Global Haiku • Fall 2018
Dr. Randy Brooks

Bio: My name is Logan Bader, and I use haiku as an art to recognize the glory of the world and the significant moments around me. I grew up in Southwest Missouri, deep in the Ozarks area. Growing up, I was continuously involved in life on the farm. I have fond memories of working cattle with my dad throughout my entire life, surrounded by the tall trees and the rolling fields of the Ozarks. Life on the farm has taught me one significant lesson over everything—humility. Within my haiku, my objective is to write in a manner that encourage readers to find beauty in the simplicity of life and human interaction. The most beautiful things are usually things that cannot be bought, but experienced in everyday life. Recognition of the things that make life great are ultimately what leads to our passions, and pursuit of those passions.

The Morning Sunrise

by
Logan Bader

Author’s Introduction

Many things in life are not guaranteed. The entire essence of life is that it eventually all comes to an end, and what will matter at the end of the day is how one was able to live their life and make their mark on the world. However, this does not always mean we are ready to live our best lives every single day. Our complacency and struggles gets in the way most of the time. There is distance in our relationships, we want to have days where we do absolutely nothing, we have days of sadness and others filled with joy and hope. With so much variation in our lives, it seems that there is always one thing that we can rely on—that the sun will always be there to wake us up the next day, and push us forward with new hopes and goals.

The goal of my haiku is to allow my readers to understand the significance of their life events, whether these be events from growing up, events during school, or any other simple memory. Not all days will be great, or we may feel like we are getting nowhere in life. But the process of pushing through is what counts the most, and I have found that haiku reflection can be that vessel for finding significance in life moments and falling back on the reasons why we even started chasing after something in the first place. But most importantly, we learn many lessons about ourselves through haiku reflection—lessons of humility, honesty, courage, love, hope, and so many more. At the end of the day, the sun will always rise and shine for us, and send us on our way into another chance to conquer life and live it fully.

Live and love your passions through haiku.

               white cross headstones
young boy asks mom
why tears are in her eyes

yellow street light
homeless man
plays the blues

heavy steps
on a rainy morning
her backpack sags lower than usual

miles apart again—
the phone calls
become less frequent

trash lined alley
the poor man kneels down
to pray

in class notes
his mind wanders
how do you kiss a girl?

backroad bonfire
spitting embers to the sky
moonshine

evening corn field
one set of headlights
disrupts the peace

hospice care      the retired dentist recognizes his old patients

crack of dawn
another cold one
is cracked

billowing tractor fumes
square hay bales beneath us
we go for a cruise

summer solstice
one lonesome frog
calls out to the moon

loneliness—
the widow watches
the gentle snow fall

monkey bars
young laughter carries
for miles and miles

homeless man’s bench
one stranger stops by
just to say hello

dairy farm
the morning sunrise
warms the farmer’s back

work truck
the boy and his pup
peek over the dusty dashboard

deep blue sky
a young calf
is nurtured by its mother

rusty flatbed
poking out of the window
a spotted nose

winter trails
just past the streambed
fox tracks

Thanksgiving morning—
hands interlocked
Grandfather’s blessing