Alexa Beacham
"At first, when I came to this workshop, I didn't even know what a haiku was. Just that it was a type of poetry and that this was the only time I had available between other activities. In these few weeks, I learned a lot more about haiku, how it is written, and what it is written about. During one of the first few weeks, I read a haiku about a beetle. My first impression was, 'OK, really? Who would write a poem about a beetle?' But I have written and will be presenting two poems about beetles so I guess that answers my question.
One of the things I really wanted to talk about in this is what my poems are about so you can understand them. Most of them are written about nature, some are written about performances, and two are dedicated to Natan. Most of you are probably wondering who Natan is and this is the part I had to explain so you could understand my poems.
In third grade there was a new boy in my school. He was skinny, had a weird name, and didn't fit in. In fifth grade he was in my class and as he got older he seemed to fit in less and less. He seemed like he wasn't 'with it' socially as in he wore shorts that were shorter than other boys and jeans that came up six inches past his ankles. But something that our fifth grade eyes seemed to look past was how smart he was. And I really mean smart. We used to have walkmans that would read books to you and you could listen to the radio on them but Natan would listen to a station that had chess matches on it. They would say the location and Natan would know where that was in his mind. I used to think if I knew anyone who was going to Harvard it was Natan.
One day, when Natan was in seventh grade, on March 17, 2010, Natan went skateboarding on his usually quiet street. He went to cross the street and a truck came by going sixty miles an hour and hit Natan. He was in the hospital for a few hours before he died. March 18, 2010 was a normal school day until the intercom turned on to tell us the news. Until then, I had never seen that many people cry. I remembered that once Natan had been crying at the table I was sitting at during lunch for himself. Now we are all crying for him."

Audience stares
Eyes boring
Into mine

 

The rows of white flowers
Waving in the wind
Invisible ants among them

 

I know someone who is going to be famous one day
She announced as I mumble
I used to

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John Dean
"Haiku is one of the most challenging forms of poetry. One might think it is easy because it is so short but every word is important when you only use a few. It requires a keen sense of observation and helps you expand your vocabulary when you search for that perfect word."

Two gnats battle to the death,
One succeeds.

 

Patriotic Breeze
The flag
moves,
but not enough.

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Kelsey Detwiler
"Why Haiku?"

Cinnamon
trident seedpods covered
in ants

 

S-curve
slim morning glory vine around
dead hemlock

 

Spring
warm blue cobblestones
under the spider

 

Early evening
arched branches to the grass
last quince bloom

 

on red bricks
whirls of shaded white galaxies
bird droppings

 

black-barked maple
one leaf hanging ripped
in the rain

 

ivy
twined into chainlink fence, tangled
in pink plastic

 

ant
weaves and stutters spindly legs
up my foot

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Sam Ritz
"Imagine a split second. A brief moment -beautiful or fascinating. Time passes on, hour hand drips past each number on the clock. People move, things change-but the image is immortalized in loving detail-Haiku is the inscription of that split second. In our society, where large amounts of ideas and data are consumed at the same time, Haiku allows our hearts and minds to digest and truly absorb one breath of our world's beauty, rather than skimming over many at once. Haiku is a zoom lens, peeking in on something that one wishes to notice."

Fly before my eyes
black mass
fluttering around pupil

 

the gnat crawls
to the pleasant mushroom
rib side in

 

twilight shutter
extends reach
to the apple blossoms

 

the passing cars
street light cowering
in the face of reality

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