Haiku is an ancient Japanese poetry form. Traditionally, haiku is written in three lines, with 5 syllables in the first line, 7 syllables in the second line, and 5 syllables in the third line. Haiku poems are generally about nature and about a specific season. The poems you will read won’t be referencing physical seasons of nature, rather seasons of my life on the world race.
This is me trying to dabble into new, creative outlets of expressing myself, all my experiences, and feelings. I hope these give you a look into my world! Enjoy, laugh, cringe – feel all the feels.
baby racers take on travel days (antofagasta, chile)
twenty hour bus ride
ha! if we only knew then
travel days would double
bathroom to hospital (cusco, peru)
this does not make sense…
a sink inside the shower.
who put that there?
a zoo in peru (peru)
everywhere you turn
llamas, street dogs, alpacas
take over peru.
join the jesus cru (quito, ecuador)
we partnered with cru.
shared the gospel on campus,
to set students free.
ciudad refugio: a city of refuge (medellin, colombia)
held in chains, wounded
freedom found in jesus’ name –
a daughter is saved!
layovers (madrid, spain)
touch down in madrid,
twelve hours, MAX! explore, explore
before we take off.
a one day season (madrid, spain)
lungs full of crisp air
vibrant leaves paint madrid
autumn for a day
village children (kigali, rwanda)
bare feet stained bright red
laughter roars through the village
little hands fit my palms
supervised (kigali, rwanda)
dad africa rests,
we carry rocks. don’t forget,
“paigey, only one!”
sunday mornings (acacia community church, jinja, uganda)
if you hear “beep beep”,
the van is leaving. it’s time!
we are off to church
1000 shillings (jinja, uganda)
boda boda, please
take me down the red dirt road,
no mzungu price.
disability, not inability (machakos county, kenya)
speak love, share smiles
all kids alike just want love
give hugs..they are free
mzungu (rwanda, uganda, & kenya)
what a sight to see,
a white girl in africa.
new name: mzungu!
humid, frizzy mess (kuala lumpur, malaysia)
curls grow, grow, grow
florida doesn’t come close
to your hairstyle skills
free sauna? (bangkok, thailand)
my body weeps, sweat falls
scorching sun, hot and humid
thailand – simmer down
The next few poems are future. Up to this point, the haiku poems were written from my feelings, experiences, and thoughts. Now, the poems below are a glance into my last 3 months on the race.
go read first they killed my father (cambodia)
your history breaks me,
pol pot robbed you of life, but
God comes to triumph.
visa applications (vietnam)
My stay is quite short,
I am headed for China;
only passing through.
tourists (china)
to china we go.
remember! we’re just tourists!
little do they know..
team name (china)
children of the king!
so please call us “fine china”,
that is who we are!
next stop U.S (indonesia)
the race is coming to end.
eleven months came and went.
woah! how quick it flew!
Leave your feedback – did you like this reading this or should I stick to my normal writing? The season I am in is vast, multifaceted and fun. I am exploring many different creative outlets, trying to get in touch with God the Creator. You might see some of my watercoloring soon (set your bar low) or more poetry, who knows where the Lord will take me.
