The Missouri Poet Laureate Haiku Project
Haiku From Missourians
standing on the bridge
koi swim in pairs under
this fresh cut heart
Scot D. Young
freezing wintertime
how a hungry wolf stalks
watching the rabbit
LillyAnna Flygare
9th Grade- Lutie
her green eyes danced there
old barn floor turned dancing stage
she moves then it's lost
Robin Schofield,
Grade 12, Lutie
mums in an old truck
moonshine over the next hill
middle of nowhere
Scot D. Young – Theodosia
fireworks
fireflies forgotten
in the jelly jar
Frank Higgins
Trail dust, spider webs
still undisturbed, July sun
too hot for horses.
Beth Gulley
enchanting laughter
she paints me cherry and rose
umber eyes dancing
Emily Linenbrink
Grade 12 – Lutie
the green leaf petal
surviving a torrential downpour
around dull yellow eyes
Tyler Mabary
Grade 12 – Lutie
The small strawberry
tastes sour, seedy, better
because I stole it
Beth Gulley
On closer look,
relief: only a red
shop towel in the street.
Robert Stewart
Even the landfill's closed.
Archeological wonder,
snow-draped pyramid.
Richard Newman
I can feel the wind
Rise from the frank abyss
Weaving a net of words
Rick Christiansen
snap fractures in snow
hidden shells of wooden stems
ice cuckoo cackles
David Kean
Cherokee purple
Green shawl around your shoulders
Let your red dress shine.
Lynn Snyder
a rusty truck sits
by a fence row someone
quit on long ago
Scot D Young
murder of crows
gathered round the happy
meal on 6th St.
Cameron Morse
saltshaker snowflakes
sprinkled over
my exam room window
Cameron Morse
rake dropped with its teeth
full of leaves
Cameron Morse
hair from the put
down dog in
my jacket lining
Cameron Morse
tornado warning
moths swirling at noon
around the streetlight
Frank Higgins
fireworks
fireflies forgotten
in the jelly jar
Frank Higgins
tiny evergreen
on a field edge stands alone
sentry for morning
Shirley Rickett
Loons calling at dusk,
Bille Holiday singing;
The moon is rising.
Charles Wurrey
Rock for a ball, stick / for a bat,
walking along /
the burnt orange log road.
Chuck Sweetman
In a dogwood copse,
a mother rabbit nurses
her four furless young.
Lindsey Martin-Bowen
Owl in the night speaks
its question, its insistent
answer to darkness.
Trish Reeves
Flow as the river
Over the bridge, across it
Meet its waters twice.
Ralph Seligman
Merging of waters
Embracing the whole vastness
From Fountain to Arch.
Ralph Seligman
Wind blows through the curtains
Rain seeps onto the windowsill
In here it is calm.
—Grace Chambers - UCM
Sun-dappled pavement.
Hidden in shadowed alleys,
I blink first. Your move.
—Hannah Harrelson- UCM
Pulled from dirt refuge
Red robin studies breakfast
Earthworm connoisseur
Lynn Doerr
The lighthouse appears
And disappears in the fog.
Judith Roberts, Raytown
The fatted deer seek
fallen grain in the red light
of the Hunter's Moon
Terry Allen, Columbia
Giant pink dogwood
Majestic blooming bouquet
Springs exuberance!
Melinda Hemmelgarn
White, sparkling snow
curled softly upon old
branches—dark sadness.
Nancy Jo Allen, Columbia
Pothos vine has passed.
She returns to mother earth
a fertilizer
LeMing Yocum, Lee's Summit
Through blinds
blues complement orange windows
Nightfall draws my gaze.
Andrea Brookhart, GKC
S curves of blue cat
casual tail brushing beams
moon in the room.
Andrea Brookhart, GKC
The root of a tree
can't trip you
if you have a garden path.
Polly Alice McCann, NKC
Forests drenched in rain
Shredding everything below
Rebirth in the spring
Emma Shockey (10th grade)
Lutie, Theodosia
The silent dark night
A cold breeze blowing through
A silencing scream
Contessa Jones (10th grade)
Lutie, Theodosia
Under the feeder
Bluebirds, redbirds, sparrows, dove
Mingle their colors
Lois Long
laments and lies
my ears ring
with frog truth
Greg Field
Bushes with barbs
block windows.
Dolls have no view.
Tina Hacker
Obsidian sky
Moon, single silver sliver
Stars left the building
Jan Wheeler, GKC
snow moon
dripping taps
punctuate the silence
Allyson Whipple, St. Louis
yellow swallowtail—
missing you more
with every flutter
Allyson Whipple, St. Louis
yellow blooms amid
dour trees like kids playing in
a cemetery
William Bartlett
then a spring snowfall--
big wet flakes like open hands—
quieted the hills
John Peterson, GKC
tank blast
the meadow bursts
with butterflies
Frank Higgins, Raytown
Twister forms out front
Locals go outside to see
Adrenaline rush
Catherine Bowman,
Springfield