the apple in my eye
falls to the ground
rotten

an ugly pine
at dusk
left-side shimmering

cloudy sunday morning
making an omelette—
sunshine

long ride home
dad smiling
the entire drive

Aaron Bynum (5)

This haiku is so true. My dad is so excited to see me every time he comes to pick me up. When I open the door of my dorm to let him in, he always has a big smile on his face, and it stays there for the whole three and a half hour drive. I like that they used “dad” here too because I don’t know about everyone else, but for me, he’s always the one who comes to get me. This is a really cute haiku. —Bethany

never stopping
she waves to me
in the rearview mirror

empty letters
the idea of us
more beautiful

crowded kitchen
four women whisper
over a hot stove

tiny sparrow
blending with tree leaves
winter snow

her glowing face
reflects the moon
reflects the sun

Jenna Roberts (3)

I really dug this one because it expanded with each line. An awesome ripple effect to show how expansive and amazing the universe is, and how the author could see the whole galaxy in her face. very nice realization. —Emily

I’m biting my tongue
I’m iron-blooded
I know cuz I taste it

Allisha Komala (5)

at the dinner table
a curse escapes me
(dammit)

nana hit her
with a frozen chicken
ma saw stars

oversize garbage can
I salvage the turkey butt
November finale

snowball wars
his young imagination
loses to the cold

puppet show on the metro
GUNSHOT!
the puppeteer continues

Allisha Komala (3)

gentle snow
smells like that day we . . .

roaring fire and
wrapped in a blanket with you
the perfect Christmas eve

home from school
still crying
she hugs me tighter

Aaron Bynum

I read this one and so many memories came back. The author did a great job of capturing a moment that relates to many readers. The usage of the word "still" implies a sense that the crying has lasted the whole trip home: maybe a bus ride, or walk through the neighborhood. The word "she" gives a motherly tone to the poem, but also as a big sister, I have hugged my little sisters many times after school. Lastly the choice of "tighter" is a great way to describe a hug. A good bear hug that can help to forget the hard day at school. Great simplicty, imagery and related-ness. —Emily

nude model
during the break
pops M&Ms

Emily Evans (3)

I like the nude model senryu because it is an interesting image. The interesting part isn't the nude model but the popping M&Ms during the break. It's just a casual image/activity that seems to contrast with the ?nude model? since it seems our society has something against nudity...it's not normal. But then again someone who does something for a living would be used to doing it. Interesting haiku subject.—travis

home from work
a lone jeweler
stares at the stars

old friends—
so many words
unnecessary

rusted leather wallet
her photo
still belongs

drunk in Harvard Square
in-between kisses
mom on the cell phone

Emily Evans (4)

friday night
reunited friends
go bowling

thanksgiving table
overflowing with food
no room for the turkey

grandma's shrill voice
the puppy pees again
so good to be home

Jenny Schultz (4)

at home sick
endlessly blowing my nose
a Taj Mahal pile of kleenex

chilly night
your laughter
cleanses me

tackled in the driveway
nothing beats
little sister hugs

Jenna Roberts (6)

waking to the scent
of warm pancakes
home at last

hazy Autumn—
blooming flowers
her dress

november rain
through frosted windows
more rain

raindrops
still falling on my head
my broken umbrella

home from school
i can’t sleep
in my own bed

Aaron Bynum

I experienced this very haiku. My bed always felt so comfortable, but when I went home for the first time, I couldn’t sleep in it. It was mostly because of my incredibly soft mattress pad at school, but it still made me sad. This haiku expresses a small sadness of things at home changing after you leave. For some reason we expect everything to stay the same, but they never do, and we can’t help but feel a sense of loss. —Bethany

home for Thanksgiving
our first kiss in weeks—
he catches my cold

Emily Evans (8)

sun shining in my window
birds singing in my ear
i pull the blanket over my head

Sarah Matherly

This haiku really tells us that there is a time and a place for everything. Sunshine is beautiful, and it’s wonderful to hear the birds singing. But no one wants these things to wake them up earlier than they need to! I love how this haiku takes things of nature that are in a lot of haikus and turns it around to where they are things of annoyance. Not all the time, but in the morning, yes. “I pull the blanket over my head” is a great line. —Bethany

dinnertime on thanksgiving
eyes exchange thoughts
we skip him during grace

I just retired
my Halloween costume
time to jingle all the way

Allisha Komala (3)

sledding down Wisconsin hills
I discover
my buried bubblegum, frozen

Allisha Komala (3)

neighbors stringing holiday lights
hear their cussing
through closed doors

Jenny Schultz (8)

the pied piper leaves
this dying town
do i follow?

Home at last
a tree lights the hall
they are fast asleep

finals week
'tis the season
for procrastination

Jenny Schultz (3)

Finals week...what can I say about that haiku other than I've rarely heard such truth. —travis

stranded at the airport
no one around
stealing change from the wishing well

fogged glasses
i follow
your perfume

potato soup
steaming up the kitchen
melting jack frost

Jenny Schultz (3)

cold winter night
eating dinner
in a bubble bath

long drive
looking for hawks
on telephone poles

clean and dry
they look normal
the midwife's hands

Aubrey Ryan (3)

The author does a great job of recognizing the normalcy and un-normalcy of everyday things. Many things lead double lives: the midwife's hands being a perfect example. The author has a beautiful sense of REALLY looking and observing things. I like "clean and dry" because many times the midwife's are not so!This haiku is great because it helps the reader to see a very big picture in something so small. —Emily

plugged in tree
we stare
cuddling

cleaning out the spare room
under overalls
a swollen belly

                     Aubrey Ryan (3)
                     Dr. Brooks Award

orange moon quiet in the field slow eclipse

grey chicago monday
a little girl waves
the L passes by

boy wonder
outstretched hand
touches the stars

multi-colored goons
awkward on white landscape
snowpants

warm blanket
falling snow outside
perfection.

first frost
unsalted path
slapstick humor

Travis Meisenheimer (7)

snow-covered leaf
still blossoming
—she smiled

snowflakes in my hair
I don’t want them
to melt

sweaty basement
air guitars
play open mic punk rock

barking dog
two blocks away
frigid night

winter in the morning
(going to the airport)
summer in the evening

I breathe its scent . . .
California sky
in the midwest

Aaron Bynum

I could almost smell a change in the wind when i read this! I like the feeling of the author's need for change. Being in the flat, landlocked midwest, and dreaming of the ocean and warm air. I feel like this haiku is not merely describing the wind change, but a change in the life of the author. —Emily

standing in the grass
sun in eyes and hair
a butterfly lands

mother’s day
trying to call home
“all circuits busy”

broken umbrella
rain rolls
down my face

Bethany Tabb (3)

There are some days when walking through the rain isn't such a bad idea. The image of rain rolling down one's face is something I really like, as if the person has humbled him or herself to nature, allowing themself to just get carried away for just one moment. —Aaron

rain when daddy comes
home
rain

sleeping heavenly whispers escape her lips

melting snow angels       green grass

after the breakup
her smile never glowed
like this before

                 Bethany Tabb

"After the breakup" is a haiku I've seen twice and I like it more each time I see it. This is just because a friend has just gotten out of a bad relationship and it's nice to see her smile again.
—travis

cigarette on the porch
Holden Caulfield keeping me company

                       Michael Worth (4)

There's nothing I don't like about a Catcher in the Rye fan . . . except maybe the fact that he smokes. This poem caught me because I like references to books or movies within the haiku. The author seems lonely, and perhaps a bit depressed. I admire the fact that he's reading for pleasure (or so it appears to me). I noticed that when I copied and pasted this haiku, company was located on the second line, and there existed no third. I'm wondering if it was the author's intention to have two lines or three...? —Allisha

no work
and a lazy guitar string
summer's eve

the hum of the dryer
the shake of the washer
i love laundry day

barren crawlspace
the silence of approaching winter
closes in on her

white farm house
tractor tire
a child's swing

Aubrey Ryan (2)

a week in the hospital
nothing helps
my own bed

brushing her hair
behind my book
I watch

Aubrey Ryan (4)

This haiku gives me the picture of a preteen boy spying on his first crush during class. As if he's looking, but trying not be seen himself. The first line is almost a different train of thought from the narrator... as if he suddenly realizes that he's constantly watching her, his eyes following her every move.—Aaron

everyone’s gone
now I can
truly be myself

Apples are delicious
eating when rain falls
even sweeter

dunking cookies
he makes me laugh
projectile milk

Jenna Roberts (2)

the empthy theatre
the actor
fills with possibilites

still holding the phone
shaky breathing
dial tone

Jenny Schultz (6)

This haiku gives me the feel of a phone call that is so upsetting you can’t really hang up. Maybe the person’s boyfriend/girlfriend just broke up with her/him, or maybe they just learned that someone close to them died. They can’t bring themselves to hang up, so they sit there breathing heavily until they hear a dial tone. I like this a lot. —Bethany

six years later
the ring missing
from her left hand

broken glass
empty dashboard
they nabbed my favorite CD

Michael Worth

this haiku shows the great and delicate moment after the daughter falls off the $10,000 motorcycle and the father runs over to her to make sure she is okay BEFORE he checks to see if the chrome is okay. I love the author’s priorities in this haiku. very simple and small — they don’t even care about the expensive windshield, just about the CD that held so many memories to them. great turn. —Emily

first snow
a wet tongue awaits
the ice crystals

Aaron Bynum

What is it about snow that just makes you stick your tongue out to catch the snowflakes? The challenge of trying to catch just one, then trying to catch as many as possible, and the accomplishment we feel upon succeeding — it seems so pointless when you think about it, but at the time it is invigorating. What child hasn't shared time laughing with a friend while trying to catch the season's first snowflakes on her little pink tongue? . . . it's practically a rite of passage! —Jenny

I think this haiku really captures the way the first snow of the year feels when you are a child. I remember when I lived in California, it only snowed one time in my town, and it was only for five minutes. Our teacher let us out of class, and we ran around outside with black pieces of construction paper to catch snowflakes so we could see how they looked. All of us ran around with our tongues hanging out of our mouths trying to catch a snowflake. It’s playful and fun, and while I don’t usually like haiku that are reminiscent of children (don’t hate me, haha), I like this. —Bethany

chilly morning . . .
just a stretching cat
and a cup of Joe

Took apart
my spare bed
where will Spongebob sleep?

Sarah Matherly (2)

Awww. So maybe this girl (and I'm just assuming the author is a girl because that's the way this haiku plays out in my head) has Spongebob Squarepants bedsheets, and now that she's disassembled her extra bed, she won't be using the sheets anymore. It's a cute poem but not too cutesy, and I enjoy that about it. It seems like an honest question. More importantly, I think maybe the character in the haiku does not respond well to change. Maybe it's hard for her to accept bigger changes in her life, and this haiku is one way of expressing that. —Allisha

all alone
i play our song
for us

Aaron Bynum

Melancholy reminiscing and sappy love songs...Sometimes I just get in one of those moods where I find more significance in someone else's words than in my own. It makes me feel profound, and yet I KNOW that I can express myself so much better than someone else ever could; I feel that when I quote someone else's lyrics, I am skirting my own issues. I prefer to quote someone because of the beauty of what they have said, not the pertinence of their words to my own life. But that's just me. —Jenny

nice usage of “alone” and “us” at the end of the lines. just enough to help the reader into realizing your moment. —Emily

familiar figure
on the bed
is there no longer

wind in the grass
echoes my thoughts;
language ceases

Jenny Schultz

This haiku is unique because it seems that this majestic scenery is consuming the mind and the soul of the narrator (but in a good way). The beauty of the sound of nature is rather incomparable to what our human minds often conjure up. —Aaron

rolling out of sleep
half empty bed—
only a note remains

Travis Meisenheimer

This haiku is kind of sad but I like it. Even though the person who supposedly left, had probably left under the premise that their relationship wasn't going anywhere. I like to think that the person who left the note had left to move on in life instead... I also like the term "rolling," it makes me think of something slow, steady, moderatly paced and (possibly) on track. —Aaron

ouch. That's about all I can say. Waking up the next morning and the person you spent the night with only left a note. I see this as negative...but I can see someone taking this as a positive. I can see that the person woke up to go to work and they wanted to leave a love note to their lover. I can also see someone quietly walking out the door to get away--like it was a one night stand that wasn't supposed to happen. All they really had to say was left in a note...and never to be heard from again. I liked this one because it really makes you think about you consider this one. —Sarah

at first I thought “sleep” and “bed” should be switched, but then I realized the great image of “half empty bed” and then the author hits you with that terrible? great? feeling of a good-morning note. Tanka poems were traditionally left by lovers after the night, and only the great poets and masters of words got called back to the bed…I hope this note is a happy one, but somehow get the feeling it is not… —Emily

legs around my waist
melting in her skin
one plus one equals one

Michael Worth

I loved this one because it's so sensual. I think that it's very sweet and has a bit of a calming effect to it. It's so vivid too. I really enjoyed this one. There's just so much passion...it's a bit overwhelming..and I like that. —Sarah

rainstorm
looking out my wet window
no one there

Sarah Matherly

There’s something humbling about a rainstorm. You cannot really go out anywhere, and you cannot really do anything indoor that won’t remind of the rain… Even though there seems to be a sense of anticipation or longing, I think the ambience in general is rather sublime. —Aaron

wood paneling freshly installed
the husky's bark echoes
in a new-fashioned way

high-pitched and incomprehensible
to the human ear
voices of the sea hawks

smudged finger prints
magnified on the glass
sun hits them just right

ticking clocks
grandma’s cookies cooling
the cuckoo reminds me

class voice
four Poets reminisce
good times in Haiku

Michael Worth

the falling snow
a woman turns back
into a young kid

a young kid
laying in the snow
only an angel remains

big hill
new snow
Wheeeeeeeee!!!