Global Haiku • Spring 2021
Dr. Randy Brooks

Shattered Pieces, Still
Whole

by
Brooke Oitker

The haiku chosen for this project all have sentimental value to me. They are based on cherished memories and times that I have long since overcome and grown from. Haiku, to me, is meant to invoke memories of one's own past experiences or a strong emotion, good or bad. It is meant to be shared and talked about with laughs or tears, but a reader should be able to envision what the haiku is about or be able to feel the emotion imbued within the written word.

Haiku is not an art I was fond of prior to class. Before starting my haiku course, I believed myself to be a person of little words, something that I found myself questioning after my first attempts at haiku. I love poetry and all that it has to offer, visual or otherwise, and haiku is no different. Writing my own haiku taught me the difference between showing and telling while utilizing as little words as possible. It taught me how to be a minimalist while giving loud and grand ideas for others to enjoy. I was able to develop more of my own voice in a way I never thought possible. Analyzing and drawing my own conclusions was never my strongest weapon in the English world but haiku readings have helped me create something I can use for the rest of my life.

pumpkins on the porch
orange shadows
flicker on the steps

icy cul-de-sac
the teens laughing
in the ditch

cracked riverbed
the water . . .
gone

shaking my head
like an Etch-A-Sketch;
clearing my thoughts

poppy flower
marking my wrist . . .
for my grandfather

Sea of Thieves
the party singing
off-key shanties

waking up
from a nap . . .
what year is it?

even shattered
to pieces . . .
I am still whole

self-care weekend . . .
tattoos, movies, and
talking with mom

thunder rumbles . . .
I stay curled up
reading peacefully

staring at my friend’s
mortified face . . .
I mouth “sorry”