I sit on
the bronze man's lap
        Smile!

Abby Kavnaugh

I like this one because it’s what a bunch of goofy college students do. We fool around and do strange things to the bronze man. So this student is sitting on the statue’s lap, doing something funny, and getting her picture taken. I really like the image. Nichole

winter morning
Bronze Man still reading
a clump of snow

Emily Evans (2)

I really like this haiku because it shows that the Bronze man is never moving even though everything changes around him. The seasons change, the people that pass him every day change from year to year, yet here he is always reading the same thing. It leaves a sort of comforting feeling because you know no matter what he’s always going to be there. This was a neat haiku! Regan

in the rain . . .
the bronze man discovers
an unzipped fly

Joanne Weise (4)

This is one of my favorites. I like the idea of the bronze man “discovering” an unzipped fly. It’s so amusing; like he always catches the little nuances that take us longer periods of time to notice. This haiku gives him personification without making him creepy. He’s like the Milli-king. Never leaving his throne because he might miss something as small as someone’s unzipped fly. Abby

in the rain
bronze man reads
the same old page

he sits
immobile
and never turns the page

looking through the glass
all alone
the park bench

on the park bench they
     sit          apart
   and slowly move
         together

Nichole Johnson (6)

I love how the picture of this haiku is painted both by its words and its literal imagery. I can see the people sitting far apart on the bench and gradually getting closer, until they are holding each other. It seems like a first date scenario. They have just walked around the park together and are gradually getting more comfortable in the other's presence. By the end of the night they are at ease enough to be close to each other. I like how the format conveys this sense along with the words. Katie

i love this haiku because of the movement and spacing. i can see the people inching closer. maybe it is two people on a first date, just beginning to feel comfortable with each other. i like the overall spacing of it too - how it funnels down to "together" and you can read it in one glance. Emily

white-capped peaks
softly skim
the soft white clouds

Regan Bledsaw (2)

soft white clouds
softly skim
white-capped peaks

Such excellent imagery with this haiku--the author has a way with descriptions. I can see the mountain peaks so clearly, especially since the "snow-capped" brings me right into a wintry setting, perhaps a few bright green pines against it in a lower elevation. "Skim" is a beautiful way to describe the floating clouds; it brought me to a vision of milk, and a toddler running his or her finger through the top of it--only I see this in the clouds. Wonderful. Joanne

This haiku reminds of the mountains. I love the mountains, especially in Colorado and surrounding areas. I can see the white mountain peaks somewhat shrouded in clouds and it brings back many memories of snowboarding in Colorado. Rick

a raindrop
passes from your nose
to mine

Regan Bledsaw (5)

I love this haiku because of its implied intimacy. It says so much to me without actually having to say it. I imagine a couple, huddled very close—in part because of the rain and cold and in part because they simply want to be close—on a cold November day at something like a parade or football game. Although in public, they have no problem being very close (but not in some inappropriate, “private” way) and showing that they care about one another…and that they don’t mind the added warmth, either! Jennifer

This was another of my favorites because the two people in the haiku are left ambiguous. It's such a cool image, seeing the drop collecting more and more water, until it must fall. Since I'm sappy, I see a couple about to kiss, but I could be totally missing the author's vision for this haiku, which makes it that much better. Very cool. Joanne

This haiku I absolutely love. I can see two people huddled close and getting rained on. I picture them as two people in love and it’s a happy feeling . . . even though they’re out in the rain, they’re together. Nichole

brown eyes meet
brown eyes
he smiles

Nichole Johnson (4)

the pigeon lady's
usual seat . . .
empty parkbench

Joanne Weise (4)

I think most people have seen this woman; never failing to come to the same spot and feed the same pigeons. Its simplicity gives this haiku an endearing quality. You really relate to the woman with her one task in mind: to go back to her usual spot and feed the pigeons. In her mind, those pigeons wouldn’t last a day without her. Abby

pen rolls
under the park bench
forgotten bread crumbs

Joanne Weise (2)

I like the idea of sitting at a bench and losing something underneath it. The bread crumbs are the only thing I question about the haiku. Who were the bread crumbs forgotten by? The birds? A human? Maybe “stale” or “old bread crumbs” would work better. Then, forgotten would be implied, and there wouldn't be the confusion of the human element. The pen rolling brings a nice image to mind because I envision a writer spending some time outdoors doing work. Katie

pigeons:
the park bench
speckled white

Rick Bearce (6)

This haiku is one of my favorites because of its way of taking something that is usually seen in our culture as gross to be beautiful. the "speckled white" brings an image of paint to my mind - Pollock park benches, maybe in New York City. I also really liked "pigeons:" - the colon was a perfect punctuation to set the scene simply. Emily

This one reminds me of the tenet on things being only what they are, nothing more. Pigeons are notorious for littering things with their, uh, excrement. It's such a typical image, as these birds do this all the time, but it's also something one doesn't usually stop to ponder on for a while. I'd be upset if this was my seat, however. Joanne

san francisco
under the parkbench
her collected aluminum

Emily Evans (3)

This haiku may be my favorite from this kukai, because the state of the person in this haiku is not stated, but implied. We know as readers that the fact that she has a bag full of cans probably means that she is either poor and trying to get some money from collecting them, or homeless. I like the setting as well. The big city of San Francisco makes her presence on the park bench with her cans seem even more insignificant and hopeless. The lack of capitalization for the city is the only thing that bugs me about this. I realize that lower case letters help to portray her small space in the world, but I think it might even lend to the haiku to capitalize the city, not only because it is grammatically correct, but because it could symbolize the sheer size of the city around her. Katie

on the bench
waiting for the bus
no one speaks

Emily Evans (2)

This haiku is awesome (and sad), because it is so true! It’s amazing how you can sit at, or even just pass by, a bus stop and find that no one speaks to anyone else. In this day and age, people don’t usually take simple pleasures like randomly talking to others. I think it’s a shame, really, because you can find interesting conversation just about anywhere if you just look for it…and you may unknowingly make someone’s day! Jennifer

searching the airport
a secluded bench
home for the night

Emily Evans (4)

I love this haiku because it reminds me of my mom. She travels a lot for her job, and thus spends a lot of time in airport terminals. While traveling for these trips, she has told me “frightening” stories over the phone about spending the night in an airport because of a delayed/cancelled flight. After these conversations, I find myself not sleeping so great at home in my bed, because I can’t get the image of her, frustrated and uncomfortable, out of my head. Jennifer

vacated park
we sit in silence
star gazing

Katie Steimann (4)

Yay! I love this haiku. It’s so close to my own heart. After spending so much time in the country, I feel like I’ve lost something being here in a city. So, naturally, I need to take a little detour and visit the cosmos again. I love the quietude of this haiku; it really gives the environment the proper feel. Really beautiful. Abby

through dense fog
the faint lights
of the night train

Katie Steimann (6)

This haiku has such a clear image. I can see the whole world grayed out and fuzzy and these faint lights getting brighter and brighter as the train gets closer and the noise gets louder. I really like how the haiku gets across a sort of surreal feeling, which is often present when you’re surrounded by fog and the whole world is obscured. Nichole

This haiku may be peaceful but it strikes me as somewhat ominous. I can see light beam projected from the train in the dense fog and hear the whistle as it approaches. I feel like the train is a bearer of bad news. Rick

pulling out my pea coat
the third button
still missing

Katie Steimann (4)

The missing button in this haiku is expansive - it represents last winter's problems packed away in the closet. The coat could be a remembrance, bringing back memories of past winters, or how the author always meant to sew on a new button, but never did. This haiku is a great moment, good use of absence. Emily

November morning
anniversary
of father's death

Lea Evers

This haiku was so sad. And it was actually somewhat surprising. After reading “anniversary” I was expecting a happy occasion…not one of death. I love the spacing between the second and third line because it adds some drama to the end of the haiku. I thought this was really powerful! Regan

dust settling
follows me home
down the gravel road

Lea Evers

I live in a rural area where many of the roads are gravel. Sometimes it’s fun to watch the trail of dust form behind you as you drive along. This haiku almost implies that the dust itself is following you home down the gravel road. Rick

doorbell rings
champagne and a movie
in his hands

Lea Evers (2)

I love this haiku because of the contrast between the champagne and the movie. One seems so elegant while the other seems so simple. It changes the whole idea of just watching a movie with someone into more of an event—something more special. This is just such a sweet haiku! Regan