single mom's Halloween,
with her little
Superman

Grant Dartman

I thought this was the most endearing haiku of the group. Ijust imagine a mom who recently got divorced, and even though she is stillhurting from it, she has her son and that is better than anything else. Itmakes it seem like the little boy is everything to her, and I think that isreally sweet. She obviously loves her son and wants to spend all these momentswith him. Hollie

I think this haiku is absolutely adorable because the first line makes the mom feel very alone, but then you keep reading and you can see that she doesn’t even need a husband. Someone as important as her son can keep her inspired and strong to make her life better, even without a spouse. Becky

This is just so heartwarming. Usually Grant is so dark, but this is one of those moments that makes all of the negative things in life worth it. Yes, she is a single mom, and that’s rough, but she gets to spend this great day with her son, when he gets to be the man of steel for a night. He gets to let his imagination run wild and she can be proud of him just for being him, and proud of herself simply for being a mother. Jackson

This haiku was very unique in the empathy it allowed the reader to feel. Even though I will never be a single mother, I can feel through this shared experience on Halloween. No longer having a lover of her own, she is in love with her child. She finds strength in knowing his love gives her purpose to live and love life. In a sense, the boy enables the mom be a superwoman to raise him to be a superman. Tyler

apple bobbing
a little witch
loses her nose

Jordan Pennington

mysterious clown
her father removes
the mask

Jordan Pennington

middle-aged mother
in suggestive costume
husband’s choice

Jade Anderson

single mom's Halloween,
with her little
Superman

mysterious clown
her father removes
the mask

top quarter champion

single mom's Halloween,
with her little
Superman

top half champion

single mom's Halloween,
with her little
Superman

bottom quarter champion

finally bestowed a knife—
my jack-o-lantern’s
pink-stained mouth

homework in my lap
my Halloween costume—
a student

finally bestowed a knife—
my jack-o-lantern’s
pink-stained mouth

creating costumes
with boos and friends
on Halloween

Hollie Logsdon

homework in my lap
my Halloween costume—
a student

Becky Smith

finally bestowed a knife—
my jack-o-lantern’s
pink-stained mouth

Kylie Cochran

IV drip
a taste of blood
or Hawaiian Punch

Jade Anderson

What I love is the so many different ways that this can be interpreted. One interpretation is that someone wanted to go out and have fun on Halloween, but instead they are stuck inside doing work. On the complete flip side, this person could be a huge slacker who is dressing up as a student on Halloween to act like he or she is a studious person! Grant

I like this haikubecause this was totally me this Halloween. At Halloween in the halls, I wentas a hippie but I was told to put shoes on because it wasn’t accepted bysociety to go barefoot. After this, I took off my hippie garb (because then I justlooked ridiculous) and became a college student, my halloween costume I worefor the rest of the night (catching up on homework). I like the underlyingaurora of it that every college student can relate to, that homework is alwaysthere like a shadow with a deadline. Joseph

I like that both of these make me think of the same pinkish-red color.They’re bloody haiku, but in a tame, pastel sort of way, not blood and gutsy.They’re also very childlike, the first one speaking to a childhood experienceand the second to the wide-eyed sort ofchildlike belief that Hawaiian Punch might actually be blood. Jordan

This haiku perfectly captures all the joy and excitement over small childhood milestones. It’s easy to picture this speaker. Perhaps she has been wanting to carve her own pumpkin for the last few Halloweens, and now she has finally been allowed to. And of course, on her first attempt, she cuts herself and stains the pumpkin. But she doesn’t seem any less proud of herself because of it. Nora

top half champion

single mom's Halloween,
with her little
Superman

champion

single mom's Halloween,
with her little
Superman

bottom half champion

gray cornfield
under the dead stalks
a child’s bones

her hands shiver
as she attempts to sign
“Hello”

Becky Smith

I think this haiku is absolutely adorable because the first line makes the mom feel very alone, but then you keep reading and you can see that she doesn’t even need a husband. Someone as important as her son can keep her inspired and strong to make her life better, even without a spouse. Becky

This haiku made me go “Awww” which means instant winner, at least in my book. I love it. It’s so illustrative, and I love the word “shiver” in it. It has such a beautiful sound and is so…visually stimulating in that it evokes the visualization of an entire scene. I instantly picture the girl outside, wrapped in puffy coat and warm scarf, but no mittens. She’s backdropped by autumn; leaves are falling as she stands on the road amidst faded visages of harried people, trying so hard to communicate with someone who means so much to her. The word “shake” placed there instead just doesn’t do the same thing. Overall, I just love the idea of it. I think it’s fantastic. Ky

squeezing hands
on a midnight walk
through the graveyard

Hollie Logsdon

I love how this pair uses hands and the cold of autumn, but both take these in drastically different directions. I especially love how the hands are personified as the means of wordless communication in both situations, one being with sign language and the other being with the universal language of touch. Both also have a slightly creepy feel, what with the shivering and the graveyard, but underneath this there is an endearing quality of nervousness and youth. Maybe the hands are shivering because of nerves, and maybe the hands are squeezing because of that same excitement of attraction. In short, both haiku are superb. Susie

gray cornfield
under the dead stalks
a child’s bones

Susie Wirthlin

autumn chill
I drive past
my old stalker

Aubrie Cox

her hands shiver
as she attempts to sign
“Hello”

gray cornfield
under the dead stalks
a child’s bones

top quarter champion

gray cornfield
under the dead stalks
a child’s bones

bottom half champion

gray cornfield
under the dead stalks
a child’s bones

bottom quarter champion

off the beaten path,
orange hooded jacket
running for you . . .

off the beaten path,
orange hooded jacket
running for you . . .

with no one around
only one friend
facebook

swivel chair and a dresser
she talks to mother
under the pale moon

Michelle Dixson

off the beaten path,
orange hooded jacket
running for you . . .

Tara Goheen

my footrest;
my only support
on this Saturday night

Alex Kitchens

with no one around
only one friend
facebook

Joseph Sparks

first day teaching—
oh, you haven’t seen
the playground

Jackson Lewis (5)

burning light
she slips off
her ring

Grant Dartman (7)

white feathers
your eyelashes catching
snowflakes

Susie Wirthlin (5)

yellow moon
letting myself reread
her suicide note

Susie Wirthlin (5)

turning in the first tax form
without
my father's stamps

Tyler Lamensky (5)

old family photo
on the back
a name scratched out

Aubrie Cox (12)

I love this haiku. It reminds me of the “black sheep” in families or the ex-spouses that no one likes to remember. The funny thing about it is that you can scratch out their names and faces, but it always comes down to the fact they left a mark on that photo, just as they did your life. Jade

Dad’s old rowboat
sun warmed planks and limbs
bare as the wind

Susie Wirthlin (2)

first name basis
at the emergency vet clinic
he got into the candy bowl
Again.

Nora Kocher (5)

This really makes me miss my dog Lightning. He's about three now, but when we got him at about 3 months old til he was about the age of two, he always got into stuff he wasn't supposed to. One day, I came home with medicine including a brand new pack of birth control. I set it on the kitchen table and left... and when I came back, he had eaten it. That happened three times in a row. I got a new pack b/c of it and it happened again... and again. He was definitely not going to get pregnant anytime soon! Always getting into something.... good thing he never got sick.

the media
fueling our fears
over morning coffee

Tyler Lamensky (8)