Global Haiku • January 2026
Dr. Randy Brooks

Stillness & Motion

by
Benjamin Howey

I am drawn to a lot of moments that are quiet, awkward, or easily overlooked. Much of my approach to writing haiku comes from paying attention to pauses- breaths between actions, stillness after movement, or just the subtle emotions in an ordinary situation. Rather than searching for things that are dramatic, I try to notice what lingers

phone lights my face blue 
3 am and no messages 
still scrolling away 

streetlight flickers off 
morning pretends 
nothing changed 

quiet snowfall 
the streetlight groans 
above me 

winter parking lot 
one shopping cart drifting 
without direction 

warm classroom air 
the empty desk 
no one mentions 

campus as dusk
one squirrel on the path
stops and watches me

ghosted again
guess I will marry
my Playstation