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I wrote these haikus for my high school Creative Writing class journal during the Winter and Spring of 1978. We were required to write something "creative" every class day. I very frequently chose to write a haiku (25% of my entries) because the discipline of the form forced a real attempt at creativity as opposed to just scribbling something to get it done. I did my share of truly atrocious scribbling! But that too is a part of the creative process.
Collected Haiku: Winter/Spring 1978
by Matt Wallace
21 February 1978
The sun now moves north
After the Winter Solstice
To the Equinox.
24 February 1978
Trailed by his two dogs,
The Hunter moves through the sky
In search of his prey.
28 February 1978
See the Gray Squirrel
That crosses my path this morn
And fails to greet me.
6 March 1978
As we measure time
We become lost in a maze
Until we lose life.
15 March 1978
The starlings move north
Following the Sun's course north.
Both mark Spring's rebirth.
16 March 1978
The Spring pushes forth
Yellow-faced dandelions
And many young things.
28 March 1978
A toad in a hole!
It's been a long hard winter.
Your legs are quite small.
4 April 1978
What a thing to see!
A rainbow refracted through
Lofty cirrus clouds.
5 April 1978
It was dead last week
But now it's completely green.
What an explosion!
6 April 1978
From his lofty perch,
A redwing scans his domain
And the marsh below.
13 April 1978
They must be beggars
Those nasty ole arthropods
That we all call ticks.
14 April 1978
With a hot white face
And a fiery corona,
The Sun lights the morn.
17 April 1978
Ya know it's crazy!
I'm not insane-- or am I?
What does it matter!?
28 April 1978
A black and white mass
Crouching in the dewy grass
Watching open-eyed.
9 May 1978
Formed from an odd cloud,
A winged dragon glides over
As Old Sol descends.
10 May 1978
O, poor slain friend snake,
Who was thy murderer mean
That ended your life?
24 May 1978
Squirrel bends forward
To search for tiny morsels
Then scurries away.
26 May 1978
Orange moon rising
From it's auroral outpost
Outpacing the Sun.
29 May 1978
This morning comes and
Lays a thick Stygian mist
O'er the countryside.
Final Exam #1
I see two forests.
One is true and the other
Only an image.
Final Exam #2
We enter unknown.
We exist obscured by all.
We exit unknown.
Final Exam #3
The shutter crashes
And the moment never dies.
Time becomes static.
Final Exam #4
The semblance deceives!
Beneath silent charcoal eyes,
The fire burns hotter.
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