Today is Impromptu Reedie Haiku Day.

It all started when my fellow Reed College graduate, Mike, posted the following haiku to Facebook, on the subject of getting out of bed:

No no no no no
No no no no no no no
No no no no no

Inspired by his haiku, and my own troubles staying in bed this morning, I wrote the following:

Early spring morning.
Birds chirping below the eaves:
Shut the fuck up, birds.

(I must confess I was torn as to weather the birds should be "chirping," or merely "perching," leaving their cacophony implied by the final line.)

A few minutes later, our classmate Amaria posted her enjoyment of the current weather, and dubbed the day Impromptu Reedie Haiku Day:

Colorado spring
Blue skies and sunshine outside
Lets end this meeting

My former roommate, Chris, a Creighton grad, who would in many ways have fit in well at Reed contributed the following:

Though not a Reedie,
I find haiku memes simply
irresistible.

Amber, on a single line, lamenting her chosen career path:

Dark specter looming, grades determine future, for twelve years running

Brett was not into haiku day, so he posted a slightly off-meter haiku-like poem, with a jab at me:

I cannot support
an impromptu haiku meme.
Take that, Cliff Dyer.

Edit: Apparently I can't count the number of syllables in my own name. I am clearly not cut out to moderate an impromptu haiku day. Brett's contribution is a dyed-in-the-wool haiku. Fortunately, I'm not really moderating anything. Just puttin' 'em up here for the world to see.

My beloved is finding the ducks we raise less than pleased that we take all their eggs away from them:

The broody ducks scowl
But I continue thieving
I love me some quiche

Jim, a complete stranger and friend of Brett's contributes this zen haiku:

What would be the sound
of seven haikus clapping
or maybe just five

Eric, another Reedie, is dealing with publishing frustrations, it seems:

Whitepaper is done.
My Working Group says thanks, but…
Surprise! New format.

Jacqueline doesn't have time for haiku, so she writes a haiku about it:

Wish I could Haiku.
Too busy finishing up.
Reed awaits next week!

Evan, it seems is sick:

Oh lord my throat hurts
fitful night of fever dreams
back to work today

After a brief discussion about the poetic intractability of the word fluoroelastomer, Eric followed up his whitepaper haiku with an invocation to Viton, the brand-name muse of that verbose subject of his whitepaper:

O, viton o-rings,
You keep us safe; pay my bills
I pay with my tears

Paul is rehabbing an injury:

Swam at Reed today.
Endorphins at last released.
Come on knee, heal soon.

This may be the first purely happy haiku of the day. Jessi writes:

Birthday cake surprise
Conference made that much better
Husband wins again

When Impromptu Reedie Haiku Day was explained to non-Reedie Andy, he replied:

Oh, I understand. I guess I didn't know it. Thanks for telling me.

The whole event has Michelle reminiscing about Reed gone by:

Out here in New York,
six blocks from Zuccotti Park,
Reed. So long ago.

Rachel brought her A-game, embedding at least two separate food puns in her haiku:

New breakfast food cart
today ate Yolko Ono
Fried Egg: I'm In Love

Jay, who according to his Facebook Profile is <gasp!> a Clarkie, quotes the legendary Japanese poet Cee-Lo:

I see you driving
Round town with the girl I love
And I'm like: Haiku.

Edit: Facebook was telling me lies. Jay's a legit Reedie. He just went to Lewis and Clark for law school.

Daphne evokes Chaucer with classic Reedie Panache:

Heavy rains today
Because it's Chaucer's Aprill
With shoures soote!

Edit: apparently in middle english, one of those words in the last line has an extra syllable (soote)

I had to add one more of my own to express the nostalgia I feel and gratitude at being a Reedie surrounded, for a moment, by other Reedies:

Grout displays their wit.
I yearn for Olde Reed spirit
Haiku satisfies.

There's some good news from Evan regarding his illness:

Waiting forever
the doctor gives the answer
"not streptococcus"

We had a few more come in while I was asleep.

Jake (who seems to be a non-Reedie) replies to Evan's diagnosis:

Evan, my sick friend
first you were educated
now you are cultured

A Reedie who goes by the mysterious moniker of "Side Burns" on facebook was subconsciously aware of Impromptu Reedie Haiku Day before he consciously knew it existed:

Thanks for the update.
My meter today seemed odd.
Haiku Day... Of course!

Natalie loves that even the weather in Oregon in ironic.

Oh, Oh, Oregon
April snows and windy rains
blow winter away

If more haiku come in as the day progresses, I'll add them to this post.