PACE Global Haiku • January 2008 Dr. Randy Brooks

Andrea Earnest

Selected Haiku by Andrea Earnest I can’t say that I have an exact technique when writing haiku. I mostly write about life, family, love, and the people and things that truly special to me. I usually first start out by taking a special time in my life and then breaking it down into that one moment that meant the most to me. I would explain that one moment in time as being the climax. Then I start writing how I felt during that moment and what others felt as well. Then I begin to pick out important words in my writing and start jotting them out. After I have done all of that I begin to place my words carefully, trying to make the reader aware of where my moment is taking place and then I let them put themselves there. Since haiku isn’t about telling people how to read your words or how to feel about your own writings, I know that the less I say about a particular subject the better the feeling the reading will be able to put into place. I grew up in central Illinois in a rather small town. But, now I reside in a mid-sized town around the same part of Illinois. Most of my Haiku is written about my husband, immediate family, and about my love for children. My life is pretty much an open book to those around me. I feel that sometimes my haiku can come out that way as well: trembling down the aisle smells of sweet pea fill the church or family on either side can’t believe his words “Will you marry me?” I have had a love for taking care of children ever since my Sophomore year in high school when my mother had my baby sister. I have been attending college for 4 years now to get my teaching certificate in Early Childhood Education so I can either become a school-aged teacher or a preschool teacher. Right now I am providing care in the infant and toddler classroom in a local daycare: from across the room the baby smiles when he comes into sight

Love Lives Here sand all around me growing weary watching the sunset as time goes by mysteriously I catch her glance as she passes by sweaty hands pounding heart love leaving many trails in the sand lasts forever with no end by Scott and Andrea Bierman

walking… to the nearest palm tree where the sand isn’t quite so hot

a crop field’s moon around the corn I roam night in full bloom

© 2008, Randy Brooks • Millikin University
All rights returned to authors upon publication.