An 12th grade Creative Writing assignment. We sat in a garden and wrote haikus. These are not traditional haikus - the form is completely free. These are more like the type of haikus American poets and authors write.

Splatter of white

bird droppings

on the stone table

Downpour of fading-pink

petals descending

from the cherry blossom

Smooth surface of the

rock basking

in the white heat

of the sun

Blossoming flowers with open

petals like

pink lips

opening to suck in

a breath of sweet

air

Smears of orange, yellow,

pink and violet across

a green canvas

Shades of green

everywhere

The smell of the green

rising

from the short

blades of grass

Long branches

in a V-shape

extending

towards the distant sun

Red berries hanging

off the thin arms

of the tree

Bounce up and down

in the wind

like children on

trampolines

Shadows of tall trees

crisscrossing

over the solemn ground

A sparrow darts

across the garden

A fluttering of

wings

then

silence again