Animal Kingdom

fear not! they'll run once

'round your legs with their small claws

these Polk State squirrels

college: we teach all

the usual subjects, but here,

too, we teach squirrel

new students stand amazed

near a campus garbage bin

rustle of squirrel

armadillo, squirrel

sandhill crane, alligator

wild hog, racoon

thought this was college,

academia awaiting,

instead, it's a zoo

the terror of it

student in office explains

squirrel jumped on backpack

while wearing backpack

off to meet the prof for help

squirrel jumps on backpack

are all conferences

traumatizing like this one?

perhaps I'll drop out

These haiku are part of the October 2019 Haiku Challenge, which I completed in early November. The college in central Florida where I teach has an abundance of wildlife. This series captures some of the craziness of having a variety of animals on campus. Sometimes I have trouble capturing the image in 17 syllables so I'll add another haiku. "College," "Armadillo," and "While Wearing" are all double haiku with the last poem a rewrite of the poem before it.