First Edition

I like to write because I can edit.

Sometimes it takes a lifetime to find the right words.

It seems a shame, not to use them.

Editing usually results in saying less with more clarity.

That is why I like haiku.

“Running Winked at Me”, began as an experiment to lighten up and be more spontaneous. Composing a poem while running. Levitation in sixty days or less. My brain had been running marathons but it didn’t know the route. I soon discovered that haiku was a good match.

If you choose to run on verse, I’ll caution you, my pace got worse.

haiku trends

sounds like an oxymoron

what’s next—haiku rap

I joined a Haiku Writing Circle offered through the FBCW. It was a monthly zoom session with a small group. Haiku trends focused on simplification. Liberation from the 5/7/5 structure but no more than seventeen syllables. A short, unrhymed poem with a “kigo” seasonal reference and a “kireji” cutting word. No titles, capitals or punctuation.

I liked having prompts for each session and I was hooked when Haiku Month arrived. A whole month of prompts for February including several that seemed odd, like mustard and lizard.

I’ve continued writing haiku everyday. They are like memory snapshots. A snippet from the day or a spontaneous observation. I write in the spirit of haiku and often come back to rearrange them. It’s very satisfying.

Penny Youngash

Baker’s Dozen

snow drop optimist

lesson for cold fingers

ink anxious to bloom

chilly cheeks—

warmed with memories

of summer

a winter’s slumber

warm blood — cozy sweaters

a lizard’s dream

slush —

sampler of a new year’s dip

rude awakening

winter grime

itching for soap bubbles

futile request

high flying kite

a symbol of freedom

strings attached

silence —

on a sea of yellow

a bee contemplates

sowing seeds

sprouting imagination

letter by letter

five year old quinoa

time to purge the pantry—

but not today

peanuts in focus

a squirrel takes flight

songbirds scatter

herons are funny

sentinels of attitude

grumpy old men

flood of ideas

washed away

streams of doubt

dandelion seeds

enough to fill the world

make a wish

Running Winked At Me, blog published Feb.8th, 2026