Global Haiku • Spring 2012
Dr. Randy Brooks

Staring Contest

by
Courtney Gallup

Intro: For me, haiku writing is a very personal process. I want every word to mean something, and have value in itself. All of my haiku involve people somehow, either through memories or my imagination. My greatest influence for my haiku is my family, nearly every one of my haiku is written with one of them in mind. Staring Contest was written during my second semester at Millikin, while I was enrolled in Dr. Brooks' course on global haiku. Credit for some haiku in this collection is due to Hailee Peck and Lexie Huston, my haiku partners in crime. Any haiku written with them will have a star (*) on the page. Haiku should be a fun process, to read and to write. I certainly enjoyed writing these haiku, and I hope you enjoy reading them even more.

Courtney Gallup is a freshman accounting major from Gardner, Illinois. In addition to writing haiku, she enjoys playing basketball, baking, watching sports, and spending time with her family. Courtney started writing haiku when she enrolled in Dr. Brooks' course on global haiku traditions.

a purple pencil
leaves a trail of fire
dinosaur*

her collection
of glass eyes
staring contest*

a blue balloon
floats alone
its basket empty*

butterflies in my stomach
just say it already
he loves me too

feet dangle
over the edge
seaweed tangles around my toe

frail hand
diamond ring
hers since seventeen

her dad smiles
a shotgun displayed
over the mantle

almost midnight, playing cards
your dad smiles
and deals one more hand

Easter dinner
we hold hands
under the table

driver's ed
reach for the gear shift
grab instructor's crotch