Kait Howell 11/28/14

,--

L bin pnggu
Yng d, hung pnggu hxn--sngsh
Zhnshuj dngj
Fireside apple
Hard ground, yellow core--squirrel
Stops, stocks for winter.

Fireside apples and Squirrels (well, our squirrels) are both unique to St. Olaf. If you are familiar
with the school then you will probably understand that this haiku takes place at St Olaf. I
attempted to emulate a style of Basho's: writing haikus that are relatable to all of my readers, but
especially those who have been to the places I am writing about.
The haiku also eludes to that split second moment when fall is grasped by winter (much like how
it snowed this week!). The withering of fall (represented by the apple) seems obvious; however,
it seems that every year winter comes rather suddenly (winter and the preparation for represented
by the squirrel).
I love walking to class and watching the squirrels, much like how they are represented in this
picture here. I feel that we all prepare for things like squirrels sometimes. Move, stop, grab, eat,
go. Scurry over here, hurry over there. Sport an apple, pick it up, fight with the next squirrel for
it. It's not too unlike the average college student's life.
I chose to come to St. Olaf not for the scurrying or hurrying, but for those quiet moments when
I notice something that I hadn't before, pick it up, examine it, and tuck it in my pocket to use
later. For example, I didn't even know that we had a Chinese program till I got here; after
attending the information session, I said, "Why not? Let's try this out". Below and behold, here I
am, an Asian Studies Major. My whole life I prepared for the college transition, which is similar
to the transition between fall and winter, and when it hit I was glad to have so many nuts in my
pocket.
Writing this haiku was difficult because I had an idea I wanted to express but I didn't have very
many words to express it in. In fact, the idea couldn't have been all that big due to the word
limits. I spent a lot of time counting syllables on my hands, thinking of appropriate synonyms,
and throwing ideas out the door to let new ones in. Overall, I really like to write short poetry, so
this was a fun little experience.