Global Haiku • Fall 2025 |
|
What Haiku Means To Me by Before I began to write this reflection, I took a deep breath. I felt aware of my body and the space that I am currently in. I felt the soft cushion beneath me and the cool air filling my lungs. I yawned, and I let go of any expectations to write an amazing essay. Instead, I set my intention to begin, and so I did. Haiku reminds me to snap out of my worries and return to the moment that I am in. This is helpful because I cannot live when I am worried about what is to come. Haiku is all about meeting the challenges, joys, and in-betweens of life. Haiku is not trying to change these things. It is merely meeting them, breathing with them, and then allowing them to drift away. That is how thoughts and feelings behave as well. They rush into one’s mind and then they leave. It takes mindfulness to realize what is spinning around in one’s head. Haiku is mindfulness. Mindfulness helps me in my life as well as my career. I am a musical theater major. Auditioning is a large part of what I will pursue after and during college. The biggest lesson I have learned so far is that casting is not about me. This was hard to learn because I like hardwork, and I like to believe that all of my labors have an equal rate of reward. This is not always the case. As an actor, I cannot know what a casting director is looking for. Trying to be anything and everything they could want takes me out of the moment and floods my body with tension. When I am tense and preoccupied, I am not being myself, and that is the most important thing to be in an audition. I want to work with people who want to work with me. I do not want to work with people who want me tense and pre-occupied. I want to be present and relaxed. Therefore, taking a deep breath, acknowledging the people and world around me, and performing according to my own heart is the best way to go. Mindfulness leads to knowing oneself, and knowing oneself leads to being who I am. I could be met with inner tranquility or a thunderstorm. The product is not mine to control, just mine to be with. Haiku is also about connection. Haiku is a brief, three line poem that invites the reader to step inside and make the poem their own. It connects people all over the world without them ever coming face to face. I have chosen to pursue a career in musical theater because it is one of my favorite ways to create connections. Theater is particularly beautiful because it is inherently communal. Many teams, including the actors, lighting, sound, and front of house. etc., come together to create a show which will eventually be shared with an audience. Theater is made by groups of people for groups of people. The whole point of acting is not ego; it is about offering a part of yourself to others so that they may connect it to a part of themselves. Therefore, theater can create bonding, introspective moments in public. Haiku is very similar. In kukai, I connect deeply to haiku that I did not write. Someone else wrote it, but because I connect to it, it is born. It is beautiful to feel connected to another human being and to know that you are sharing the journey of life with others. Haiku has enriched my life by bringing me more ways to connect with myself and the world around me. It has shown me how to connect to myself through mindfulness and focusing on the moment. This helps me in theater by reminding me to be myself during auditions. Haiku has allowed me to connect to others through kukai. The connection found in kukai is mirrored in theater because I connect to an audience like I connect to a haiku writer. We may not know what the other is going through, but because we feel seen in each other’s art, we are connected. Haiku has enriched my life through connection and mindfulness. Amanda Spotts, Fall 2025 |
my oar plunges the dark mirror
I see these haiku as a pair. Both are about self-reflection in nature. I enjoy the peace of a nature walk. I love to breathe fresh air and clear my head with the visuals of trees and ponds. Both haiku involve solitude. Someone may be on the lake with you or along your hike, but they are not with you for this personal journey. The deepest thoughts of your heart. The secrets that are revealed when you are alone and at peace or rather trying to find peace. I like how I personified the nature as well. The pond is doing the rippling and the trees are listening. There is a social aspect in the language that reflects what it's like to be in one’s heart, body, mind, and soul when one is mindful. Maybe they are not all aligned, but these haiku are about soul-searching, in the present tense. Amanda Spotts, Fall 2025 |
hot pink tulle This haiku is about fun. It is homemade glitz and glamour. Homemade is my favorite because it is full of loving intentions, at least in this haiku it is. I wrote about my seventh birthday party, also known as the best birthday party of all time. I was obsessed with runway fashion, so my mom hung streamers between the dining room and the living room and placed my brother's skate ramp underneath it. All of my friends brought a princess dress or borrowed one of mine, and we took turns strutting our stuff for our parents and siblings. Then we ran around in my backyard and played for hours, naturally. When I was a kid, and even now, my parents listened when I loved something. Passions are treated with care and created with what we have around the house. This haiku is full of magic. I am sure everyone got something different from it, but maybe all of the fun, mismatched lines brought a feeling of wonder to each listener. Amanda Spotts, Fall 2025 |
|
sweaty palms This haiku is about recess. I have a distinct picture in my head of my elementary school playground. I like how this haiku puts me in the moment. I can feel the breathlessness of running around for 15 minutes straight. There is so much joyful screaming on a playground. My playground had a lot of different games going on: tag, soccer, four-square…But sometimes it is scary to join one of those games. It is easier for shy kids to select a solitary activity like the swings or the monkey bars. This haiku shows the surprise of someone else joining you to play outside. This haiku can be interpreted in so many different ways, as all good haiku are. I love that I can find so many stories in one haiku. Amanda Spotts, Fall 2025 |
Sunday coffee This haiku is warmth. There is a cat present and a steaming coffee mug on a Sunday. I love the detail of Sunday. I associate Sundays with slow mornings and church with my family. It is a day for rest. The presence of the cat makes the haiku feel personal and cozy as well. Even the sounds of the words “purr” and “brush” sound cozy. The “r” and the “ush” sound like a cat nuzzling someone. We take care of pets, and they simultaneously take care of us. It is a heart-warming thing to be taken care of. To me this haiku encapsulates the warmth of caring for others, and them caring for you in return. Amanda Spotts, Fall 2025 |
the asphalt path I love to move. I love running, dancing, jogging, playing sports, games…the list goes on and on. In short, I love any kind of physical activity, so this haiku makes me happy. I like the way the first line sets the scene, and the following two lines show the action. It provides a gradual lead in, a soft camera focus, to wear the reader is being transported. I like that what the reader imagines might change from the first line to the last. For me, I start by imagining the path. Then I hear puffs of air and the rhythmic padding of my feet. Finally, my imagination takes over, and I can feel the light ache in my lungs and the cool air in my nose. This haiku might feel completely different to someone who does not like running. Maybe the asphalt path is dark, maybe it is sunny. The beauty is that haiku is personalized for the reader, and in that, we can feel known and share a feeling through the page. Amanda Spotts, Fall 2025 |
church softball |
ich leiba dich |
creaking floor boards |
heads swivel |
the yellow boat |
© 2025, Randy Brooks • Millikin University
All rights returned to authors upon publication.