Crystal Lutz

PACE Global Haiku • January 2006
Dr. Randy Brooks

Crystal Lutz

A Simple Life:
Selected Haiku

by
Crystal Lutz

Haiku is the perfect poem, in my opinion. It is short and to the point. Haiku can put you in a season and setting, reliving an experience or imagining one, in typically three lines or less. I was surprised at how reading a haiku can spark emotions. I like that haiku can take an experience as simple as selecting an outfit for that day and make it special (Rotella). I have found writing haiku is much more difficult than it looks.

I like the Japanese tradition of the seasonal element in haiku. The seasonal element allows the author to place the reader in a particular setting, enabling them to receive the exact feeling the author is trying to portray.

I chose the title “A Simple Life”, because most of my haiku are my personal experiences. I think my best haiku are the ones that I have experienced; and because of that, most of my haiku are ninjo. I do prefer the ninjo haiku because I like the emotion that comes with it. As much as I prefer the ninjo haiku, I do also like the ninjo-nashi and it’s appreciation for nature.

I have enjoyed learning about haiku and trying to write it. I think it is something I will continue to do; however, I won’t quit my day job just yet.

a warm spring day
my sons and I talk
as we walk to the park

thunderstorms
outside and inside
as he tries to explain

we sneak to the creek
our bathing suits hidden
underneath our clothes

forbidden hill
covered with powdery snow
we laugh the whole way

Christmas eve
the snow falls
for Santa's sleigh

folded in a drawer
last gift from my father
a tattered sweatshirt

car radio static
my small son asks
how he gets to heaven

cool November morning
the phone rings and I know
she is gone

late summer rain
dances on the window . . .
one last push

the child fights
to keep his eyes open
New Year’s Eve

bunny ears crossed
then pulled through . . .
I did it mommy!

first day of t-ball
aLL the children
run for the ball

rainy autumn night
I pretend not to hear
mommy and daddy argue

two children
stick out their tongues
first snow

after months of trying
the blue line appears
Good Friday

A First Outing

his old summer love
sharing with his son
a perfect day for baseball

the crowd stands
for the National Anthem

the child signals
for some peanuts and
keeps his father laughing

five trips to the bathroom
it’s the sixth inning

Redbird visits
and souvenirs bought
seventh inning stretch

on dad’s shoulders
the home team wins!

Crystal & Jerry Lutz

breezy Jamaican day
only him and me
I do

© 2006, Randy Brooks • Millikin University
All rights returned to authors upon publication.