PACE Global Haiku • Fall 2008
Dr. Randy Brooks

compound words

by
Deborah (Myers) Campbell

I learned about haiku through the love and passion of my friend Emily. She can easily explain what is beautiful about a haiku. She knows which words to switch around through editing to bring out the true emotion. Her mind captures snapshots of world around her and it is exciting. As for me, I have always noticed little details. While it takes a lot of practice to find the right words, I enjoy that haiku allows me to catch them in a sharable experience.

in the downpour
a rainbow
of umbrellas

car radio oldies
september rain
adds new rhythms

arms crossed
his hand holds
her chin

patio garden
terra cotta'd tomatoes
unwatered

listening to the neighbor
swear at his children
weathered grey fence

freshpainted room
not yet dry
three caught flies

keeping record
of dinners past
my apron

inlaws visit—
their dog pees
on the carpet

playing video games
he does not hear
the cat throw up

home from work
no dirty dishes
but my own

first one home—
dead mouse
on the livingroom floor

three years passed
i talk of her
in present tense

warm kitchen
fresh baked cookies
stuffy nose

searching my pocket
for his key
a hole

empty stomach
empty cradle
full church

thinking about
my day at work
i hit a squirrel

ham sandwich
on Jewish rye
24/7 diner

a jar of olives
i eat the one
unpitted

Sunday paper—
kitty sleeps
on Arts & Leisure

at the fair
the carousel operator
hums a different tune

after school funeral
whistling eulogies
for a sparrow

small town bar
felt worn
on the pool table

in streetlamp glow
dogwalkers pass
sleeping houses

flight layover
at the park
migrating crows

flipping the lightswitch—
sickening clack
of the mousetrap

carving pumpkins
with a butterknife
every one, smiling

ping pong game
our fathers meet
for the first time

i peek through curtains
watching my neighbor
plant flowers

winter argument—
i'm sorry
scribbled in snow

hanging decorations
in the window
YADHTIRB YPPAH

asleep in his chair
my grandfather
looks harmless

grandma's nativity
Jesus replaced
with a Lego man.

swimsuit wedgie
my butt
bigger