ten-speed bike
without a kickstand
freshly mown lawn

Stark Winter

clouds passing by
a bird and I
stand on the same porch

Binny Tamang

thanksgiving weekend
Taylor Swift
all the way home

Bryn Sentnor

lone bridge
shows me
the way home

Micky McNaughton

clouds passing by
a bird and I
stand on the same porch

lone bridge
shows me
the way home

clouds passing by
a bird and I
stand on the same porch

top quarter champion

TOP half Chamption

clouds passing by
a bird and I
stand on the same porch

bottom quarter champion

autumn afternoon
squirrels chatter with
their mouths full

i stare
at the reflection
a frog jumps on my face

autumn afternoon
squirrels chatter with
their mouths full

i stare
at the reflection
a frog jumps on my face

Binny Tamang

doe’s eyes
hold mine
she continues her meal

Danica Brezovar

the light flutter
of whiskers
in the dusk of night

Emily Kemp

autumn afternoon
squirrels chatter with
their mouths full

Grant Unruh

TOP half champion

clouds passing by
a bird and I
stand on the same porch

CHAMPION
 

storm brewing
in the child’s cup
straw bubbles

storm brewing
in the child’s cup
straw bubbles

BOTTOM half champion

storm brewing
in the child’s cup
straw bubbles

Grant Unruh

dandelion field
at a little girl’s farm
the horses wait

Gwen Klinkey

porch swing
my sister
sits with her book

Maggie Kusar

under warm blankets
smushed together on the couch
our family

Bryn Sentnor

storm brewing
in the child’s cup
straw bubbles

porch swing
my sister
sits with her book

storm brewing
in the child’s cup
straw bubbles

top quarter champion

BOTTOM half champion

storm brewing
in the child’s cup
straw bubbles

bottom quarter champion

green tea
her white sweater
matches the snow

chip
in the glass
proof of love

green tea
her white sweater
matches the snow

favorite cereal bowl
at the front
of my cabinet

Mara Currens

chip
in the glass
proof of love

Danica Brezovar

green tea
her white sweater
matches the snow

Maggie Kusar

hour two in the greenhouse
reading
palms

Mara Currens

click the light
off
bath faucet dripping

Mara Currens

a small waterfall
flowing into
my bathtub

Sadie Scott

she sits
with only the tree
to lean on

Micky McNaughton

honey lamp
the porch aglow
with fireflies

Maggie Kusar

a small waterfall
flowing into
my bathtub

honey lamp
the porch aglow
with fireflies

honey lamp
the porch aglow
with fireflies

top quarter champion

TOP half Chamption

honey lamp
the porch aglow
with fireflies

bottom quarter champion

a single yellow flower
the one no one
picked

outside voices pass
3am chatter
roll over in bed

a single yellow flower
the one no one
picked

outside voices pass
3am chatter
roll over in bed

Grant Unruh

empty barn
the radio
plays on

Gwen Klinkey

dinner for one
the scent permeates
the empty house

Kyle Jordan

a single yellow flower
the one no one
picked

Bryn Sentnor

TOP half champion

honey lamp
the porch aglow
with fireflies

Grand CHAMPION!
 

honey lamp
the porch aglow
with fireflies

lost dog poster
the snow falls
heavier

BOTTOM half champion

multiplayer game
with nobody else . . .
again

Grant Unruh

zoom muted
watching the class
laugh

Mara Currens

grassy graveyard hill
stepping over headstones
no one knows anymore

Mara Currens

gravestone
with a worn away name
a vase of flowers

Stark Winter

zoom muted
watching the class
laugh

gravestone
with a worn away name
a vase of flowers

gravestone
with a worn away name
a vase of flowers

top quarter champion

BOTTOM half champion

lost dog poster
the snow falls
heavier

bottom quarter champion

lost dog poster
the snow falls
heavier

forgotten hammock
swings in the
Winter air

lost dog poster
the snow falls
heavier

the paddleboard
d r i f t s
out onto the lake

Rebecca Murphy

forgotten hammock
swings in the
Winter air

Rebecca Murphy

lost dog poster
the snow falls
heavier

Mara Currens

my biggest black boots
thanksgiving
at grandma’s

Mara Currens

ten-speed bike
without a kickstand
freshly mown lawn

Stark Winter

clouds passing by
a bird and I
stand on the same porch

Binny Tamang

thanksgiving weekend
Taylor Swift
all the way home

Bryn Sentnor

lone bridge
shows me
the way home

Micky McNaughton

i stare
at the reflection
a frog jumps on my face

Binny Tamang

doe’s eyes
hold mine
she continues her meal

Danica Brezovar

the light flutter
of whiskers
in the dusk of night

Emily Kemp

autumn afternoon
squirrels chatter with
their mouths full

Grant Unruh

This matched pair was my favorite because of the playful, lighthearted tone of each haiku and the common subject of animals. I especially love the way that the first one flows. The use of fricatives/continuants gives it this sparkle, but also an air of mystery, and it’s really beautiful. I think it’s funny how the squirrels are sort of anthropomorphized in the second haiku. I feel like squirrels always have something in their cheeks, and the phrase “chatter with their mouths full” makes you think of how in human culture, it’s poor etiquette to talk with your mouth full. However, when this quality is given to squirrels, it simply makes them seem even goofier than they already are, because squirrels are nuts. Bryn Sentnor, Fall 2020

Response: I loved how present these haiku were in nature. The authors definitely practiced stop, look and listen when working with these, and they’re brimming with life and awareness of the environments we live in. I loved how in-tune these were with animals and the minute details we seldom notice or rarely stop to pay attention to, and the word choice flourishes the scenes in just the right way. I love how the first one emphasizes the tiniest of movements at night, while the second calls attention to the actions we see during the daylight hours. I loved the juxtaposition of these two as well, also due to their natures as day/night contrasts. Wonderfully done. Grant

storm brewing
in the child’s cup
straw bubbles

Grant Unruh

dandelion field
at a little girl’s farm
the horses wait

Gwen Klinkey

porch swing
my sister
sits with her book

Maggie Kusar

under warm blankets
smushed together on the couch
our family

Bryn Sentnor

I like this poem because it is unique. I would have never thought to write a haiku about such a specific thing- I wonder where the author got the idea. From real life observations? From memory? On top of the unique idea, I like the unique imagery of the storm brewing. What a creative vantage point. I also think that the haiku as a whole is timed quite well- the flow is effective. Sophia Zinger, Fall 2020

favorite cereal bowl
at the front
of my cabinet

Mara Currens

chip
in the glass
proof of love

Danica Brezovar

green tea
her white sweater
matches the snow

Maggie Kusar

hour two in the greenhouse
reading
palms

Mara Currens

This was my favorite match from Matching Contest 4. Both haiku have almost the same aesthetic of a girl reading an old book with worn pages. In both, I also imagined she was doing bible study. I got this from the green tea and white sweater in the first one, which reminded me of this “Christian girl aesthetic” I see on Pinterest all the time. and the second one, I read the line palms as both palms like she is learning how to read palms with an old book and also as psalms. So, the second one I got an old book vibe from both readings. I really just loved this match with their opposite seasons, but similar overall feeling. Danica Brezovar, Fall 2020

I really like the serenity in both of these. I picture young girls for both of these, mid-adolescence so they are branching away from toys and childish games but they are still looking for fun with “more mature” things like taking tea together and reading tea leaves. I think these are really well matched and I could almost see them as a chronological set. It’s kind of crazy that two people can be on the same wavelength and I think that the brief detail in haiku leaves the reader in a position to connect haiku that may have originated from two completely different situations. I also picture both of these happening in a regency hot house for some reason which I know all about the importance of those from watching the Emma 2020 directors commentary lol. Gwen Klinkey, Fall 2020

forgotten hammock
swings in the
Winter air

Rebecca Murphy

green tea
her white sweater
matches the snow

Maggie Kusar

green tea
her white sweater
matches the snow

Maggie Kusar

porch swing
my sister
sits with her book

Maggie Kusar

These two haiku were the ones I most liked as a match. I imagined a girl in her white sweater gazing through a window, drinking green tea, and watching as the hammock she had gotten used to over the summer was engulfed in snow. She has sheltered for the winter, exchanging her warm sunny days for warm logs, and leaving the remnants of a brighter day for the cold to glaze over. Both of these haiku had such stark imagery, which made it easy as a reader to match them and create a story. Emily Kemp, Fall 2020

I chose this match because of the comforting feeling that both haiku exude. Both include a girl with something to comfort her, either tea or a book. I also like that they both feel like seasonal haiku. Of course the first is Winter and I imagine the second to be in Summer. I like how they oppose each other seasonally but are similar in their tones. I think both are brilliant haiku that are strengthened by the juxtaposition they provide for each other. Rebecca Murphy, Fall 2020

click the light
off
bath faucet dripping

Mara Currens

a small waterfall
flowing into
my bathtub

Sadie Scott

she sits
with only the tree
to lean on

Micky McNaughton

honey lamp
the porch aglow
with fireflies

Maggie Kusar

This match made me think of Hobbiton from the Lord of the Rings. Something about the peaceful, pastoral nature of each haiku made me think of a life led away from the hustle and bustle of it all, with fireflies and goats to keep you company. I enjoyed the first haiku’s sense of wabi, with the author being left with only nature to help them, and the slight tone of sabi in the well-used lamp in the second poem. The two combined paint a picture of someone enjoying a solitary afternoon as the sun sets, then moving to their porch to be with the fireflies. Overall, this match is where I really want to be in ten years. Stark Winter, Fall 2020

outside voices pass
3am chatter
roll over in bed

Grant Unruh

empty barn
the radio
plays on

Gwen Klinkey

dinner for one
the scent permeates
the empty house

Kyle Jordan

a single yellow flower
the one no one
picked

Bryn Sentnor

I really liked this pair and I think they share the same theme of being the only one. Be that for having dinner alone or being something that nobody picked. But looking at it from another perspective, being alone does not always have to imply that one is lonely. It is perfectly acceptable and is normal to want to have time for oneself. It is almost therapeutic since solitude gives one a lot of time to reflect on our inner thought and better understand ourselves. Likewise, no one picking up the flower I think is a good thing because it can pollinate more and be an aesthetic instead of people plucking them and leaving them to wither. That’s why I think both these haiku represent solitary in a good light or at least I see it that way. Binny Tamang, Fall 2020

zoom muted
watching the class
laugh

Mara Currens

gravestone
with a worn away name
a vase of flowers

Stark Winter

gravestone
with a worn away name
a vase of flowers

Stark Winter

lost dog poster
the snow falls
heavier

Mara Currens

I really enjoyed this set of matched haiku. In the first one, I got the feeling of being alone while being “together,” a very common image from the past several months. This person is in a class, watching their fellow students laugh at something that one of them just said, and they’re all in the same moment, but it’s not the same as being in a room with all these people. You feel like you can’t jump in and talk and it’s a very weird dynamic. In the second one, it feels very similar but also different. I see a person in a graveyard, going to visit a loved one’s grave, and they pass by one where they can’t read the name but there’s still a vase of flowers set carefully on the top corner of the headstone. Graves that have been forgotten are a very sad thought, and while this grave is clearly old and the person has been dead for some time, they are still remembered. This is where the poem differs from the first one—there is hope in this poem and less of the sadness of being forgotten. I think that these two match well together because they complete each other—one shows the sadness in the laughter and the other shows the remembrance even in death. Maggie Kusar, Fall 2020

I really like this match. First of all, it is not even a “First round” match, but I really think that they go together really, really, really well - maybe more than others! I feel like in both there is this sense of abandonment, a little bit of sadness, but as well a little bit of warmth, or hope. In the first one, the loneliness is expressed in the form of the worn away name, and the warmth in the vase of flowers. The second one is perhaps a little bit less bright. The sad part of the formula is there without doubt. A lost dog poster, covered in ice and snow, a lot of snow. Now, I would say that there is still a little bit of hope, as the poster is still posted. It's a vague hope and it makes me anxious, but it is there. I like how both poems play with that give and take of emotions, and how they are kind of the opposite in terms of emotional impact. Adrian Sanchez Rodriguez, Fall 2020

multiplayer game
with nobody else . . .
again

Grant Unruh

zoom muted
watching the class
laugh

Mara Currens

grassy graveyard hill
stepping over headstones
no one knows anymore

Mara Currens

gravestone
with a worn away name
a vase of flowers

Stark Winter

Yes, I chose one of my haiku for this matching contest response. And why not? It’s so interesting that we wrote about similar ideas! Their approach, however, is a bittersweet twist at the end with an unknown Samaritan leaving flowers at an old grave. I also love the image of the name being worn away. It’s the same feeling as where mine came from, where through exploration, I found the old headstones covered in grass far from where the prominent graves where. It was near the highway, a chain link fence separating the graves from the asphalt, and if you dug through the grass and tore away new earth, you could read these names. I spent hours going grave to grave, uncovering their headstones and talking to each of them. I’m not sure I believe in the afterlife or in spirits at all, but this person existed. They may as well have never existed afer centuries of time, something we all fear, at least a little bit. To be forgotten is to erase your whole life. I got this from this match. Mara Cullens, Fall 2020

I liked these two paired together because it’s interesting to write about the same place but tell two different stories. The first one is rather sad, talking about being forgotten. The second one is the complete opposite, talking about a gravestone that’s so loved, the name is worn away. Although dead people don’t have feelings, it’s strange how feelings toward them can be so strong. Do they really know if we visit, if we leave flowers, or if we forget? Sadie Scott, Fall 2020

the paddleboard
d r i f t s
out onto the lake

Rebecca Murphy

forgotten hammock
swings in the
Winter air

Rebecca Murphy

lost dog poster
the snow falls
heavier

Mara Currens

my biggest black boots
thanksgiving
at grandma’s

Mara Currens

This haiku is really enjoyable, especially with the approaching holiday. There definitely is a fear or discomfort for many people when it comes to meeting family. At family gatherings, especially if it's been awhile, there’s always this feeling of being judged or watched. It's like being under a microscope. I sort of imagine the grandma in this piece sort of taken aback by the narrator's big black boots. I do think, however, there is something really freeing in this piece too. Like, they knew they would get judged or criticized for it but wore the shoes anyway because it makes them happy. I could be reading too far into this, but I really enjoyed that interpretation. Sydney Griggs, Fall 2020