Haiku Kukai 01 Favorites
Global Haiku • Millikin University • Fall 2023
1 older brother Melis Barutcu I had a visceral reaction reading this the first time. I grew up with an older brother, four years older, who didn’t just say “shotgun” and call dibs, but would purposefully yell “first one there gets front seat!” and take off running because he knew he would always beat me. Even if I did beat him, he was very quick to bulldoze me out of the way. And that was the norm, oldest kid takes front seat. And I like that the last line is just “growing up” because I distinctly remember feeling as a kid that no matter how old I grew, I was still going to be the youngest child. Rachel Nott, Fall 2024 This one is interesting to me because although I don’t have an older brother, I do have two older sisters. Both of my sisters have moved out and live on their own now, but every one in a while when we’re all back together and traveling in the car we sit in the same seats we did growing up. I’m in the back if all 3 of us are there, and I’m in the seat behind the driver if it’s just one of them. This mostly reminds me of spring break and other road trips we would take as a family. Matt Kordesh, Fall 2024 |
2 open classroom window Melis Barutcu (6) When I read this haiku, I was immediately taken to the top floors of Shilling when the windows are cracked open. It’s usually hot in Shilling, so having the window cracked is a way to try and get some breeze and airflow in the room. However, it just makes everyone want to be outside instead of inside. I can hear birds chirping and the sound of lawnmowers, the remaining sounds of summer. This haiku captures the first couple weeks of school perfectly. Charley Condill, Fall 2024 I really like this haiku because when I first read it, I felt like I was in the very situation it was describing. Sitting inside in a classroom on a beautiful day like today is nearly painful, especially since I know cold weather is coming soon. As I read this poem I could hear the sounds of rustling leaves in the summer breeze and birds chirping. The word “remaining” fits really well in this haiku. It makes me feel a sort of urgency, like only so much of summer is remaining. Caroline Arnold, Fall 2024 |
3 a pink sky Katelyn Wendt I particularly enjoy this haiku because it brings me back to when I was a young kid, roaming the streets playing games and horsing around with the neighbors. When the streetlights came on though, that was the signal that it was time to go home as it was getting dark. If I had stayed out past the streetlights turning on, either my mom or dad would come down the street looking for me, and either grounding me (if it was dad) or inviting me to supper (if it was mom) and looking back now those were some of the most enjoyable times of my early childhood. Charlie Armstrong, Fall 2024 |
4 criss-cross applesauce Katelyn Wendt |
5 pool cover |
6 in the minivan Melis Barutcu I grew up going to the beach in Florida with my parents and grandparents once or twice a year for my entire life. We always would get a condo right by the beach so the walk back with the salt water and sand on my skin with a fresh tan can make anyone happy. Now that I’m older my grandparents have purchased a condo further away from the beach. Having saltwater on your skin on the drive back is now something that I have grown to hate. It’s crazy how my thoughts about something I used to love so much have changed over the years. Gracie Shaffer, Fall 2024 |
7 back porch talk Charlie Armstrong This haiku reminded me of talking with my mom. Anytime we’re together we always end up getting into some sort of deep topic of conversation, and I absorb everything she tells me. Within these conversations, my mom always knows more than me of course, and by the end she always reveals how she even knows more about my own character than I do. Even when I don’t see myself in a good light, she always has a way of convincing me that I am smarter and stronger than I think. Bella Palermo, Fall 2024 This haiku made me think about the deep talks I have with my mom. I thought about all of the times she has been a shoulder to cry on and also my biggest cheerleader. I know I can go to her for all my problems, and she will understand. The more I grow up, the more I realize that me and my mom are very similar. She knows me very well, as well as she knows herself, because we are so much alike. Lily Moore, Fall 2024 |
8 taco truck lunch Charlie Armstrong When I read this haiku, I think of two blue-collar workers getting lunch on a hot summer day. They had been working the same job for a few weeks and saw each other daily. But they had never acknowledged each other because they speak different languages. However, on this day, a much-needed lunch caused them to sit next to each other and just enjoy the presence one another. Dayton Lasack, Fall 2024 |
9 a new life |
10 hello my friend |
11 a hot dog Bella Palermo |
12 matted hair brush Bella Palermo (4) This haiku reminds me a lot of the phrase “to be loved is to be changed.” Upon reading the first line, I immediately imagined my own, matted purple hairbrush that I keep on my desk. It’s almost always full of hair, and many of the bristles are either missing or pointing every which way. I love that hairbrush. It might not be in pristine condition anymore, but it’s served me well. I also think that the amount of wear it shows reflects how loved it is. It doesn’t just sit somewhere collecting dust. Someone else also brought up the point that it could mean that the love in this haiku is self-love/not forgetting to take care of yourself. Both interpretations make me smile and feel the love that can come from even the simplest of actions. Natalie Mase, Fall 2024 This haiku made me think about all the times, I've doubted that I have been loved. It was a tough period in my life but got better as I recognized the small things. Just like the brush, even if it's not used everyday it still has a very prominent role in your life. As soon as it's gone you have nothing to do your hair with. I've experienced the same thing. I lost my brush one time and couldn't go anywhere because my hair was a mess, in return I felt like a mess. This haiku reminds me that love doesn't take one shape and can be expressed in infinite ways. Maliyah Battle, Fall 2024 I enjoyed this haiku because it reminded me of more than a hairbrush. It reminded me of a childhood stuffed animal I got when I was little, and I took it everywhere with me so you can imagine the gross and filthy things on it. But as I grew older, I still liked having this stuffed animal in my bed and I still have it here at college. It reminded me of this because even though the fur is matted and gone in some places, it still is just brand new to me. It says that just because something is worn down or worn out, it has just been loved a lot, and not given away as soon as it looks bad. Abby Wilken, Fall 2024 |
13 dew on the grass Caroline Arnold (3) |
14 four new walls Rachel Nott (5) This haiku is relatable to almost all of us moving into college. We are met with four new walls, whether that’s referring to our dorm room, our apartment, or our new classrooms. It can also more broadly refer to the new environment we’re in. Everyone faces that initial adjustment period going from home to this new place that you’ll live in for 9 months. The second two lines tug at my heartstrings. I can imagine how difficult it must be to send the person you’ve been raising for their whole life all to a new place without you. Home isn’t too far for me, and I’m lucky to see my parents often, but it is still a huge change. Melis Barutcu, Fall 2024 I imagine moving into my dorm last year, my first time leaving my parents. There were four blank new walls that I could decorate by choice. The first line represents our independence. My mom and dad both helped me move in. I picture my dad carrying in countless loads of all my stuff, while my mom tried to organize it all. I feel the awkwardness of your parents leaving, not knowing how to say goodbye to people you have always came home to. My mom always cries, and my dad tells me he is proud of me. The goodbyes always end with hugs, until the next time we both are free. Charley Condill, Fall 2024 It feels like yesterday that I first moved away to school, and this haiku definitely applied to my experience. I was not entirely thrilled to move away from home, and moving from living on a farm to living in an urban area was an adjustment. My parents are very empathetic, and they were no stranger to the fact that I did not want to leave. Saying goodbye was difficult for both myself and my parents, but I settled into my “four new walls” as mentioned in this haiku, and found my home away from home. It gets less difficult to tell my parents goodbye as I return back to school, but it is never truly easy. Caroline Arnold, Fall 202 |
15 crickets chirp Rachel Nott |
16 step off the dock Rachel Nott (3) |
17 ready or not Caroline Arnold (5) I liked how relatable this haiku was. Every year, I feel as if I’m never truly ready to say goodbye to summer and start classes again. I think the phrases “ready or not” and “muscle memory” both effectively sum up this feeling. Even if I don’t feel ready, at some point the summer will end and I will have to go to class. When this time comes, it really does feel as if muscle memory kicks in as I reenter the role of a student. Katelyn Wendt, Fall 2024 This was my favorite haiku from the day. It made me feel the way I do when it’s the night before the first day of school. I realize that I didn’t get all my supplies and that I’m not really prepared, but I must go to school the next day no matter what. I imagine the nerves that we all feel on the first day, but then we relax once we get the syllabi; it’s muscle memory. This is my 14th year of school, so I love how it ends with ‘muscle memory’ because it truly is at this point. We have been going to school for so long that it feels like the same thing repeatedly, yet we still aren’t ready for it on the first day. Charley Condill, Fall 2024 |
18 birds singing |
19 a fish out of water Abby Wilken (5) I like this one because I’m 100% interpreting this in the wrong way. I know this is supposed to be a metaphor, but when I think of a wandering fish out of water, all I can think of is a Doctor Seuss red fish character that walks on its two fins. The haiku is a little bit sad, too, so it might be carrying a stick with a bag on the end of it carrying all of its clothes and belongings. Matt Kordesh, Fall 2024 This one is very easy to picture for me. I picture the fish from the Lorax when the guy starts cutting down the trees. It also gives a feeling of being lost. The words “fish out of water” and “wandering” let you know that it's kind of a sad, lonely search for belonging or a place to be. Izzy Jones, Fall 2024 I liked this haiku a lot because it really illustrates the never-ending struggle of life. I like the imagery of the fish out of water. They don't move well, they have no clue what to do, and they are just trying to get somewhere. Most of the time they don't even know where the somewhere is, but they still yearn to get there. This haiku compares us to that fish, just getting through life by any means necessary, hoping to find what they call home. Dayton Lasack, Fall 2024 |
20 people talking |
21 crowded street |
22 leaving again |
23 crisp morning air Charley Condill I liked this haiku because it made me think of going up all of the stairs in Shilling early in the morning for class. The number of times I have dreaded walking up the stairs to class because I was too tired. I like how this haiku rhymed and was also fun to read. Lily Moore, Fall 2024
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24 seagulls on the beach Charley Condill (12) I like comparison being made, it’s kind of silly to compare seagulls flying in circles for food and kids going nuts in a candy store. Both are eyeing treasures, and it’s a cute comparison to be made. The first sentence definitely sends me to a warm, sunny day. For some reason, I picture a pier at the beach and not just a beach. I specifically can see a wooden boardwalk with storefronts lined up and benches by the railing, and everywhere you look there are huddles of seagulls waiting for someone to drop a snack. This sort of helps tie in the second sentence since there are often candy stores at these boardwalks, but I doubt a boardwalk would be the first thing I think of by just reading “kids in a candy store.” “eyeing treasures” gives the whole haiku a sense of adventure and whimsy that I really enjoy. Rachel Nott, Fall 2024 I really liked this haiku due to the comparison of children and seagulls. When reading it first, you think that it's just noting the surrounding until you realize it's about the similarities between the two groups. Although they are of different species, they both give the same reaction to something they find to be treasure. When seagulls see food on the beach they'll crowd around and caw loudly, and when children see a candy store, they'll gawk and ask to go in. Although their actions may be inherently different, they aim for the same goal of achieving the treasure. Maliyah Battle, Fall 2024 I really like the comparison in this. Seagulls want any and all food at the beach, and a kid in a candy store wants everything they see. It is like the best thing ever, “Can I have this… ooh can I have this?” To a little kid candy is one of the biggest rewards. It is something so special. This poem makes a very strong comparison and image of treasure. Izzy Jones, Fall 2024 This haiku takes me to someplace like Myrtle Beach. A bunch of colorful tourist shops lining a beach on a hot summer day. A group of young children wishing for nothing more than to get a taste of whatever candy they have displayed within the candy shop. I really like how the candy is referred to as "treasure" in the third line. It feels fitting for there to be treasures at the beach. It also shows how the value of a "treasure" is all held within the eyes of the beholder. What is seen as nothing but a gross sweet to an adult could be all a small child wants. Dayton Lasack, Fall 2024 On the beach. It’s a sunny day and there's a sharp contrast between the yellow sand and the blue sea and sky. Seagulls are gathering around someone’s abandoned lunch. Dan Mungons, Fall 2024 This made me think about summers that I spent at the lakehouse in Michigan when I was a kid. There were a few candy stores downtown that always looked so magical. I would get so excited when I was allowed to pick out some candies. The same way that I would get excited for candy, I imagine the seagulls feeling the same way when someone tosses them a piece of food on the beach. I imagined someone tossing a cracker and then a swarm of seagulls immediately diving for it. Ava Zukowski, Fall 2024 |
25 summer heat |
26 snowflakes Ava Zukowski (2) I really love the imagery of this haiku. I think that snow is most beautiful at night. It sparkles in a different way, and I like to imagine Christmas lights reflecting on the snow. I also love the idea that the person in this haiku has been outside stargazing for so long that their cheeks are freezing and frosted over, but they don’t care because of how beautiful it is outside. Melis Barutcu, Fall 2024 |
27 I learn to speak Ava Zukowski (4) I think this haiku is brilliant in the fact that it highlights just how fast school flies by. One minute, you’re learning the basics, like how to speak correctly and read and write. Then, you have middle school and high school where you’re constantly being shuffled to different classrooms by the sound of a bell ringing. And the next minute, they’re calling your name and you’re walking across the graduation stage to get your diploma and shake hands with people you’ve never met. I also love how they used “the bell rings” in the middle and not any other facet of schooling, because a bell ringing is a transition between classes. It sort of helps connect the other two ideas, like the bell wakes you up and makes you realize how much time has passed. Definitely brings back memories of my graduation. Rachel Nott, Fall 2024 |
28 squeeze my sisters |
29 sun behind the houses |
30 talking all night Izzy Jones This made me think of the night me and my father drove up from Florida to move me back into college up here at Millikin. We started at 5 p.m. and we drove well until 2 a.m. before our first stop. We had great conversations, from my future to his plans for his business, to even music taste (something we never really talk about). My dad is often a closed door emotionally, but the fact that it was just us two for 18 hours most likely got him to open up, and I felt like I had a deeper connection to my father after that. Charlie Armstrong, Fall 2024 |
31 as nighttime falls Gracie Shaffer |
32 new haircut Matt Kordesh This haiku made me laugh. It was super straight forward and blunt. I think everyone has had a bad haircut where you think to yourself “it just needs a few days to grow out” because the trim you asked for was definitely not a trim. I like how silly and playful it is. There is nothing serious about this haiku, it’s just an image of a bad haircut. Lily Moore, Fall 2024 |
33 fingers dance on keys Natalie Mase (6) This brings back the feeling of getting my apartment keys for the first time and hearing them jingle in my hands. Walking back to the apartment for the first time your feet are walking quickly to see your new place. I have been longing for this sense of freedom to have a place to stay other than a dorm room or my parent’s house; this new feeling of independence. Gracie Shaffer, Fall 2024 I imagined a young child, around elementary school age, who truly enjoys learning to play the piano. I imagine this feeling of joy they get when they play the piano never leaves them. Even as they have grown into an adult and stopped playing the piano, as soon as they begin to play again they are brought back to that feeling of joy. I imagine that all forms of music fascinate this person and make them want to move around, but nothing compares to playing the piano for them. Bella Palermo, Fall 2024 I really enjoyed this poem because it placed me into the moment. I could see my fingers quickly tapping at a keyboard and my feet bouncing on the floor beneath me, desperate to move around. As someone who has a hard time focusing in on projects, I understand what it is like to have all that energy pent up and it escapes in other ways. I like the personification your feet really do take on a life of their own, moving how they please and carrying themselves to new places. Aubrey Diedrich, Fall 2024 |
34 our shoulders bump passing by Aubrey Diedrich This haiku was interesting to me because it reminds me of a slow-motion moment in a movie. It makes me think of a nerdy girl who is walking in the hallway and sees her jock crush walking through the hall. She accidentally bumps shoulders with him and her papers fly everywhere. Their eyes lock for an instant from her point of view and it's in slow motion. But the moment only lasts a second before he walks away, and she is left to pick up papers in the hallway alone. Abby Wilken, Fall 2024 |
35 my name announced Aubrey Diedrich For me, this just brings back the feeling of walking across the stage to get my high school diploma but the feeling that I will have in just two short years when I get my bachelor’s degree. Finally having the degree in my hand that I have worked so hard for is meaningful, just knowing that it determines the rest of my life. Gracie Shaffer, Fall 2024 While many may refer to this haiku to their high school graduation, this makes me think of my future graduation from Millikin University. The day I cross the stage earning my bachelor’s degree in biology Pre-Professional, I will likely know what medical school I will be attending. I can only imagine the anticipation of that moment, not knowing the future, but having the means and plans to execute and make a name for myself in the big world. Charlie Armstrong, Fall 2024
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36 swan song Natalie Mase (3) If there was one group of things I could remove from this earth with no consequences it would be bugs. Although, I would be a hypocrite. Summer is one of my favorite seasons, and partly because of the sounds. The sounds of cicadas have always been a background noise to summer for me. Going out and sitting down just to enjoy the warm weather and taking time to relax and listen to the cicadas sing about. This haiku reminds me of the times where you know fall is coming because they begin to quiet down. Although cicadas themselves are ugly and disgusting, for me, like the haiku, can compare their voice to a swan. Maliyah Battle, Fall 2024 |
37 stiff fingers |
38 scorching pavement Maliyah Battle (7) This haiku immediately brought me back to summer. My mom and I love to go on walks together- whether that be around the neighborhood, at the park, or somewhere on vacation. Sometimes other family members will join us, but it’s usually just the two of us. I immediately felt the heat while reading the first line and imagined the feeling of being slightly sweaty that usually starts about halfway through the walk. My mom and I usually power through as much as we can, but we have a few stops we’ve built into our route for especially hot days. I can imagine one specific patch of trees near the park a few blocks away from my house, and I see the patterns their leafy shadows leave on the ground. It doesn’t keep us completely cool, but it’s a very pretty spot to at least catch our breaths. Natalie Mase, Fall 2024 |
39 time running out |
40 voices silenced Dayton Lasack I really like the wording in this haiku. It makes me think of a very specific sunset I was lucky enough to experience this summer on vacation in Alaska. This sunset took place around 11pm, since we were close to the north pole, and nearing the summer solstice of 24 hour daylight. It was so beautiful we were stunned into silence. The sun and clouds were demanding our gaze, similar to this haiku. It is so moving to me that something so routine like the sun setting and rising can be so breath-taking. The sun is obviously not asking us directly to be silent and gaze upon it, but we do anyway because of the beauty. Caroline Arnold, Fall 2024 |
41 the quad grass Lily Moore |
42 in my childhood bed Lily Moore (8) This haiku hit very close to home for me. I immediately imagined myself in my bed at home, surrounded by pink walls and my Harry Potter bed sheets. I still have a few stuffed animals on the bed too. Some things have changed since I was a little girl, but the feeling of comfort and home remains constant. It feels the same, but I am different (or at least older). This haiku really evokes the feeling of sudden realization for me because it can be so easy to feel like a kid again until boom– you look in the mirror and see your more grown up features. I feel nostalgic for my childhood and suddenly self-aware. Natalie Mase, Fall 2024 I think this haiku creatively represents how weird it can feel to transition from being a teenager to a young adult. As you start to develop more and more adult responsibilities, it can be strange to have some new freedoms that come with being an adult while still relying on your parents for certain needs. Even though you might still be under your parent’s roof and sleeping in your childhood room, it feels as if you are starting to outgrow it. Katelyn Wendt, Fall 2024 This was probably my favorite haiku from the collection. It is very relatable. I really don’t feel as old as I am. The other day it just hit me for the first time that I am in college. I remember waking up in my bed at home for the last time this summer and it kind of didn’t feel real. This poem highlights that feeling very clearly. Izzy Jones, Fall 2024 This haiku really resonated with me as it encapsulates the college experience. Every year I go away from my home and live somewhere new. I look forward to visiting home where I feel the familiarity of my past, but somehow it doesn’t ever feel the same way as it did before going to college. My bed is no longer my bed, but my childhood bed. I am just visiting, not living there. The idea of the mirror is a very interesting concept. The bedroom in the background remains the same throughout the years. A bedroom only has life in it until someone walks inside. The mirror is the real truth. It reveals how the bedroom remains constant, but the person that occupies it is forever changing and getting older. It is extremely bittersweet to think about. Ava Zukowski, Fall 2024 This poem really caught my attention because it sets the scene in a childhood bedroom, full of nostalgia and memories from the past. You are surrounded by things you loved as a child and it transports you back to a younger version of yourself. So of course it is jarring to look up and not see the sweet child who curated and lived in that room. You are instead looking at a version of yourself, older and distant from those things in the room that brought you joy. There is a new “maturity,” but really you lost part of yourself— the you that loved whimsy and fun. Aubrey Diedrich, Fall 2024 |
43 rays of sunlight shine |
44 you are home |
45 birthday cheer Charlie Armstrong |
46 lead foot |
47 classes begin Dan Mungons (3) I love the unique comparison of classes beginning and driving while tired or asleep. I find it really creative, and pretty accurate. Sometimes we aren’t ready for summer to be over and for classes to start. We aren’t ready for the responsibility and the schedule that it entails. When you’re driving on the highway, there is a lot you should be paying attention to. If you’re drifting off, it can be very dangerous. I like how the author posed the idea of not being present and aware of everything going on at the beginning of classes in comparison to that. Melis Barutcu, Fall 2024 I don’t take this one to be 100% literal. When I think of this haiku, I imagine my own drive to school from my house. I live about 3 hours away, and whenever I decide to visit home, I’ll often leave early in the morning rather than driving back at night so that I could sleep an extra night in my bed. The drive is pretty memorable, as there’s a specific sort of brightness to the sky in the early morning, and the air feels different, too. There’s a windy section between highways on more country roads during my drive that is especially memorable, and although this one is about a highway, I think about the country roads I drive on when I commute to school in the morning. Matt Kordesh, Fall 2024 |
48 bright summer morning Melis Barutcu (5) This haiku was one of my favorites for a few reasons. I loved how it instantly took me back to when I was on summer break as a kid. I always loved the feeling of waking up in the morning, hearing all the summer noises, and drifting back to sleep because I didn’t have to go to school. I also think that the phrase “lawnmower lullaby” is really interesting. Even though the words seem contradictory, I think it perfectly sums up how peaceful that distant hum felt for me as a little kid. Katelyn Wendt, Fall 2024 You wake up on a lazy summer day. The sun is coming in through the blinds. It’s already past when you would normally go to school, but you don’t have to worry about that. With the sound of a distant lawn mower in your ears you drift off to sleep again. Dan Mungons, Fall 2024 I imagined myself at my house. I always sleep with my windows open when it's warm enough because the outside noises always help put me to sleep. I picture myself sleeping in to where I wake up naturally, no need for an alarm, since I don’t have to be awake so early over summer break. I picture my dad outside mowing the lawn as he always does. The sun is peeking in through my window and cascades over my bed. The lull of the mower fades in the distance and I fall asleep again. Ava Zukowski, Fall 2024 |
49 morphing colors Bella Palermo I immediately felt connected to this poem, though I am not sure if my interpretation was the intention of the author. I am a person who really enjoys the color green and almost always has something green on. Lots of days, my whole outfit is spattered with green, down to the forest green converse on my feet. So I pictured myself, busy as always, running about from place to place, errand to errand, and being spotted by someone else. Maybe not even someone that knows me, but just someone that recognizes me and associates me with the color green. It just feels so silly and fun to think about. Aubrey Diedrich, Fall 2024 |
50 summer bonfire |
51 neck and neck Katelyn Wendt This haiku painted an image in my head, so I liked it a lot. It made me think of my student section at a football game in high school. It makes me think of a chilly breeze under stadium lights in October. The neck and neck makes me think that the game is super close and that’s why the seats are empty because the whole student section is on their feet and waiting to cheer. Abby Wilken, Fall 2024
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52 woman in a steel box Dan Mungons |
53 packing the car |
54 matching lunch boxes Melis Barutcu When I read this haiku I was immediately taken back to being a young girl constantly comparing herself to the kids around her. I always felt like I never had the right backpack or I never had the right snacks in my lunch and everyone else had better or cooler snacks. Looking back, those snacks that I thought were so much cooler were probably terrible for a child based on nutrition, but I didn’t know that. I remember always feeling insecure about something. Maybe it was my shoes or my winter jacket, there was always something I seemed to be doing “wrong”. It wasn’t until my upper years of high school that I was kind of freed from that burden, even if I don’t quite understand why. Bella Palermo, Fall 2024 |
© 2024, Randy Brooks • Millikin University
All rights returned to authors upon publication.