PACE Global Haiku • Fall 2006 Dr. Randy Brooks

Goli Rahimi

An Evening For Last Year by Goli Rahimi When I registered for this class, it was listed as “Writing Roundtable” so I just assumed we’d be writing short stories, poems, or prose. You could imagine my slight surprise when we were handed small orange books by Japanese authors reading Zen Art and Haiku: A Poet’s Guide. My previous haiku training had only encompassed the 5-7-5 rule, and from the first day I knew I needed this class. Being a writer, there’s always something new to learn, no matter how many classes or how much experience you have. The haiku is a genre that I knew the least about, and realized I am the most curious about. I remember the first day of class, when Dr. Brooks asked us why we were taking the class, and I replied: “Because I don’t know a thing about haiku and I think it’s about time I should.” This compilation represents my growth as a writer, specifically my growth as a haiku poet. There is no central topic, but rather a multitude of descriptions pertaining to the simplicity of life on the surface and the intricacy that lies below.

my father              broke his fishing rod

honeymoon suite— she forgot her ring in the nightstand drawer

mother’s wallpaper hangs weeping behind the crib

mysterious waves the lost dragon groans from beneath

early winter cracked flesh along the old man’s bare hands

Christmas morning— it takes me hours to unwrap it

© 2006, Randy Brooks • Millikin University
All rights returned to authors upon publication.