Haiku Kukai 2
Global Haiku • Millikin University • November 2014
lights strung Jacqueline L. Davis (5) This just makes me think of this time of year! I love Christmas lights, tree, just the entire magical meaning of the season! This haiku sums up the preparedness for the holiday. I picture a family getting together, as mine does, and getting lights and tree up and decorated and once this is done we are ready! Dana This haiku from Kukai Number Two reminds me of Christmas, my favorite time of the year. My |
Shannon Lucas (6) |
snow and ice Kristina Swaggerty (4) |
thunder clapping |
bikini Melissa McFadden My first job, I was a lifeguard at Fairview pool I drove past the bikini tree everyday during the summer. I would see people there all the time. My group of friends and myself have visited the tree before. It was just cool that they painted a bikini on a tree. Karianne This image is of the tree in Fairview Park. This tree is always painted like a bikini in different patterns and colors. This tree has been there as long as I can remember. I have not driven by this tree in a very long time. I can remember when it was painted like the song a yellow polka dot bikini. Someone puts a lot of time into this every year. A memory that I will always have. I think anybody who has lived in Decatur most of their lives knows exactly where this tree is. Jacqueline L. Davis |
white out Andee Cavanaugh (10) This makes me bring back memories of when i went to school at Murray State. It was a 4 hour drive. There were times I would drive to Carbondale and take the train to Mattoon so I didn't have to drive. One weekend home I took the train. On Sunday when I arrived in Carbondale to my car it was buried deep in the snow. I had to dig myself out. Once I was on the interstate the weather was horrible. I was going 10 mph. I wasn't sure if i was going to make it back to Murray. I thought I was going to have to pull over and stay in a hotel. I was scared. My heart was beating fast. I don't like driving on ice and snow. Katie |
made of snow Dana George (12) I chose this poem because it brings back memories from my childhood and watching our nephew play in the snow during the winter. I remember building snowmen and forts while growing up in my parent's yard and see our nephew having the same type of activities and enjoyment. When I read this, I imagine a young child building snowmen and making snow angels in their parents' yard, all while still enjoying just being a child. Brian This brings back childhood memories of building a snowman with my family. We would rap a scarf around the snowman. We would also use buttons for eyes and a carrot nose. Tatum |
moving day Paul L. Mercer (6) |
the storm Melissa McFadden (5) |
Saturday morning snow |
two chirps |
fresh logs |
chiming bell Brian Johnson (5) This haiku is compelling. It sets of sensory memories of the hustle and bustle of Christmas in and out of stores like Walmart. It makes me remember the evenings after work rushing into the stores, the people entering and exiting, the slushy snow on the ground—all this from a chiming bell! The man standing alone with his bucket represents an important aspect of the holiday—giving to those in need. Danette I tried to write a haiku on this, but couldn't seem to get it right. I am very passionate about The Salvation Army because of the many blessing they have given to me and my family, throughout so many struggles in our lives. Without them my life would have been more difficult. So I know when I do drop money into the bucket, it is actually doing something positive to someone in time of need. Crissy |
firewood burning |
up into the clouds Dana George (4) I like this one because it can be for the Christmas season. I can just see this child dressed in his pajamas, looking out a frosty window with his little hand clasped together. It's as if he is praying and hoping with all his will for the letter to get to Santa. It's just this one thing that he just has to have that he may have forgotten to mention before. Kristina |
looking hard Crissey Lennon (4) |
ballerina silhouette |
first big snowfall |
as barrels burn Youlanda Johnson (7) This haiku is very meaningful. I think the reason that I like it so much is because it has multiple meanings. At the coat drives that we have here in our local area they use barrels to collect the coats and then get them cleaned to give to people that don't have winter coats. I am blessed to have coats for me and for my son. Often times though there are lots of people that don't have them and are cold in the winter time. Barrels burn can also stand for a fire that people are standing around to get warm before they get there winter coat. Most of the people that don't have coats also don't have a warm bed to lie down in at night. We are blessed. Kristen |
through every storm |
Thanksgiving day |
snow day Sam Reisman (5) I think this one is kind of two fold. There are tons and tons of parents who dread snow days because that means their work day is disrupted, or they have to scramble to find a babysitter or face having to not work that day. For me, snow days are the worst because my sleep schedule is disrupted. And literally I think oh great what the heck am I going to do now. Amanda |
bad magic act Paul L. Mercer (5) I like this one because it makes me think of a bad magician. He attempts a trick to make something vanish and instead the crowd starts to leave since he is doing a bad job. It's a funny haiku which is why I like it. I have seen some good magicians and I have seen some really bad ones and if it was bad enough I would probably leave too just like the audience did. This haiku is very easy to see which is also what makes it so enjoyable. I also really like the placement of vanishes on its own line because it adds that sort of suspense to what is the audience going to do. Sam |
spring cleaning Sam Reisman (7) This one is fun. It reminds me when you are cleaning and you find something you lost or forgot to turn in for the school and you laugh but feel silly about it. I am sure at the time when you needed it you were stressed and upset then when you are spring cleaning it is all worry free at that point about it. Melissa |
endless late night conversations Kamie Danyale (3) |
He is the potter Kamie Danyale (5) I just completed a ceramics class where I meticulously crafted, by hand, several pottery pieces. The same amount of care and attention was invested into each piece but no two were alike. Each vessel was uniquely created with a special purpose in mind. And so it is with God in his relationship with humanity. He loves us all immeasurably and created us with a specific purpose that can only be fully known through an intimate relationship with him. As we place our trust in him, he begins to shape and mold us. Though not always pleasant, he scrubs, polishes, sands, and makes smooth the rough spots in our lives. Nothing can compare to being in the hands of the Most High growing in stature and in wisdom. Jeremiah 29:11 promises that He knows the plans he has for all of us. Plans to prosper and not harm, plans to bring a hope and a future. All from the hand of the Potter. Shannon |
card night for the grown ups |
the last railcar Paul L. Mercer (10) This haiku is what is means to live in the Midwest. Trains are a daily occurrence to us. I am sitting at a train, 20 minutes have already passed by. I spot the last railcar and as I look around, I can tell that everyone else has seen it as well because everyone begins to adjust their seats back and put their cars in drive. We are ready for the moment where we can continue on with our day when all of the sudden… The last car on the train stops, in the middle of the crossing . . . There are looks of annoyance everywhere you look. Andee |
dad shines his boots Paul L. Mercer (6) |
on her sickbed Danette Beach My grandmother had lung and brain cancer. At the very end of her life she would talk about people that had already passed being in the room with us. Once, my aunt had left the room and my grandma asked me where her mother had gone (she had been dead for many years). I said "Aunt Dawn?" and she replied "no, my mother". It was a pretty strange feeling I had but how insistent she was that her mom had been in that room with us. Amber |
hospital restroom— Danette Beach (10) This haiku hits home for me because my granny has been experiencing ambiguous health issues this past year. At the end of September, 2014 she suffered from a heart attack and didn't know it. Doctors were giving her a high percentage to undergo a heartcathe. My family was there and we all kept by her side in shifts to talk and reminisce with her before the following morning we weren't sure if she would live through the procedure. This was terrifying, heartbreaking and one of the hardest things I have witnessed. I remember we didn't sleep a wink. We cuddled up with one another in a family waiting room and talked about the past with one another the entire night into the early morning. We prayed and prayed and held strong for my granny. Needless to say, she is one of the strongest hard headed southern women that I know and she pulled through successfully through the procedure. For that I am thankful! So, when I read this haiku it took me right back to that waiting room praying for a miracle. Veronica My grandma just had open heart surgery so this Haiku really hit close to home for me. I prayed in every corner of that hospital. From the parking lot to the waiting room to the recovery room. I have never felt such a need for god to answer my prayers as I did that day. Cristi |
the mantis |
© 2014, Randy Brooks • Millikin University
All rights returned to authors upon publication.