sun between slats
I become
a barn cat

Hailee Peck

I rest my feet
after a long day
the cats join me

Courtney Gerk

sunbathing on the deck
nibbles on my ear
it's the dog

Jessica Claussen

library cat nap
lullaby of the beeps
of checked out books

Wanda June

This was my favorite pair from the matching contest. I really like cats, so I liked both haiku upon reading them initially. At first, I didn't know what exactly the first haiku meant. But after looking at it a while longer, I began to get a picture of someone who is spending time in a quiet barn, at the time of day when the sun is shining through the cracks in the wood. Perhaps they are so familiar with and comfortable in the barn that they maneuver around it as if they own the place, like cats would do. I like the second haiku because it reminds me of my grandma. My grandma is my best friend in the whole world, and can be a rather eccentric lady. She has two cats, and is very fond of her routines; so at certain parts of the day, one can find her sitting in a recliner with one cat on her lap and one cat on the arm of the chair. Kendall

I am a self proclaimed “crazy cat lady,” so this haiku really plays to my interests. I love my cat, and I know that he’ll always listen without judgments, as well as be there for me when I’m upset. I miss him, being here at school without him. I think about when I go home for weekends or breaks, relieved to be away from the stress of school. He always greets me at the door and we have a cuddle moment on the couch. This haiku takes me to those moments that I cherish with my little ball of fur. Lexie

sun between slats
I become
a barn cat

library cat nap
lullaby of the beeps
of checked out books

sun between slats
I become
a barn cat

top quarter champion

TOP half Chamption

my toes peek
from under the blanket
star gazing

bottom quarter champion

my toes peek
from under the blanket
star gazing

my toes peek
from under the blanket
star gazing

examining O'Keefe
we are too immature
for the art museum

my toes peek
from under the blanket
star gazing

Jessica Claussen

watching the awards
from home
stars align

Catherine Hixson

examining O'Keefe
we are too immature
for the art museum

Wanda June

watching them dance
as she sucks her thumb
on the couch

Courtney Gerk

I thought these two haiku matched really well because it demonstrated the double meaning behind the word stars. In the first haiku, the person is star gazing and looking at the actual astral bodies meant by "stars". Then, in the second haiku, the author is watching some sort of awards show from their living room TV. The reference to the word stars could mean like Hollywood stars receiving their awards, or it could mean stars aligning as in it is fate that these people are winning their awards. I think that is really cool. Hailee

TOP half champion

my toes peek
from under the blanket
star gazing

CHAMPION

bombarding
down the path
a butterfly lands

bombarding
down the path
a butterfly lands

BOTTOM half champion

Dick Clark is here
I wish
mom was too

Eric Landgrebe

thanks for the casserole
but my grandma
is still gone

Courtney Gallup

bombarding
down the path
a butterfly lands

Lindsay Quick

Blue Semi truck
with a radio
full of strangers

Kendall Harvey

I like this pair because of the way it discusses death from the perspective of different people. I am the author of the casserole haiku, which is written from a grandchild’s perspective. I like that the top one is from a child’s point of view, making the pair make it seem as if a parent and child are grieving for the same person. It also helps that the person who is gone in both haiku is a woman. This pair makes me think about how my dad and his siblings thought of everything in their minds—on her birthday, Christmas, New Years, etc. Death of a loved one is very difficult to deal with, and it is interesting to me how different people cope in drastically different ways. This matched pair belongs together in my head now, as if they are part of a larger collection. Courtney Gallup

This is my favorite haiku matching pair from the contest. I really liked both of those haiku especially. The bombarding down the path one was super imaginative because I envision a child just running down the path making all kinds of noise and kicking up dirt and just being destructive, then I see a beautiful monarch butterfly landing amidst the entire ruckus. It's just very imaginative and creative and I like how it was paired with the blue semi-truck one. I can see the truck being super loud full of people and they be causing all kinds of ruckus. I loved that they said it was full of strangers and a radio because both of them contribute to the loudness of the semi-truck. I love how both can be envisioned as loud and fun and I think they’re a great pair together. Katie

I really like this pairing because both haiku seem to be very abstract. I really like the multiple meanings and visuals each haiku presents. I love the visual of a bombarding butterfly, and I also love the semi truck's radio filled with strangers. This was my favorite haiku out of all on the sheet. It is very random, yet relatable. You can read it two different ways, but I read it as a truck driver not recognizing anyone on the radio. Being in college, I don't have much time to listen to the radio anymore. When I do get into my car and drive, I never recognize the new songs or artists being played. I like how the author represented that idea with the phrase "radio full of strangers." I think both of these haiku are very well written. Merissa

I like these two haiku because they both have a sense of intense, unstoppable motion in the first two lines. The biggest difference I see, and the main reason I love one more than the other, is the sudden sense of calm that comes with the last line of the first one. It's so playful and serene at the same time. You can see some type of calamity piling through a scene, and when it all passes, a lone butterfly landing on the disaster. The nativity and ignorance of the butterfly is also something that sticks out to me. It's almost funny to think that something extreme and "bombarding" could come through an area, and the butterfly is virtually unaffected. Conner

thanks for the casserole
but my grandma
is still gone

bombarding
down the path
a butterfly lands

bombarding
down the path
a butterfly lands

top quarter champion

BOTTOM half champion

bombarding
down the path
a butterfly lands

bottom quarter champion

bloody elbows
foiled again
by a crab apple

bloody elbows
foiled again
by a crab apple

with every stroke
the paddle feels heavier
blue water swoosh

bloody elbows
foiled again
by a crab apple

Courtney Gallup

building by hand
a new snow fort
becoming tired Eskimos

Merissa Marx

losing interest
father sells
his boat

Kendall Harvey

with every stroke
the paddle feels heavier
blue water swoosh

Sendin Bajric

cradled by the moon
I forget
my insecurities

Megan Vail

First off, the phrase "cradled by the moon" is really interesting. It packs so much meaning in just a few words. I read this haiku as a person who during the night time can just let go off everything and by okay with the way they are. I think that it is very symbolic to have the nighttime show up in this haiku because the darkness acts as a kind of shield or covering of what really lies beneath. Also, since nighttime is when most people sleep, I think of a person who can only let go off everything when they fall asleep and go off into another dream world. The word cradled also makes me think of going to sleep and being nurtured. During the daylight, you might have to put on a brave face and act like nothing is wrong. You might be feeling bad about yourself, but as the moon rises, you can just let go an escape to a new place. Lindsay

I really liked this pair because of the moon references and the comfort found in the night time. Ever since I've been a teenager, I've been a night person, so I've been more comfortable with myself and others at night. These haiku really capture how I generally feel at night. Great match! Adam

When you're alone with yourself, you're free to think as you want to think. You're liberated, and it's the time when you can reflect on what's happened and can make your decisions. When you're alone with the moon, you're each solitary figures, and it's like you can have a heart to heart with yourself, and with the moon, because the moon never judges. The second haiku is a feeling of relief as well. Once thrown into a dark and unclear place, your eyes begin to adjust and once they do, there's clarity and safety. The danger fades and you can feel the peace of awareness. When you learn what's there, you can start to feel safe, and familiar with what you can now see. This is a great transitory haiku. It's like when you get to know a new person. First you're in the dark, then once you get to know them you become familiar and at peace. Eric

people say
they see you . . .
in me

Stefanie Davis

I really liked the image of a relationship in this haiku. I imagined a younger girl who is about twenty. She is at a family party and her mom has recently passed away and her family members always tell her they see her mother in her. I imagine the daughter feels proud and sad at the same time. She is proud she can carry on some of her mother's traits, but sad because her mother isn't there anymore. I love how this haiku gives me this clear image even though it is not specific at all. The way it flows and the way the words work together makes this haiku so successful. Jessica

I think a lot of people can relate to this haiku. Many of us look like either are Mom or Dad. Some people might grow tired of hearing that they are the spitting image of their father or others might not like looking like their parents. However, when I read this haiku, I hear a tone of pride. The author takes it as a compliment when people tell him that he looks like his parent. It is so simple and that is where I hear the pleasant tone coming from. Courtney Gerk

I really like this haiku. It has a lot of personal meaning to me. In high school, my mother was always the stud athlete. She played almost every sport. I did the same thing. She broke a lot of records. So did I. People tell me all of the time that I am exactly like her even thought we look nothing alike. Most people wouldn't like this. I, on the other had, really like it. I love my mother. She is one of my top 3 favorite people on this earth. She is exactly who I strive to be like. I love that people see her in me. Moli

panic stricken
swollen belly
dream . . . or reality?

Stefanie Davis

I really appreciate this matched pair. I think they complement each other very nicely. They are both related to children, genetics, or birth, and they take a much more cynical view of two occurrences that should be joyful. The first haiku is dealing more with being a child of someone, a daughter or a son, which should make a person happy. Everyone needs the love of a parent, and the innocence of being the child in a parent-child relationship should be freeing. This haiku, though, makes it seem like the child is a little bitter about not being thought of as an individual. Rather, they are thought of as the son or daughter of someone else. The second haiku looks at having a baby or just being pregnant, which is often portrayed as an extreme joy, in a negative light as well. The woman, whoever she is, doesn't know if she is really pregnant. Perhaps it was just a dream. Perhaps there wasn't even a chance of her being pregnant, but just the idea frightens her. Catherine

cradled by the moon
I forget
my insecurities

people say
they see you . . .
in me

cradled by the moon
I forget
my insecurities

top quarter champion

BONUS ROUNDS Chamption

cradled by the moon
I forget
my insecurities

bottom quarter champion

quiet night
her voice
on repeat

quiet night
her voice
on repeat

holding hands
through the park
vibrant green

quiet night
her voice
on repeat

Adam Blakey

I picked this pair as my favorite pair because I think that both haiku are very well-developed haiku. The pair contain this voice of a woman talking to the author, and both, together, evoke this sort of softness in her voice. The first haiku makes the setting a "quiet night", so her voice is faint. The second haiku has jazz chords played in the background, producing this sort of sound-beauty in the air, and her voice is "begs" his attention. My interpretation is that the author can barely find a difference between the two sounds he is hearing, so that means that her voice blends with the jazz chords, meaning her voice contains almost the same beauty. Sendin

her voice
begs my attention
jazz chords

Conner Kerrigan

As I mentioned in class, this was one of my favorite haiku from the matching contest because of the longing that you can feel when reading it. Jazz is such an emotional form of music to begin with and in the haiku it seems as if he is not concerned with listening to the words of the song but instead he is focused on the mere sound of her voice. It seems to draw him in--simply put, it's seductive. Elise

This pair describes my sleeping habits lately. Within the past week, I have had trouble sleeping, and the only way that I am able to settle down enough to sleep is to listen to a smooth jazz station on pandora.com and drinking yogi bedtime tea. After I have relaxed, I turn on a specific guided meditation video on YouTube and the next thing I know I am waking up to my alarm. Hopefully this ritual will get me through finals week and won't quite working before then. Megan

morning after
still sleeping
she grasps his hand

Elise Scannell

holding hands
through the park
vibrant green

Conner Kerrigan