Haiku About Hope
One of the shortest hope haiku here is among the most affecting. Paul Humphrey writes of a SHELTER DOG
with its eyes cast down, and then the third line turns it all with BUT CHOSEN
. The title is Resurrection, which is a big word for a small animal, and the size of the word is exactly the point.
Christian Sexton makes hope an order: BE A WILDFLOWER
, and grow where you were not EXPECTED TO BLOOM.
Patricia Pella makes it an image instead, a RED LOTUS
rising through muddy water, with the only comment, A STEADFAST HEART
, in the last line. The two approaches differ. Sexton tells the reader what to do. Pella shows what has already been done.
The word trust links poems by Elaine Mattingly and Thom Norgang. Mattingly has STONE-FACED GRAVITY
teaching shivering branches to trust the return of spring, and Norgang has sleeping frogs and crickets where EACH HAS LEARNED TO TRUST
. Hope here is a habit, practiced by the creatures for the whole of winter.
Starting over
Sandra Wells’s poem is a molting: MY OLD SKIN FALLS AWAY
and then the speaker bursts forth, shining, on fire. The last word, DETERMINATION
, is the poem’s name for what it just did. Adam Sprague compares hope to the sun: LIKE A RISING SUN
, with a brighter day waiting PAST THE HORIZON
. The simile is the most conventional in the group, and the poem seems to know it. Hope is sometimes best said plainly.
45 poems
RESURRECTION
SHELTER DOGEYES DOWNCASTBUT CHOSEN
Issue #13, page 9
BLOOM
BE A WILDFLOWER.GROW BETWEEN CRACKS WHERE YOU WEREN’TEXPECTED TO BLOOM.
Issue #14, page 42
RED LOTUSRISING THROUGH MUDDY WATERSA STEADFAST HEART
Issue #5, page 61
STONE-FACED GRAVITYREMINDS SHIVERING BRANCHESTO TRUST SPRING’S RETURN
Issue #2, page 67
SPRING MAKES PROMISESWITH SLEEPING FROGS AND CRICKETSEACH HAS LEARNED TO TRUST
Issue #2, page 13
DETERMINATION
MY OLD SKIN FALLS AWAY,SHINING, I BURST FORTH ON FIRE,DETERMINATION
Issue #11, page 35
BRIGHTER DAYS
LIKE A RISING SUNA BRIGHTER DAY AWAITS USPAST THE HORIZON
Issue #12, page 93
WALKING ACROSS THE ROOMONE MINUTEFOUR YEARS OF REHAB
Issue #7, page 21
DAY 1
FROM EACH MORNING WOMB,WE SLIP, STUMBLE, CRAWL, AND WALK,MAKE OURSELVES ANEW.
Issue #13, page 26
THE PROMISE OF SPRINGCAPTURED IN THE FIRST SIGHTINGSOF DOGWOOD BLOSSOMS.
Issue #13, page 13
DENOUNCING WINTER
THE TREES QUIETLYDISSEMINATE OPINIONIN JOYFUL CARTWHEELS
Issue #1, page 77
GIFT
A COAT FOR THE COLDGIFT OF HOPE TO ANOTHERLIGHT SMILES IN TIRED EYES
Issue #2, page 61
Show all 45 poems
SHAME-MELTING FIRES FORGEPILLARS TO INFINITY,EACH VISION, AIRBORNE
Issue #2, page 69
WITH YOUR TENDERNESSHEARTACHE RECEIVES ITS LAST RITESUNEARTHED, I RISE, GREEN
Issue #2, page 71
MISTAKES WERE MADE ANDWINTER PERSISTS, YET FLOWERSBLOOM IN MY MIND’S EYE
Issue #4, page 37
ITS SEVERED VINE WRAPPEDABOUT THE PLASTIC LAWN CHAIR,THE MORNING GLORY BLOOMS....
Issue #4, page 47
TRY AND TRY AGAIN,FAILURE WROTE UPON HIS SOULLINCOLN SUCCEEDED
Issue #4, page 63
WISHFUL THINKING -INTO THE WELLA TOSSED PEONY
Issue #4, page 89
SKYWARD HAIKU
I DO NOT FEEL DOWN.IF I TURN MY HEAD SKYWARD,WILL YOU BELIEVE ME?
Issue #5, page 47
LEMON TEARSSUNLIGHTFALLING THROUGH RAIN
Issue #5, page 107
ROOTS OF MY MIND
FORMING SUNNY DAYSLIGHT OF FREE WILLING MORNINGROOTS OF GENESIS
Issue #8, page 47
BACK TO CHILDHOOD
BALL SKIPPING ON SAND- CHILDREN PRACTICING SOCCERDURING CEASEFIRE.
Issue #9, page 43
ABANDONED ROAD
ABANDONED ROADUSELESS FOR DRIVING,BUT FOR DREAMING...
Issue #10, page 29
HOME
ON THE EVEOF OUR FIRST HOME PURCHASEA SHOOTING STAR.
Issue #10, page 71
CHOICES
STANDING ON THE EDGEICY BLUE WATER SHIMMERSWE ALL TAKE THE PLUNGE
Issue #11, page 49
FALL LEAF
FALL LEAFFLUTTERS ON GROUNDBUTSPRING
Issue #11, page 75
TO THE BOY IN PURPLE AVIATORS
HEARTBREAK IS A MYTHDESIGNED TO MAKE US THINK WEWON’T BE WHOLE AGAIN.
Issue #12, page 61
A WINDOW WITH NO VIEW
SOMEHOW RISING ABOVETHE DESPONDENT RAINY DAY:JOY FROM THE SMALL THINGS.
Issue #12, page 69
LILY
THE SMALLEST BLOSSOMSLOWLY GROWS INTO BEAUTYA FLOWER THE SAME
Issue #13, page 23
IMPROMPTU PLANTING
TODAY I PLANT SEEDIN THE RAIN I PLANTED THEMI CAN SMELL THEM GROW
Issue #14, page 15
FLAME
WOOD FIRES ARE BETTERBUT THE OIL BURNS MUCH BRIGHTERIF FOR A MOMENT
Issue #14, page 50
FREEDOM
THE HIGH FLYING CLOUDSSAILING ON SCIROCCO WINDSNO EARTHLY RESTRAINTS
Issue #15, page 12
INTO THE NEW DAWN--CLINGING TO MY DISORDERI STEP OUT AGAIN
Issue #15, page 15
RENEWAL
WIGS CHANGE EVERY DAYSELF SUPPLANTS SELF JOYOUSLYCHEMOTHERAPY
Issue #16, page 41
FORGIVENESS
IN THE HAILSTORM’S WAKETHE SCENT OF BATTERED SAGEBRUSHPERFUMES THE VALLEY
Issue #17, page 10
HOPE
WOODPECKER PAUSESSAPLINGS BEND IN THE SPRING BREEZE--ECHOES AND ECHOES
Issue #17, page 12
17-5
INFINITE PATIENCEAN INCHWORM MEASURES ITS WORLDONE HUMP AT A TIME
Issue #17, page 19
DEFIANTJUST BEYOND THE MOWERA LAST DANDELION
Issue #17, page 20
PURPOSE
IMPRESSIVE, DISTANTSPLENDID MOUNTAIN PEAKS LOOM TALL,DEMANDING CLIMBERS.
Issue #17, page 33
FIREFLIES
THEY ARE NOT EASILY DISCOURAGED -THE FIREFLIESON THIS RAINY NIGHT
Issue #17, page 35
FIRE FINE TUNES SEEDSBURST OPEN IN THE WHITE HEATSOWING EARTH WITH HOPE
Issue #17, page 41
THERE IS ALWAYS LIGHT
LOVE IS ETERNALTHOUGH THE MOON WAXES AND WANESTHERE IS ALWAYS LIGHT
Issue #18, page 14
ITS PETALS
MOON FLOWER--A SENSE OF HOPEIN ITS PETALS
Issue #18, page 46
AFTER TRANSPLANT
IN REMISSION NOWI IMAGINE A FUTUREWALKING IN THE WOODS
Issue #18, page 48
CHANGE
CHANGE BLOWS THROUGH LIFESTRONG GUSTS NEVER CEASINGOBSTACLES VANISH
Issue #18, page 56
Questions readers ask
Do hope haiku need an upbeat ending?
No. Humphrey’s dog still has downcast eyes at the end. Hope in these poems usually means a small improvement, with the doubts left in the picture.
Where do spring poems fit?
Spring is the season most closely tied to hope, and the spring page has the thaw poems. This page looks at hope in other places: a shelter, a crack in the pavement, a pond in the mud.
More themes to read
SpringIllness and the BodyMorning and DawnFaith and SpiritLoss and GriefAll themes
Last reviewed November 2026. Poems are the work of the poets credited and link to their pages in the original issues.