Every artist has a medium. Some are painters, some are singers, some are photographers. We have dancers, poets, sculptures- a indescribable number of ways to express what we are feeling.
For the longest time, I always assumed my most skilled form as an artist was writing. As a child, I always had little stories floating through my head. I was selected twice to compete in the Illinois Young Authors (a competition for elementary-junior high writers to display their writing). I can't even count the number of binders and notebooks, pages filled with my stories, that are in my house. All through my public school journey, short story writing was my escape.
Then, my sophomore year at Millikin, I took a class on the Japanese tradition of Haiku. My class was taught by Dr. Randy Brooks, a known writer and publisher of Haiku. Dr. Brooks challenged every idea I had possessed about the genre. In a semester, I found my world completely engulfed by this new art form. I was scribbling haiku on the corners of my chemistry notes. I made a list of haiku on my phone's note taking app. Everywhere and everything became inspiration.
Today, I would like to share with you fifteen favorites from my original haiku.
1. Galaxies
Skin to skin-
leaving little galaxies
on you
2. Sad Ghost
lonely ghost
searches for purpose
my heart, I surrender
3. Strangers
tender smile
"I have loved you before."
Yuanfen
4. Signals
Reading your text
At the stop light
Mixed Signals
5. Breath of You
I tasted you
And I craved more
Secondhand Smoke
6. Fixing Me
New me
Kintsugi
7. Wishing and Wandering
1:23 AM
Wandering thoughts
Will I ever be yours?
8. The Sky is on Fire
lips to lips
my night sky
filled with stars
9. My Worst Nightmare
He pushes me away,
"I could never love you."
I wake up.
10. Trance
crystal blue eyes
I forget what
I was saying
11. Torture
I think about my fingers
Running along your bare skin
Cruelty
12. Candle in the Wind
How long
Will this candle burn?
Curiosity
13. Glimpses
Holding my close
I see ten years ahead
Little blonde curls
14. Odd Man Out
In a strange place
The black sheep
Searches for a home
15. What am I?
Do you want me, alone?
Or just when you are lonely?
Shoganai
For more of my original haiku, check out my haiku blog.
