Global Haiku • Spring 2016
Dr. Randy Brooks

On a Stranger's Desk

by
Natalie Smith

The haiku in this collection are centered around stories. Some of them are my own, some are the stories of those around me, and some are the stories of strangers. These haiku are moments—images that capture one tiny part of someone in vivid detail. They contain bits and pieces of stories that wouldn’t normally be told and add a new perspective to the ones we already know.

About the Author

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staring into a coffee cup
we tried
it isn’t the same

season two finished.
way better
than some restaurant

please
don’t say anything embarrassing
I open the door

a father
wipes away ashes
and leaves for work

watering the flowerbox
watching her grandchildren
play make-believe

girls’ night in
wine box and candy wrappers
new gossip

library night
she skims another page
and stirs coffee with a pen

sitting in the shade
best friends shit talk
old best friends

pushing the baby swing
trying to see the world
like he does

first car out of the cemetery
speeding past
loved ones

little cousins
unwrapping Christmas candies
Grandpa tells his stories

basement dust
an old wedding photo
to help her remember

she clutches her rosary
I tell her the stories
she used to tell me

spring cleaning
in the donate box
every doll           but one

dad sighs
one more check for monsters
night light flickers

tiny mittens caked in snow
drip dry
by the fire

2am
a stupid idea
her eyes light up

on a stranger’s deck
we talk philosophy
sunrise