Randy Brooks
Born 1954 in Hutchinson, Kansas, USA
Living in Taylorville, Illinois, USA
http://www.brooksbookshaiku.com
Dr. Randy M. Brooks is a Dean and Professor of English at Millikin University. He teaches courses on the global haiku traditions at Millikin with student work available on the MU Haiku web site: http://performance.millikin.edu/haiku. He and his wife, Shirley Brooks, are co-editors and publishers of Brooks Books, and co-editors of Mayfly magazine. He serves as web editor of Modern Haiku and Frogpond journals. A collection of his haiku, School’s Out, was published by Press Here.
plump blackberries
wet with rain
the whole family
A haiku stone at the “Inn at Honey Run Haiku Path” in Millersburg, Ohio, 2015.
legendary catfish
caught once or twice
the brackish lagoon
Muttering Thunder: An Annual of Fine Haiku & Art, 1, edited by Allan Burns, (Colorado Springs, CO), 2014.
jenny wren returns
her mother whispers
I can go now
Collage, 43.2, Spring 2014.
New York strip
our wedding anniversary
pink in the middle
Frogpond, 37.3, Autumn, 2014.
bad weather
in an envelope
I put a stamp on it
Frogpond, 37.3, Autumn, 2014.
night drive home
we unravel all the things
unsaid
Frogpond, 37.1, Winter, 2014.
lifting the frog
to her twin sister
you kiss it first
Upstate Dim Sum. John Stevenson, Editor. Nassau, NY: Route 9 Haiku Group. Issue II, November, 2013.
nothing to say
the cottonwood seeds
fall and rise
Upstate Dim Sum. John Stevenson, Editor. Nassau, NY: Route 9 Haiku Group. Issue II, November, 2013.
lunch with a friend
how so few words
hold me up
Frogpond, 36.3, Autumn, 2013.
morning glory
his daughter takes it
to heart
Frogpond. Dubuque, IA: Haiku Society of America, February, 2013.
dessert first
then a second helping
young lovers
Riverwind, Hocking College literary magazine, Summer 2010.
razor wire
soldiers in the alley
tossing dice
Dandelion Clocks: Haiku Society of America Anthology 2008. New York, NY: Haiku Society of America, 2008.
October light
I open my ribs
to pray
Heron’s Nest, 10.1, (Port Townsend, WA) January, 2008. Also published in the Heron’s Nest Anthology 2014.
a dandelion or two
none of her new friends
best friends yet
Flower of Another Country: Haiku Society of America Member’s Anthology 2007, (New York, NY) December, 2007.
Indian summer . . .
a perfect afternoon
for a student protest
Modern Haiku, 36.2 (Lincoln, IL), Summer, 2005.
holy as the day
is spent . . .
warm cups of cider
Modern Haiku, 35.1 (Lincoln, IL), Spring, 2004.
wolves gnawing
at my dream . . .
singing bowls
Heron's Nest, March, 2004.
winter sunshine
words of consolation
bring me down
Modern Haiku, 35.2 (Lincoln, IL), Summer, 2004.
evening walk
after office politics
lilac scent
Modern Haiku 34.3, (Lincoln, IL), Summer 2003.
cracked glass
over the photo
her lips parting to speak
Frogpond, 26.2 (Winchester, VA) Summer, 2003.
peony bud
cut for the grave . . .
wren song all day long
Heron’s Nest, 5.2 (Port Townsend, WA) February 2003.
tai chi
with my wife . . .
morning glories open
Heron’s Nest, 5.1 (Port Townsend, WA) January 2003. Editor's choice award.
strike at the mine
a sack of groceries
left on the doorstep
Acorn 9, (Philadelphia, PA ) Fall 2002.
a turtle shell
turned over in his bed
the haiku he left behind
World Haiku Review 2.1, The World Haiku Club, (Oxford, England) March 2002.
reading another
love letter to grandma . . .
paper flakes in the folds
Woodpecker 7.2, (Bakhuizen, Netherlands) Sept. 2001.
jets, flames, towers . . .
her crayon drawing
during the sermon
Haijinx 1.3, (Temple, TX) Sept. 2001.
a pause
in her going to town story . . .
needle threaded again
Acorn, 7 (Philadelphia, PA) Fall, 2001.
grandpa drags his daybed
to the front porch . . .
mockingbird's songs
Raw Nervz, 7.2, (Aylmer, Quebec) Fall 2001.
moonrise . . .
cattle single file through
the narrow pasture gate
Modern Haiku, 32.1, (Madison, WI), Winter 2000.
miles to go . . .
no tracks ahead of us
in the snow
Haiku Troubadours 2000: A Contemporary World Haiku Anthology from Japan, edited by Ban’ya Natsuishi, Ginyu Press (Fujimi, Japan), August 2000.
the hymn my grandma
always sang fortissimo
sung fortissimo
Modern Haiku, 31.2, (Madison, WI), 2000.
wheat chaff in the breeze
two lines wait
on the chapel steps
Raw Nervz, 6.2, (Aylmer, Canada), Summer 1999.
grandma's love letters . . .
double knotted twine
cuts into the edges
Modern Haiku, 30.3, (Madison, WI), 1999.
creek water warm . . .
I swing the grapevine
up to my cousin
The Homestead Cedars, The Virgil Hutton Haiku Memorial Chapbook Competition, (Normal, IL: Saki Press), March, 1999.
nobody's dog . . .
he pokes his nose wherever
he pleases
The Homestead Cedars, The Virgil Hutton Haiku Memorial Chapbook Competition, (Normal, IL: Saki Press), March, 1999.
funeral procession . . .
snowflakes blowing
into the headlights
Harold G. Henderson Award, 1st place, 1998. Published and announced in Frogpond 21.3 Winter 1998.
spring afternoon . . .
I try another combination
on the shed lock
Tundra, 1.1 (Foster City, CA) Summer, 1999
two lines in the water . . .
not a word between
father and son
Modern Haiku, 29.2, (Madison, WI), Summer, 1998. Best of Issue award.
cool haiku stone . . .
black ant down and out
of the kanji
Haiku Award, Matsuyama Tourism Haiku Competition sponsored by the Shiki Haiku Museum and the city of Matsuyama, (Japan), July 1997.
Hoshi Haiku, 8.8, August 1997.
after all these years
she asks about her mother . . .
I put on another log
Mainichi Haiku Contest Anthology, 1997, p. 315. Received honorable mention and inclusion in the anthology.
sisters bent over
the heating vent . . .
adult talk below
Modern Haiku, 28.2 (Madison, WI) Summer, 1997
through the open door . . .
her smile doesn’t forgive
all my sins
Modern Haiku, 27.3 (Madison, WI) Fall, 1996
show me yours.
you first.
barn roof creaks
Raw Nervz Haiku, 1.2, (Aylmer, Quebec), Summer 1994
the pinwheel stops
grandpa catches
his breath
Modern Haiku, 25.1, (Madison, WI), Spring, 1994
through clouds—
the stewardess's
baby steps
Bare Bones, (Somerset, England), Fall 1993
her talk
on the aesthetics of snow,
cancelled due to war
Bear Creek Haiku, (Boulder, CO), July 1992
pine tree trimmings—
mating luna moths
fumble to the ground
Hummingbird, 2.1, (Richland Center, WI), September 1991
holding hands . . .
until we reach
the blackberries
Frogpond, Aug. 1988
school's out—
a boy follows his dog
into the woods
Brussels Sprouts, May 1988
after
his first haircut
a cowlick
Brussels Sprouts, 1985
first kiss
deep in the woods . . .
sunbeams filter down
HAI, Sept.1981
first snow
no walk
long enough
Amoskeag, June 1980; originally a one-liner
mellow thunder . . .
I slip off my sandals
to feel the cool
Cicada, April 1979
at the mailbox
the postman's dust
passes him
The Windless Orchard, June 1978
dirt farmer's wife
at the screen door—
no tractor sound
Modern Haiku, Feb. 1977. "Personal Favorite" award.
after no leaves
a kite's skeleton
in the uppermost branch
Janus-SCTH, Apr. 1978
after the dust storm
another inside
with her broom
Uzzano, fall 1977
electric pump
instead of windmill—
where will mockingbird nest?
Where Will Mockingbird Nest? Juniper Press, 1977
face
in the window—
no moon
Bonsai, (Phoenix, AZ), Jan. 1977. Bonsai quarterly award
barbwire holds its ground,
Buffalo sky
roams the prairie
Uzzano, (Mount Carrol, IL), Fall 1977