Some moments come with their own built-in soundtrack - not just music, but any sound that stays stitched to the memory of a choice you wish you hadn’t made. The clink of a glass before you said something you couldn’t take back. The echo of footsteps down a hallway you shouldn’t have walked - the slam of a door that made the air feel heavier.
It’s strange how the ear holds onto regret. The sound becomes a marker, a breadcrumb leading straight back to the instant when the decision tipped from maybe to too late. Long after, you can hear it play again in your head, whether you want it to or not.
We asked poets to trap that feeling - the reckless rhythm, the way a sound becomes part of the mistake. Not just songs, but anything that etched itself into the moment. For our latest Haiku Feud, they distilled those sounds of trouble into just 17 syllables.
What we got back was a chorus of confession, each one humming with its own danger.
Here’s the winning haiku that struck all the wrong chords in just the right way:
🏆 Winning Haiku by Lisa-Anna Maust
White snakes strike and hiss.
Through the glass, Eve steals a kiss.
Thunder and hunger.
🥈 Runner-Up by Franci Levine-Grater
Starts off allegro,
rises to agitato,
then drives off a cliff
And because every submission was incredible, we’re sharing them all below.
Haiku Feud Submissions
Flipped a canoe
Lost my phone and my glasses
The jokes on me now
by Joseph Adomavicia
Ex boyfriend in a band
Wearing ripped jeans and a cute top
$10 cover and a Zima
by Monique Gonzalez
Buh bump, buh bump, buh-
Stupidity is silence
When the line goes flat
by Catherine Cerroni
Chaos orchestra
Heart beats' tempo crescendos
Internal discord
by Shinae Galli
Arrhythmic heart beats
break against my chest like wind
or breath I can’t hold
by Winter Parker
The one I do love
Sleeps miles away. Deaf to this
Rattling headboard.
by Keegan Henrikson
Base is inner voice
Percussion, nervous heart beat
Thoughts screaming: "DO IT"
by Alexandra Valdez
Yesterday's downpour
neighbor yells - driver steers through
the thick muddy path
by Ibrahim Nureni
Don’t do it they said
It will cost you everything
It did. Still happy
by Evelyn Warfel
Leaving the lawyers’
I duck into a dive bar
schmaltzy jukebox song
by Sari Grandstaff
Tap, tap, click and scroll
“add to cart” subscribe your soul
tap, tap, click and scroll…
by Jodi Kurpiel
Hear the siren song
Play against your RPM
No turning back now
by Drew Pyrak
I have held you to
every song next on the track
the whims of shuffle
by Monda Reitz
At a Taco Bell
The dare: a Crunchwrap Supreme
These stalls sure echo
by Walter Butler
a misstepping dance
to the record that regrets
the misfired needle
by Maxine Flasher-Duzgunes
Descending womp-womps
Played two minutes earlier
Would’ve been helpful.
by Peter Freeman
Put that down right there.
It’s a secure placement… right?
clamor-clatter-crash
by Jack Fleischer
Chaos symphony
Consequence flies through my mind
As it beats the heart
by Kyle Parker
Bass thump in my chest
bluesy moan as the dawn comes--
that's not my husband!
by Samantha Wallen
A note of rumor
Echoing a false story
Will rip someone's heart
by Marian Brandenburg
Gurgle of twisted
Guts knowing it wasn’t right
What you said out loud
by Linda Adler
Melancholy hum
Smokey haze sticky lager
We see each other
by Nicole Bandera
Must make memories
Squad, spontaneous Spain stay
Bank balance busted
by Aakash Jagdale
An off-key verse loops:
“Can we try again?” he pleads –
Cue heartbreak refrain.
by Yen Mooi
Wind shifts, catches drift,
draft of tunecraft in snatches
of her new man's mix
by Brasswax *
A cacophony
Domesticated ticking
Clocked in, with the blues
by Steven Small
Right person wrong time
Maybe I should hit them up
Maybe they have changed
by Kaliah Hekima
Join the Next Haiku Feud
Want to see your words featured next time? Follow us on Instagram @haikuists for the next Haiku Feud prompt.
Bring Poetry to Your Next Event
Imagine this same magic live at your event. Our typewriter poets create one-of-a-kind haiku for your guests in real time.
Perfect for:
✨ Weddings
✨ Corporate events
✨ Birthday parties & anniversaries
✨ Brand activations
