wind blowing
musical lyrics flowing
a runners high

Alysa Doneske

eye of the tiger
blasting headphones
motivation to move faster

Dan Dolphin

windows down
country music
volume on ten

Raisa Zamacona

my friend
in the passenger seat
bet you can’t get over 90

Dan Dolphin

eye of the tiger
blasting headphones
motivation to move faster

my friend
in the passenger seat
bet you can’t get over 90

my friend
in the passenger seat
bet you can’t get over 90

top quarter champion

TOP half Chamption

she walks her dog
dog stops
to be in the moment

bottom quarter champion

she walks her dog
dog stops
to be in the moment

she walks her dog
dog stops
to be in the moment

rugged bark
grasping for breath
a long drink of water

small and squishy
two ears flopping
a corgi walking

Raisa Zamacona

she walks her dog
dog stops
to be in the moment

Dan Dolphin

rugged bark
grasping for breath
a long drink of water

Emily Boes

one step two step three step
up the stairs
in a lunge

Dan Dolphin

TOP half champion

she walks her dog
dog stops
to be in the moment

CHAMPION

endless water
strong winds fill our sails
rocking us to sleep

endless water
strong winds fill our sails
rocking us to sleep

BOTTOM half champion

on the elliptical:
a glimpse in the mirror
Am I doing this right?

Raisa Zamacona

running the track
one step at a time
I hope I don’t fall

Raisa Zamacona

endless water
strong winds fill our sails
rocking us to sleep

Emily Boes

standing by the ocean
so calm
waves capsize the surfer

Dan Dolphin

on the elliptical:
a glimpse in the mirror
Am I doing this right?

endless water
strong winds fill our sails
rocking us to sleep

endless water
strong winds fill our sails
rocking us to sleep

top quarter champion

BOTTOM half champion

endless water
strong winds fill our sails
rocking us to sleep

bottom quarter champion

heel pressed against my thigh
bend to my outstretched foot—
crack

yoga mat slam
inhale . . . exhale . . .
tree pose

heel pressed against my thigh
bend to my outstretched foot—
crack

yoga mat slam
inhale . . . exhale . . .
tree pose

Alysa Doneske

yoga class
focus on your breathing
this hurts really bad

Raisa Zamacona

heel pressed against my thigh
bend to my outstretched foot—
crack

Emily Boes

Chaturanga Dandasana
abs on fire
plank position

Dan Dolphin

wind blowing
musical lyrics flowing
a runners high

Alysa Doneske

eye of the tiger
blasting headphones
motivation to move faster

Dan Dolphin

windows down
country music
volume on ten

Raisa Zamacona

my friend
in the passenger seat
bet you can’t get over 90

Dan Dolphin

small and squishy
two ears flopping
a corgi walking

Raisa Zamacona

she walks her dog
dog stops
to be in the moment

Dan Dolphin

rugged bark
grasping for breath
a long drink of water

Emily Boes

one step two step three step
up the stairs
in a lunge

Dan Dolphin

After comparing these two haiku, I think that the second would “win” over the first. This is because I think the second one has a lot more meaning to it and it includes more in depth reasoning. For example, usually when people go for a walk sometimes they like to stop and take everything in and enjoy the moment that are in. People basically like to live in the moment. But while this girl is taking her dog for a walk they are both walking but she seem preoccupied while the dog stops and takes it all in and has his sense of being in the moment. The first one is more of describing a certain kind of dog walking but not in the sense of how the dog actually feels or what they are trying to accomplish on the walk. Alysa Doneske, June 2019

Both poems are about dogs, but one describes the dog externally and the other describes him internally. The first poem paints you the picture of what the dog looks like. You can see his squishy face, floppy ears and the best descriptive word used is “corgi”. The author gave us the dogs breed so that we can have an accurate picture in our heads. We can see what she wanted us to see. The second poem is letting us know what the dog is doing.  Something made him stop to “be in the moment”. Maybe he was checking out another dog or admiring a fire hydrant but that is left up to the readers imagination. We don’t know much about the dog other than he is on a walk. The reader also gets to pick the dogs breed, maybe putting themselves in the position of the dog’s owner. They can picture themselves going on a walk with their dogs, and their dogs stopping abruptly for what may even be no reason at all. Dan Dolphin, June 2019

on the elliptical:
a glimpse in the mirror
Am I doing this right?

Raisa Zamacona

running the track
one step at a time
I hope I don’t fall

Raisa Zamacona

endless water
strong winds fill our sails
rocking us to sleep

Emily Boes

standing by the ocean
so calm
waves capsize the surfer

Dan Dolphin

yoga mat slam
inhale . . . exhale . . .
tree pose

Alysa Doneske

yoga class
focus on your breathing
this hurts really bad

Raisa Zamacona

heel pressed against my thigh
bend to my outstretched foot—
crack

Emily Boes

Chaturanga Dandasana
abs on fire
plank position

Dan Dolphin

eye of the tiger
blasting headphones
motivation to move faster

Dan Dolphin

my friend
in the passenger seat
bet you can’t get over 90

Dan Dolphin

running the track
one step at a time
I hope I don’t fall

Raisa Zamacona

my friend
in the passenger seat
bet you can’t get over 90

Dan Dolphin

I really liked the match between these two because of the different sources of motivation for speed. In the first one, the song Eye of the Tiger is a motivator for the runner to speed up, working themselves for the sake of improving their time and health. Eye of the Tiger is not a particularly fast song, so the lyrics of the song revolving around the last known survivor stalking his prey in the night and all that is a perfect motivator for someone hoping to win a marathon or be better than they were. The fact that the song is blasting, also, motivates the runner because they get lost in the music and their actions. The outside world suddenly stops existing when they play this song, giving them the motivation to keep moving. The second one, however, features an external motivator: the friend. This friend motivates the driver to go faster than they are in the car, but not for the sake of self-improvement. The motivation comes from pure fun, and a desire for speed with minimal regard to consequence. The prospect of a car accident does not occur to either of them, resulting in that need for speed the two of them share and embrace. This external motivation is done for nothing but a good time, and the internal motivation inspires self-improvement, which is a statement regarding how others want you to behave compared to how you should behave on your own. It’s important to constantly be after your own best interest (though not at the expense of others), and not everyone around you agrees with that sentiment. This does not make them bad people, however, since the second poem does specify it’s a friend you’re riding with. Emily Boes, June 2019

I chose these two haiku because I think they are in a way related. For the first one I am picturing a girl who wakes up very early a summer morning to run so that it isn’t too hot but the temperature at 6am is still unbearable. She has already run at least three miles and her legs are going to give up on her, but she needs to finish that fourth one. She knows that if she falls, she will get hurt so she needs to push herself. The second haiku I am picturing two friends who are driving down a road and they are joking around. One of them tells the other one “what are the odds you go over 90”… she cannot say no so even though she knows it is dangerous she still has to do it but she has to be careful because if something was to happen, the ending wouldn’t be pretty. Comparing both haikus, the ending to both can either be pretty or not and it all depends on the runner and the driver. Raisa Zamacona, June 2019