one thousand haiku
small windows, mirrors, prisms || fragments of my life
Yesterday I wrote my thousandth haiku. I feel comforted to have found this form of processing my days, and I am grateful for all the kind humans who have encouraged me to keep writing.
Below are 50 of my favorites, including some I’d been keeping to myself until now. These aren’t necessarily the best ones on a technical level, but they’re the ones that touch me for one reason or another. I kept it limited to one-offs (i.e., not part of a continuous set). They’re alphabetical. If you want to read more of my haiku, you can take a look here.
Thank you for being here. Please let me know if you have any favorites :)
abba’s dancing queen
blaring as we sway along
drunk on brown liquor
-
all i remember
is your fist in the drywall
your lips, a thin line
-
am i still a muse
if i never see the words
that i’ve inspired?
-
best sob of the week
tears slide down while maintaining
a long, long fist bump
-
blood streams from his mouth
eyes glaring, accusations thrown
fists showering down
-
can i scum save life?
load to pursue other paths
retry challenges?
-
compliment your jaw
you laugh, dropping sashimi
from your open mouth
-
details are fading
contours growing hazy, but
your ripples remain
-
do you remember
me and my haiku? choose one:
☐ yes, ☐ no, or ☐ maybe
-
do you think this tale
still grows toward the climax, or
is this denouement?
-
dude, just fucking chill
things don’t always mean something
sometimes they just are
-
during my commute
screamed, “NOTHING FUCKING MATTERS”
at my steering wheel
-
drowning in your depths
but i’ll willingly exhale
to go deeper still
-
flowers are sitting
in water, feigning a life
denying decay
-
given how i feel
what am i supposed to do?
let this pass me by?
-
gold glimmers from cracks
of my broken spirit, glued
by my own two hands
-
heart wants to catch fire
so dip me in kerosene
and set me ablaze
-
hope i make you feel
like you slipped in the shower
but didn't quite fall
-
how can it be love
when there’s so much i don’t know?
like your middle name?
-
i existed once
without you, so i can learn
to do it again
-
i laughed when you asked
"want to see where lennon died?"
"oh, of course i do"
-
i suspect there is
something more for me out there
or maybe within
-
i think i’d follow
even if you were leading
to oblivion
-
i want to go home
but technically, physically
i'm already there
-
if i bleed, i bleed
i’d rather live life naked
than hide in armor
-
i’m mediating
airline ticketing conflicts
a daughter’s duty?
-
in another life
what are we to each other?
eight thousand layers?
-
it starts to rain here
and i wonder, does new york
weep for my leaving?
-
it would be nice if
intellectualizing
actually helped
-
legacy? who cares
i plan to be forgotten
after i am gone
-
like a scratched cd
my thoughts skip around, repeat
low fidelity
-
no matter what comes
just know that your impact is
irrevocable
-
no more lemons please
i'm already drowning in
too much lemonade
-
“perfect days” lesson:
今度は今度
今は今
-
sentences fractured
my friends all laugh, i’m tongue-tied
speechless in your wake
-
“since when are you bi?”
blasé answer, “always known”
masking my panic
-
sometimes i wish death
would tip me back and kiss me
pluck me from this mess
-
soy sauce stains my desk
and i, in resignation
dip gyoza straight in
-
*sucks in breath through teeth*
okay okay OKAY fine
i guess i’ll persist
-
turns out it’s simple
i’m all i’ve been searching for
after all this time
-
unironically
love the song “i need some sleep”
from the second shrek
-
we danced at madrone
two weird little disco queens
finger guns galore
-
what if we’re like
quaking aspen? holding hands
beneath the surface
-
will i ever hear
the leaves in the wind again
and not think of you?
-
with his sternum scar
should have known he was heartless
from the beginning
-
you are a flower
i would gladly cultivate
’til the end of days
-
you ask, “is that it?”
that is not only just it
that’s exactly it
-
you enunciate
every “t.” wan-ted. set-tle
charming precision
-
you plucked my black hair
from between the pillows, sheets
erased my presence
-
your anger could fuel
a pyre, but don't you see
it’s your funeral?
