first haiku talks about putting a mask on for the night and the second haiku talks about taking a mask off. The first haiku is fun and hints at Mardi Gras whereas the second haiku could be about a literal mask or a façade. Both could refer to Mardi Gras but the first one is explicitly just Mardi Gras. I liked the second haiku better because of its not as specific as the first but can relate to both events. Erica

I really liked these two haiku. In the first haiku, I like the fact that the author used violet instead of purple. Violet gives an image of a deep, majestic purple, instead of just any old shade of purple. This haiku made me wonder if the person is putting on the mask in order to have a good time and just be a random stranger to everyone, or if they're putting on the mask to forget about something else. They could be "forgetting" by getting extremely drunk or they could be "forgetting" something serious going on in their life. The mask could be the escape from the seriousness of that person's everyday life. Either way, I like how the mask is shown as an object allowing relief. In the second haiku, I really wondered what the mask was, if it was a literal mask, or if it was makeup or a façade. It really made me think of makeup because I know too many girls who only feel beautiful when they are wearing makeup, or they truly believe that they need the makeup. Those girls are completely gorgeous underneath it all, though. I really liked the word enticing because the speaker is drawn into her and her presence. He wants to know more. It made me think of a guy who is really starting to know a girl and he's so into her and wants to build a relationship, and he desperately wants to see her true beauty. With the two haiku, I liked how one was about putting something on and the other was about taking something off. Two opposite haiku that both paint vivid images. Corrin

a father
wipes away ashes
and leaves for work

Natalie Smith

enticing
I want to see her
without the mask

Alexis Dockins

enticing
I want to see her
without the mask

Alexis Dockins

masked eyes see through me

Whitney Gray

I particularly liked this match pair because it was the champion pair from both halves'. Not only that, I liked the first haiku because it can have multiple meanings to whoever reads it whereas the second has a very descriptive meaning. Therefore, the first haiku for me was representative of a man doing his job simply because he has to but food on the table and at the moment it is the only option that he has. I feel like the, "ashes" that the author used to describe the tears is very important in deriving a meaning from this haiku. More specifically in my opinion I think that ashes are representative of him slowly decaying from the work effort that he is putting in to survive for not just himself but for his family as well. The second haiku is nice because what it does is it creates this mysterious feeling of a woman and what lies behind the mask. I honestly couldn't relate to this haiku as well but I can easily picture the setting in my head which makes it worth reading. Emilio

These two haikus were matched originally in the "bracket". I really like how they can be read together and how they can be about the same person. Even though their format is completely different, they match very well together. It almost appears the all the he can see of the girl is her eyes and he desires to see the rest of her face. The fact that her eyes "see through" him make them seem very powerful and desirable which is why he desires to see her face so badly. Michael

This pairing was a very nice combination as, in my opinion, they both reference a physical mask that represent wanting to know someone's true self that they hide behind a less literal mask, a mask of the heart and thought. The former haiku brings to mind someone getting to know a woman for the first time, seeing her let her guard down for a moment—a sparkle in the eye, or a quirky smile—that brings them a new sense of appreciation for the other person. They realize in that moment that they are falling in love, or just loving them as a new friend. Perhaps even an old enemy is being seen as a three dimensional human being for the first time. The second haiku here has a lovely contradiction in imagery: the covered eyes are seeing through the protagonist's mask of their own. I, for one, have always been drawn to the beautiful mystery and drama invoked by masquerades, but they also sort of frighten me. I like to be able to see who is who, as do we all. The unknown frightens us as a species, so the thought that this masked person sees through your own cover-up act as a fellow scaredy-cat and appreciates you with or without your mask of sorts is a really nice impact.
These two take the mask portion of the Mardi Gras/Carnivale prompt and turn it into something deeper and more interesting than just a costume piece. Genevieve