Haiku Roundtable • Fall 2010
Dr. Randy Brooks

Out of the Box

by
Jordan Pennington

This collection includes some of my first experiences with writing haiku as part of Dr. Randy Brooks' course, Haiku Writing Roundtable. Most have surfaced in class in some way or have been shared with Dr. Brooks. However, some are completely fresh. They are not grouped in any apparent way—old is blended with new and my favorites are blended with . . . my other favorites. They are typically best read aloud, talking slight pauses at commas and larger pauses at dashes at the end of the first line. Enjoy!

P.S. My chapbook was literarlly made "out of the box" my textbooks came in this semester. You may not think that is funny, but I do.

in the half-light
she twirls the stem
of a dried-out rose

she pokes a finger
through the hole
in my sweater

casting stones
into a stagnant pool
alone together

zen garden
brush aside
dead cigarettes

lazy afternoon—
our shadow puppets
dance on the wall

bakery worker
eyes also
glazed over

remembering
summer afternoons
at the old bridge

she drags along
the old warty pumpkin
whining to mother

a little witch
loses her nose
apple bobbing

public library—
he peers through shelves
at a potential friend

wordlessly
she hands him
the pills

Christmas surprise—
out of a box,
a small cat.