kick your shoes off
take your seat
not home yet

Shay Buchanan

I want a place to
rest
when my bones ache

Maya Gomez

front door creaks open
a single bark . . . Paws
sliding on hardwood

Nathan Gallop

hermit crab
all of my memories
fit inside a suitcase

Mason Hoyt

kick your shoes off
take your seat
not home yet

hermit crab
all of my memories
fit inside a suitcase

hermit crab
all of my memories
fit inside a suitcase

top quarter champion

TOP half Chamption

euchre tournament
mom’s lit cigarette
chokes my table talk

bottom quarter champion

euchre tournament
mom’s lit cigarette
chokes my table talk

picked up after class
change of clothes in the trunk
grandpa sports all black

euchre tournament
mom’s lit cigarette
chokes my table talk

open door 
open arms 
bag full of clothes

Daniel Clear

picked up after class
change of clothes in the trunk
grandpa sports all black

Priscilla Sabourin

AC-less summer
Dad reminds us
where he grew up

Nico Velazquez

euchre tournament
mom’s lit cigarette
chokes my table talk

Bailey Banks

TOP half champion

euchre tournament
mom’s lit cigarette
chokes my table talk

CHAMPION & GRAND CHAMPION

two strangers swing
in a park they know well
my brother and I

two strangers swing
in a park they know well
my brother and I

BOTTOM half champion

nothing’s changed
the road to home
under construction

Shay Buchanan

home
two turns
passing the strip club

Gabe Henderson

my town’s claim to fame:
The World’s Largest
Corn Maze

Allison Durham

I look out
the edge of town
corn and beans

Gabe Henderson

nothing’s changed
the road to home
under construction

my town’s claim to fame:
The World’s Largest
Corn Maze

nothing’s changed
the road to home
under construction

top quarter champion

BOTTOM half Chamption

two strangers swing
in a park they know well
my brother and I

bottom quarter champion

two strangers swing
in a park they know well
my brother and I

two strangers swing
in a park they know well
my brother and I

introduced to a new man
in high school he was
my girlfriend

city park
the ghost of seventeen
skips to the fountain

Bailey Banks

two strangers swing
in a park they know well
my brother and I

Barrett Van

leftover change 
I remember the face 
of my first crush

Nico Velazquez

introduced to a new man
in high school he was
my girlfriend

Barrett Van

game night
old friends get “reacquainted”
underneath the bleachers

Barrett Van

by the blue locker
I received my first kiss
that was clearly a mistake.

Diana Hernandez

high school homecoming
sweaty teenagers
in a grind pit

Allison Durham

dark gymnasium
retrieving a flower petal
from the wet, sticky floor

Nathan Gallop

game night
old friends get “reacquainted”
underneath the bleachers

dark gymnasium
retrieving a flower petal
from the wet, sticky floor

game night
old friends get “reacquainted”
underneath the bleachers

top quarter champion

TOP half Chamption

game night
old friends get “reacquainted”
underneath the bleachers

bottom quarter champion

parked car couple
making out or selling drugs?
small town charm

ditch the football game
to watch the stars
happy homecoming

parked car couple
making out or selling drugs?
small town charm

ditch the football game
to watch the stars
happy homecoming

Priscilla Sabourin

moonlight over our heads
class of 2020
painted in red on The Rock

Reece Brown

parked car couple
making out or selling drugs?
small town charm

Priscilla Sabourin

sunset slashed 
the powerlines 
over row houses 

Daniel Clear

kick your shoes off
take your seat
not home yet

Shay Buchanan

I want a place to
rest
when my bones ache

Maya Gomez

front door creaks open
a single bark . . . Paws
sliding on hardwood

Nathan Gallop

hermit crab
all of my memories
fit inside a suitcase

Mason Hoyt

open door 
open arms 
bag full of clothes

Daniel Clear

picked up after class
change of clothes in the trunk
grandpa sports all black

Priscilla Sabourin

AC-less summer
Dad reminds us
where he grew up

Nico Velazquez

euchre tournament
mom’s lit cigarette
chokes my table talk

Bailey Banks

When I wrote the first Haiku, I had this idea about having privilege every day without even knowing it. As a kid, you kind of forget how lucky you have it until someone like your parents reminds you of what you have. When I write about my father I tend to put him in a more stoic light as opposed to the warm and welcome feel that I associate with my mom. While I don't intend on this per-say it's mainly due to how my after showed his love to us. He was raised impoverished and worked his whole life to live in a nice house so he can play card games and other activities with his family. That brings me to the second poem. The second one reminds me of my privilege having a family to play games with and generally enjoy each other's company. I can go back to so many nights playing bingo with my family on Christmas or new year's eve and hearing only the sounds of the cards being put on the table. These haiku both make me feel I've under-appreciated the small things in life that may ever be what they once were. Nico Velazquez, Fall 2021

I like these two haiku together because they both draw a picture of two completely separate situations and also contrast parents as well. Additionally, each haiku is very relatable to me. Both of the experiences mentioned are not necessarily positive ones, but they are memories of your parents and their personalities. My father has not done this specific act, but he always is trying to save money and tell us how easy we have it, and all of the grueling things he had to put up with as a child. My mother on the other hand, smokes and also loves to play euchre. She is the one who taught me how to play when I was just 13 years old and I can remember making comments to her that her smoke was blowing in my face in a very annoyed tone. Overall, I think both of these haikus contrast eachother well and I found both of them easy to apply to my life and experiences. Reece Brown, Fall 2021

nothing’s changed
the road to home
under construction

Shay Buchanan

home
two turns
passing the strip club

Gabe Henderson

my town’s claim to fame:
The World’s Largest
Corn Maze

Allison Durham

I look out
the edge of town
corn and beans

Gabe Henderson

I really like this match up because they both are talking about going home and the familiarities of it all. The first haiku is very general and speaks to a lot of people, whereas the second one caters to a more specific group of people. Regardless, both of them have a hint of sarcasm and mention things that are inconvenient to people, but nevertheless they are small details that remind you of home and are specific to you. Reece Brown, Fall 2021

nothing’s changed
the road to home
under construction

Shay Buchanan

two strangers swing
in a park they know well
my brother and I

Barrett Van

two strangers swing
in a park they know well
my brother and I

Barrett Van

introduced to a new man
in high school he was
my girlfriend

Barrett Van

I enjoyed both of these haiku because they capture change in similar yet different ways. There is clear familiarity with both haiku. The author in the first haiku is familiar with the road yet it is constantly changing due to the construction. By the end of the construction, it will have a new appearance and be a distinct road. Similarly, the second haiku encompasses two siblings that know each other but with time and distance grew apart. Changes occur constantly and these haiku show gradual unnoticed changes that eventually become apparent when we take a step back and assess the change. Both of these haiku have a juxtaposition about change. The road under construction is critical to reaching home but while traveling down the road there are obstacles and changes a person may face. The “park they know well” also describes a familiar place with many memories. However, the park isn’t the same as it once was, it probably also went through changes throughout the years. Diana Hernandez, Fall 2021

The juxtaposition in this haiku is fantastic. Nothing’s changed insinuates the lack of progress—of sedentary being. However, under construction means progress—that things are happening and changing. Additionally, the road to home being under construction could be viewed in the metaphorical sense. Perhaps going home is not the happiest thing, that the road to home is hard for the narrator traveling it. Trinity Pesko, Fall 2021

I love this match of haiku because they display both the positive and negative sides of returning home to people you once knew. On the one hand, you can see the beauty and growth of a person learning who they really are and discovering how to be their authentic self, in this case, transitioning. But on the other hand, this pair of haiku demonstrate the pain that can arise from an encounter with someone as you realize you don't know (or maybe even don't like) who they've become. I had a similar experience to this during summer break, when I realized that a lot of my closest friends from high school did not love me the way that I needed to be loved and that I needed to let them go. I felt like a complete stranger to them doing the things that we used to love doing when we were younger and it was so painful, but it was also such a great release from that pain to let them go. I hope I find them again once we have all grown into the people we are meant to be. Daniel Clear, Fall 2021

These two haiku were probably my favorite pairing, and how neat is it that Barrett wrote both of them! I really liked that there is this underlying theme of strangeness in a place that is supposed to be so familiar: home. These people mentioned in the haiku, the speakers brother, and the speaker's ex partner, respectively should be familiar faces, but they aren't anymore. It's not just a loss of connection, it's a loss of identity when someone who used to know all of your intricacies loses that knowledge. You are a different person now, and so are they. Home is never the same in them anymore. Bailey Banks, Fall 2021

city park
the ghost of seventeen
skips to the fountain

Bailey Banks

two strangers swing
in a park they know well
my brother and I

Barrett Van

leftover change 
I remember the face 
of my first crush

Nico Velazquez

introduced to a new man
in high school he was
my girlfriend

Barrett Van

I think these haiku make a wonderful pair. They have a similar nostalgic feel. The two also make a commentary on the loss of childhood and the familiarities of childhood. I really enjoy that these both take place in a park. These could be happening in the same park at the same time. I am not totally sure what the author means in the first haiku by the ghost of seventeen. I imagine it is maybe the last hint of childhood before you legally become an adult. It could be a memory or maybe a birthday is occurring, and the child spirit stays to play in the park. The second haiku comments on coming home from college and realizing how little you know your family anymore. Away from each other, you have greatly changed and no longer even recognize each other at times. The park has stayed the same though. The park in both of these haiku seems to be a constant. I think the phrasing and word choice of these are very interesting. The tone is somber and they are both a little surprising and unsettling whilst being familiar. Everything about these make a very interesting and well-matched pair. Barrett Van, Fall 2021

This was my favorite matchup of haiku, not only because they were so well thought out and beautifully written, but also because they deal with recalling past lives and the changes that have occurred since then. It’s almost a surreal feeling, looking back on the past and remembering the tight bonds and good times that were had, then realizing that growing up means you won’t get another stab at them. As time moves on, we all change, hence the past feeling like a ghost, a memory that refuses to pass on.  With change, we become new, which is why it’s different reconnecting with someone from the past; we remember things that have been changed and experience a practically new person. The similarities of these haiku and their subjects of the change are very insightful and relatable at the same time. They touch on the feelings of being a growing human being, something we all have to go through, and I feel because of this that they are just so important. Gabe Henderson, Fall 2021

Both of these haiku say something about the form of a person left behind in your memory. While, in the first case, it’s merely a memory coming back to you and the person in question may have not changed much at all, in the second case, the old identity you had formed in your mind of that person is gone permanently. It’s hard sometimes to grasp when someone has changed too much while you were away that they are even the same person. Even more so than lost identities, though, these poems talk about lost feelings. Neither one expresses any intimacy or affection for the person in question. It’s either matter-of-fact or possibly for the first, somewhat of an unwanted memory. Shay Buchanan, Fall 2021

game night
old friends get “reacquainted”
underneath the bleachers

Barrett Van

by the blue locker
I received my first kiss
that was clearly a mistake.

Diana Hernandez

high school homecoming
sweaty teenagers
in a grind pit

Allison Durham

dark gymnasium
retrieving a flower petal
from the wet, sticky floor

Nathan Gallop

I really like this pair of haikus because it feels like it could be a before and after. It seems like the first kiss haiku could be during high school, perhaps freshman year. You have no idea what you’re doing or who you are, and you have your first kiss by the lockers. Of course, since it’s your first kiss, it’s terrible and feels like a huge mistake. But then, maybe senior year you realize you still have a flame for your first crush who’s grown up a little bit now. The two of you are old friends from freshman year before you had a super weird kiss, and you realize you both actually still like each other. And maybe you’re finally ready to be with each other now that you’ve grown up a little bit. So, you get “reacquainted” under the bleachers. I think this pair can be interpreted as awkward or dirty, but I kind of see it as a coming-of-age love story. India Guerrero, Fall 2021

I'm sure many people wrote about this pairing, as the one and the one before it stirred up quite the conversation during class. I love these because they are so universally relatable. I feel like nearly every teenager in America has some sort of homecoming experience like these. I loved these haiku, but more than the actual haiku, I loved the reactions that they elicited from the class. I love any work of art that unites people, and we spent an absurd amount of time talking and laughing and sharing stories as a class that related to these haiku. That was such a pure experience and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Priscilla Sabourin Fall 2021

two strangers swing
in a park they know well
my brother and I

Barrett Van

introduced to a new man
in high school he was
my girlfriend

Barrett Van

game night
old friends get “reacquainted”
underneath the bleachers

Barrett Van

parked car couple
making out or selling drugs?
small town charm

Priscilla Sabourin

This was my favorite haiku pairing from our kukai on Thursday. I liked that these are both about reintroducing yourself to a person after they’ve changed dramatically. The first reminds me of how my sister and I interacted when I first came back home from college - we obviously know each other well, but I’ve changed so much that we don’t really know how to talk to each other as much. The second piece is about a much more obvious change, and the subtext in it tells us that they’re happy to see their old friend as themselves now (at least that’s how I read it). This is also a situation I can relate to, and it’s a really surreal experience. Nathan Gallop, Fall 2021

I like this pairing together because they’re both so funny! They both have to do with potential promiscuous activity in public places as well, which is hilarious. They both remind me of the teenage crowd in my small Midwestern hometown. There’s a lake in my hometown where all the teenagers go to partake in certain activities, and it made me think of that. I feel like after the game, you’ll see the parked car couples at the lake. They both evoke a certain side of the homecoming theme very well. Maya Gomez, Fall 2021

ditch the football game
to watch the stars
happy homecoming

Priscilla Sabourin

moonlight over our heads
class of 2020
painted in red on The Rock

Reece Brown

parked car couple
making out or selling drugs?
small town charm

Priscilla Sabourin

sunset slashed 
the powerlines 
over row houses 

Daniel Clear

ditch the football game
to watch the stars
happy homecoming

Priscilla Sabourin

parked car couple
making out or selling drugs?
small town charm

Priscilla Sabourin

hermit crab
all of my memories
fit inside a suitcase

Mason Hoyt

picked up after class
change of clothes in the trunk
grandpa sports all black

Priscilla Sabourin

This happened to be my favorite match throughout the contest, and I love that both haikus ended up being written by the same author. These haikus perfectly capture my small town homecoming memories. I’ve never been super into football, only watching a game if my brother was playing, so I would take ditching the game to spend time with someone I cared about watching stars any day over the Friday Night Lights. On top of that, because of my unwillingness to have any boy I was interested in over at my house combined with the inability to do anything in my hometown, most of my dates in high school took place in a car, either just driving around, jamming out to music, kissing, or getting decently high. Growing up in a small town can be boring from time to time, so you have to find the fun and make long lasting memories with what you’ve got. Allison Durham, Fall 2021

My haiku obviously dealt with cognitive dissonance: the fact that one’s memories and sense of identity can be so vast, seemingly limitless, and yet can be distilled down into a few essential items, is strange and humbling. In a similar vein, Priscilla’s haiku has a sense of dissonance: the clothes the narrator is wearing to this funeral are obviously representative of a much larger and more philosophical concept, and yet they’re just grabbing them from the trunk. There’s definitely something strange that happens in our brains when we are confronted with the difference between our psychological associations and reality. Our brains love to create symbols, to try to complicate things, but at the end of the day, sometimes a dress is just a dress, and sometimes your life just isn’t that complicated. Mason Hoyt, Fall 2021