#NaHaiWriMo 2026 - the final batch

#NaHaiWriMo - Family

All that laughing
The way we take up space
All that weeping

#NaHaiWriMo - Soap

Look at my hands

How many ways are there

To get clean

#NaHaiWriMo - Pink

Shoes, dress, eyes, nose, mouth
Fingernails, eye shadow, jewel

Underwear, tongue, skin

#NaHaiWriMo - Teeth

Whenever they break

You feel it larger than life

All those small pieces

#NaHaiWriMo - Titanic

They tried to warn me
The idea of you is so large

I can’t contain it

#NaHaiWriMo - Witch

They said all the names.

Only some of them were secret.

Only some of them.

#NaHaiWriMo - X-ray

There’s no hiding.
We can see everything.

It doesn’t matter.

#NaHaiWriMo - Lace

We weave together.

Decorate empty space.

Your hands so nimble.

*

Here we find regret.

Here we find forgiveness.

Here we find beauty.

*

You took all the swords,

Transformed them into ploughshares.

Magic takes time.

#NaHaiWriMo - Last

Despite everything
We keep collecting days

A necklace of hope

#NaHaiWriMo 2026 - the second batch

#NaHaiWriMo - Concrete

Your words were empty
I couldn’t understand you

I lost my footing

*

How do I hold this
Everything turns to dust
Burning my hand

#NaHaiWriMo - Bottle

You hold me so tight

Let’s try to find the words

I hold you so tight

#NaHaiWriMo - Oblivious

I thought we agreed
Never to lie to each other
Now we sit in silence
Our bodies in tension

#NaHaiWriMo - Plant

I once called this home

The weather keeps changing

Rivers keep flowing

#NaHaiWriMo - Magnet

The heat of your body
I tried not to look at you
My hands so empty

*

The shock of being seen
It was inevitable
You whispered to me

#NaHaiWriMo - Watermelon

Watermelon kisses

I thought I knew what it meant

So sweet and delicious

*

Will you join the dance

Until we’re covered in sweat

Bodies twist through space

#NaHaiWriMo - Heart

The language too fraught
Too many metaphors
Here is my heart

#NaHaiWriMo - Daffodil

You don’t want to know

Hands full of fear, grief, confusion

How to move forward

#NaHaiWriMo - Toilet paper

Always underfoot
I could have treated you better

Extended more grace

#NaHaiWriMo - Mathematics

We made so much sense

Every touch mathematical

I can’t figure it out

*

We can’t stop watching

Violence plus violence

A game of loss

#NaHaiWriMo - Costume

Wear your words like skin
You can try new ones at night
Which will stretch, which shine

*

Here is an adventure
So many things to discover
Not only pleasure

#NaHaiWriMo - Pigeon

As you cross the square

A river of feathers

An explosion of air

#NaHaiWriMo 2026 - the first batch

Here are the first seven days of poems for this National Haiku Writing Month.

Thoughts? Comments? Should I post them daily instead of a weekly summary?

Let me know!

 
#NaHaiWriMo - Boom
 
And just like that
Everything changed
And then didn’t
 
*
 
You reached across me
Grabbed a handful of grapes
Ate them one by one
 
 

#NaHaiWriMo - Toast

 

All the blessings

Upon blessing upon blessing

Quickly forgotten

 

*

 

And just like that

It was over without warning

Only your absence

 
 
#NaHaiWriMo - Ballet
 
Leaning into the air
Her path predetermined
Each step a knife
 
*
 
You told me clearly
I’m just here to hold you
You turn and return
 
*
 
It’s exhausting
All those costume changes
Everything unseen
 
 

#NaHaiWriMo - Broccoli

 

The texture of desire

How it is offered matters

It fills the mouth

 
 
#NaHaiWriMo - Star
 
You mistake sharpness
We see things differently
You mistake brightness
 
*
 
We turn our heads
Watching the heavens for signs
We just keep moving
 
 

#NaHaiWriMo - Jellyfish

 

Every embrace

Invites me through the veil

Pierces the flesh

 

*

 

The waves keep coming

You dance in the currents

Carried into the deep

 
 
#NaHaiWriMo - Rain
 
It rained in sheets
It rained until the basement flooded
It was everywhere
 
*
It rained all day 
Our room silent as you slept
It rained all night

#NaHaiWriMo 2026

February is National Haiku Writing Month, during which participants attempt to write at least one haiku every day (February being the shortest month).

As in previous years, I may or may not try the occasional "traditional" haiku, and hope you will allow me a little leeway to try some micropoems and to ignore the supposed 5-7-5 rule/ format.

There are many other intriguing waka forms that incorporate haikuic structures: katauta (5-7-7), sedoka (5-7-7-5-7-7), tanka (5-7-5-7-7), bussokusekika (5-7-5-7-7-7), choka (5-7-5-7-5-7-5-7-7), and haibun (a prose/poem with a haiku ending) -- and I may  try some of thos ethis year.

Perhaps some of you would be willing to join me for a renga (a collaborative haiku sequence with alternating stanzas of 5-7-7 and 7-7)?

Once again, I'll be using the februllage prompts as a starting point.

Feel free to join me, or at least follow along!