Yesterday I submitted three haikus to a poetry contest. I only had one ready, but since the flat submission fee was $5 whether I submitted one, two, or three haikus, I rewrote some of my existing poems into haikus, trying to capture the poems' essence into 17 syllables. Here's an example of one I didn't send in.

The original:

Picture Day

Click

And another year is captured

Connecting you to that morning your mother lovingly dressed you in a plum jumper with a gray mouse sewn on the chest.

Bringing back

Memories of recess, research papers, and rejections

Memories of friends, Friday night dances, and your first French kiss.

As a child-

Frilly dresses, thick stockings, and Mary Janes

Striving to look as girlish as possible

(Even with buckteeth and while resembling your brother in a pearl necklace)

As a teen-

Braces flashing

Practicing your smile in the mirror

Dazzling,

Or refined,

Perhaps playful

Thrusting your fingers through your tangled hair - frustrated.

Finally satisfied - Wandering to the end of the line

Sitting up straight, ‘Oh Please don’t blink!’

And now the last Picture Day of your life

Your senior year of college- a degree almost earned

And you think on the quote you read just yesterday:

“Change is survival’s praise.”

Smile, Cheese, Click.

Here are two haikus I wrote from this poem:

Snap – moment captured

Flashes - connect you back

To who you once were.

Mary Janes spotless

Blond pigtails and frilly dress

Picture Day again

And why not a Wordle haiku?