This month we invited our readers and writers to submit haikus that reflected their 2020 experience. We will continue to accept haikus through the middle of December. If you are inspired, please submit your haiku to panoplymichiana@gmail.com, and we will add your haiku.

Carol Estes

Angst doth propagate

Will of Humanity wails

Normalcy Rewrites

John Homan

Drake limps to the curb.

His mate watches for the cars.

Like the two of us.

The duck stands on one foot.

Fishing for tadpoles

The sun warming her back.

Noisily flowing drains,

Emerald green hastens,

Golden straw retreats.

Limp mallard in the roadway.

Emerald head rises no more.

My heart feels like rain

Dawn—Mallards napping.

Sleeping with her bill tucked,

He stands to guard her.

Mallard on the roof.

Gazing down with arrogance.

I wish I were green.

Aaron Quist

Facing the shadows

that lurk behind the mirror —

our reflections bloom.

The truth has arrived

like an unwanted surprise

to awaken me.

We now see the truth

with 20/20 vision —

a blessing & curse.

Everything will pass

except the eternal truth —

this lasts forever.

Where did the time go,

and why have we wasted it?

We reap what we sow.

Megan Davis

Being together

while unexpected has been

essential for me

Thomas Christensen

to me

It is the Covid

In this year twenty- twenty

Causing many deaths

This pandemic is

The worst since nineteen- nineteen

Many deaths, much pain

Now isolation

Because of the Covid-19

Changed our normal

Separation now

The normal, the loneliness

Away from family

An uncertainty

Coronavirus is here

Fear, choas, panic

Sadness settles in

As Covid-19 interferes

With the funerals

Apart of living

Life, love, family and friends

Then Covid-19 hit

The Naked Cowboy

There stands alone in Time Square

Empty are the streets

Have a safe & healthy December.

Tom Christensen

Albert Fonner

Unrest. Pandemic.

Social strife. What's wrong from right?

Guess I'll stay in bed.

Our ship burns, adrift

In tempest seas, with dire pleas.

Yet, my hope lies near.

Katie Jamieson

you stopped breathing here

you left your body behind

we wish you didn’t

my hair grows longer

I swim in the moonlit lake

it can get lonely

we met by the shore

paddled under the full moon

we became lovers

I ran up the hills

chasing bird songs and echoes

I climbed to the top

Covid-19

by Patricia O'Donovan

Alone in one room

For twenty-seven dark days

But moonlight visits.

Cover photo courtesy of Howard Mueller. Wren and Radio

2020 Haikus December Poets