canoe on my back
feet stuck in mud
one mile to go

Mark Beanblossom (5)

I liked this haiku because it embodies the absolute sense of desperation many people encounter when they are away from the comforts of home. As an experienced hiker and backpacker, I find situations like this inevitable. --Rick

There are great visuals coming from this haiku. I can see the carrier of the canoe as she tromps her way through the mud of the river bed. This is a great example of the power of the human will to overcome even the toughest of physical obstacles and make it “back to camp.” —Raquel

in the darkness
his smile
I feel ALIVE

standing in the rain
my keys
right where I left them

Rick Bearce

I really enjoy this haiku, because I imagine someone looking all over in panic, there is anxiety, and then they find their keys in their pocket, where they left them. I recently lost my keys and ran all over campus then I went back to the classroom I had been in that morning and found them in the seat in front of me. It wore me out and I was so worried and there they were, where I dropped them. —Carrie

I gather them all
the orange leaves turn
into bag-shaped pumpkins

in search of a compass
from the attic
baby pictures of Mamaw

one by one
the chosen ones are crowned
who will be next

silent pavilion
as kids we smoked
in the darkness

brisk wind
flicking my cigar butt
into the night

Rick Bearce

There's always something about a cigar isn't there? Of course they give you mouth cancer, and a host of other problems besides, but there's always something about them. I think the careless sexuality associated with them, and then the casual flick off of the butt into the night is what draws me the most to this haiku. —Deirdre

sparkle of the moon
illuminates
each cemetery stone

looking up the cliff
last swimmer jumps
naked

Mark Beanblossom (5)

the coldest wind
twelve steps
seem like an eternity

clapping of the thunderstorm
show stopper
in the dark

new report card
watching Mom’s face see
my sneaky smirk

the train whistle
outside my dorm window
takes me home

Mark Beanblossom (3)

fingers interlocked
silence is broken
snoring

Carrie Seymour

I like this haiku because I have been known to do this at times, which really irritates my girlfriend. . --Rick

an empty play ground
no one to be seen at last a child appears--
still only one

the lake below
morning mist
gliding in

Ali Scott (2)

Sense of place, sense of moment, sense of suchness. A great Zen haiku; this one jumped at me when I first pulled up the webpage. I get an automatic visual of this scene - a mountain lake (to me) - as well. —Brock Peoples

peanut butter lid
on the counter--
no longer newlyweds

Joanne Weise (4)

I really like this haiku, because now everything is comfortable and settled. The newlyweds no longer are keeping their house picture perfect and go back their normal lives of mundane things, such as a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. The honeymoon is over, but their lives together are just beginning. —Carrie

I like this haiku because it basically pokes fun at how marriage is excellent at the beginning and how all the dinners are great but after a while, someone will eventually have to make their own dinner.—Anthony

open window
our conversation waits
for the passing train

Rick Bearce (7)

This one defines my memories of Millikin. Nice "surprise" haiku as well... —Brock Peoples

in the backseat
he turns to look
but does he see me?

Maroon 5
on the jukebox—
everyone moans

Josh Wild (3)

I really like this haiku. It reminds of school dances and no matter what the DJ played someone did not like the piece selected. —Alicia K.

Oh Maroon 5, you pop soul bastards! —Deirdre

the empty swings
the bare playground
summer comes to the end

country music concert
my view obstructed
by a huge mullet

Rick Bearce (4)

last friday class
a few days
past mom's birthday

under blue neon light
the dead fly
praying

Josh Wild (3)

It's hard to look at a fly with such an examining eye, but this haiku does just that. I love the way it speaks of the fly as praying; I don't know how many countless times I've seen a fly on me, rubbing his legs together as if it's excited about something. This haiku captures that same image, only the movement has stopped, and now the fly is in its eternal resting place. It almost makes me forget that they only live for a couple of weeks. Nicely done. --Joanne

This haiku seems very “other-worldly” to me. The haiku zeroes in on the very apparent eeriness about the blue neon light and the dead fly. I like this haiku because there is all of this eeriness and death, and then the last line hits us with something so gentle and pure: praying. Even in this large and cold picture, there is something ethereal about the fly’s minute body in lasting prayer. —Raquel

a pit stop
halfway across Death Valley:
imprints on leather seats

dark bar
the recovering alcoholic
drinks water

brisk October day
trying hard not to stare
at her nipples

beneath the sheet
my stomach jumps
as he pulls me closer

the waxing moon
in the dancing lake
silver reflections

a calm moment
among friends
dancing candles

my only reminder
of him
a folded flag

Ali Scott (4)

I think this haiku is really relevant right now, especially with the war going on. I can see a woman standing in her living room, looking at this folded flag framed on her wall. I also get the sense she looks at it a lot, and remembers. --Mark

blowing out candles
while friends and family sing
. . . just a dream

shifting in bed
the pillow
burning with your heat

cold muggy wind
           #54
alumni and parents stand proud

a fight breaks out
at the Winery
coasters flying in the dark

Josh Wild

after the heart attack
my fingers
strangers to me

pausing for breath
in the angry argument
a dial tone ... ... ...

Raquel Burns (3)

mountain trail
in the distance, a Boy Scout
watering a rock

Rick Bearce (2)

nightly bathroom break
he left
the seat up

clean commode,
a lovingly cooked supper:
ah, to be back home

his poor legs
can’t keep up
after the Jello shots

Carrie Seymour (2)

This haiku is very comical to me. I don’t drink, but this one girl in my dorm always comes in drunk and the last time I saw her she could barley walk. Although it is quite sad, this haiku describes her exactly. —Alicia K.

I like this haiku because I can actually relate to it and know people who have had similiar experiences. I never had my legs give out on me but came pretty close lol. —Anthony

over the creek
testing each stepping stone
... woops!

Raquel Burns (3)

This one made me laugh. It reminds me of walking across the Mississippi last summer (at Lake Itasca, it's only twenty feet across ;-) ) and miss-judging more than a few steps. —Brock Peoples

eyes closed—
i feel her heartbeat
through her stomach

the fly won't land
i think he knows
my intentions

Josh Wild (4)

Where I worked this summer, when things got boring, I would kill flies. This makes me think of this, as well as the frustration of waiting for the stupid things to land. That was the hardest part of the job. --Mark

doing my homework
from my window
decorations

windows rolled down
on the Mountain Parkway
the air has changed

100th S. Parnell St.
the years that passed
in Chicago

high school reunion
another old girlfriend
with a new last name

Josh Wild (4)

I really like this haiku. It reminds me of all the haiku shows on TV, when the cast boast about who they have married and what they have accomplished. —Alicia K.

This haiku reminds of things I'd rather not be reminded of. I think the worse thing about breaking up with someone, is not that you actually break up (let's face it, that's often the best thing) it's that you continue on in your life, things change for you, and except for that small divergence years past, that person means almost nothing now. The problem is, that when you run into that person again and you find that they have continued to live and change just as you have. It's slightly depressing that their life hadn't stopped changing right when you cut them off in your own memory. —Deirdre

Having just gone home for a friend's wedding a few weekends ago, I've been thinking about this sort of thing a lot lately. I'm just shocked to see how many people that I knew four years ago who have already tied the knot - and it reminds me of how unready for that leap I am. More power to them for their happiness, though it's still strange trying to call someone you've known for years by a different name. --Joanne

graduation day
a lap for every year
memories

Raquel Burns

high school hallway
empty after the reunion
silent, heavy now