It was 5 days before the competition and on a whim I decided to sign up.

Growhouse was hosting their first Haiku Slam and something told me to compete even though I hadn't written haikus in ages.

Haiku (a Japanese poetry form containing only 17 syllables) was an art form my Dad relished in during the last decade or so in his life. Though I received many haikus from him over the years, often through email or read to me during one of our many brunches together, I never took up writing them much myself.

But I figured I'd just experiment and see what I could write in the few days before the Haiku Slam. I'd at least have fun coming up with a few new poems.

I'll admit that by the day of the event, my competitive nature came online and I was determined to win. Armed with what I felt were my best haikus, I delivered each with the confidence of a warrior.

I guess that translated over since I was awarded the #1 Headband for the poetry slam!

Here's a few of my winning Haikus:

Love finds it’s way through cracks
But you don’t have to break
Your heart to feel it

Imagination
Is a bridge to empathy
Just think about it.

Poetry is a
Two-sided revolution
We all win, don’t we?

This Sunday, I'll be the featured poet at the next Haiku Slam presented by Growhouse.

You'll get to see the next round of poets compete for the title of #2 Headband (I'm still the #1 Handband reining champion!) and see who gets to go head-to-head with me in a few months.