Global Haiku • Spring 2021
Dr. Randy Brooks

Love & Exploration

by
Courtney Klein

I started this semester recovering from heartbreak and one of the worst breakups of my life thus far. Learning to write haiku allowed me to explore that hurt, and along the way it became a practice of self love and self exploration. My process of writing haiku is by no means refined. For the most part, I use stream of consciousness to just write and then I sometimes come back to edit later. This collection is not only a reflection of my journey from broken to whole, but a reflection of my rediscovery of myself through seeing the beauty and humor in life as I let go of the past.

crosswalks coming together
neither find the courage
to wave hello

mirror cracked
look close to see
yes still me

winter rain
my mask is frozen
to my hair

schoolyard talk
a crush on a girl
please don’t tell

drafty windows
just another excuse
to stay in bed

the smell of acrylic paint
my anxiety etched out
on another canvas

lavender shampoo
long black hair
clogs the shower drain

eighteenth card
moonlight shining . . .
on the little lobster

another spotify ballad
my lungs inflate . . .
. . . and deflate again

closed eyes
under the fallen star . . .
a little girl again

spring cleaning
finding myself again
in the sunny days

sunny days
little paw prints
up my windshield

forgotten
dirty brushes in
murky water

Funko Pops
lining my bedroom shelves . . .
I will never have enough

wind blown hair
sun kissed cheeks
shakespeare in the barn

stumbling
over the clutter
laundry day

The Wonders

tink tink tink
the button eye—
falls

the stitches glow
under the harvest moon

weaving threads
around me
impossible perfection

an itch
you can’t scratch
deep under the skin

a poison once there
now appears gone

just put
some magic
on it

Courtney Klein & Marissa Garcia