I hate writing haikus simply because it requires you to adhere to a characteristically rigid structure and I find it nearly impossible to squeeze my mind into seventeen scant syllables... but I do like a challenge. And that's exactly what the Peggy Willis Lyles Haiku Awards offered. So, I wrote these haikus (of which I could only submit two) for this competition. Don't hesitate to leave a comment...

🪦💘⌛️🥀

A million times
I will perish... so long as
my grave is your arms

~I Wish to Die in Peace

Evil abounds—yet when
my eyes snag on your beauty
I know God is real

~Proselyte

Fleeting grains of gold
Trickle down its brittle throat
Harvesting our breaths

~Heartless Hourglass

Our rose garden died
Your teeth twisted into thorns
And tore through each lie

~Fractured Façade