WFH | Your work-from-home haiku submissions

Ruslan Rafikov, associate professor of medicine, shared this photo along with his haiku submissions. See more of his photos on Instagram at @ruslan._.rafikov.

Faculty and staff are continuing to find inspiration and tap into their creativity in this work-from-home environment – whether it's adapting to teaching classes online or finding some humor and levity in a complicated situation.
Just as you did when we asked for happy news, work-from-home tips and pictures of your home offices, kids and pets, you came through when we asked you for haiku exploring Zooming, working from home and home schooling.
You'll see some familiar themes in these poems, along with a few new ones, including working in pajamas, finding balance through nature, and appreciating commute-free days.
Find your inner peace by reading dozens of submissions from your colleagues in all of their 17-syllable glory. And for more perspective on how people can turn a stay-at-home atmosphere into an opportunity for artistic creativity, read this UANews article.
Traffic Jam Again | At home challenges – | |
Four Adults, A Dog, All Home | Cats walking on the keyboard | |
Hallway – at Rush Hour! | When can we return? | |
Karena Nespoli | Home-schooling the kids | |
Human Resources Representative | I now see, teachers need more | |
Department of Medicine | Appreciation | |
Zoom meetings all day, | ||
Kids are arguing | Faces in boxes. Welcome | |
Dogs barking, husband on phone | To the Brady Bunch | |
Where are my headphones?! | ||
Feeling so alone | ||
Roll out of the bed | Co-workers are far away | |
Check the mirror, all OK | I miss Nerf gun wars | |
Time for my next Zoom! | ||
Walter Ries | ||
Lots of morning walks | IT Manager | |
Although life is disrupted | Office of Student Computing Resources | |
Good time together | ||
Debbie Claggett | Is your Zoom frozen? | |
Coordinator | Or is that a GIF of you | |
Interdisciplinary Capstone Program | Pretending to nod? | |
College of Engineering | ||
Nick Prevenas | ||
Senior News Writer/Media Relations Analyst | ||
Everyday I work | University Communications | |
At home until at least five | ||
And then I have wine | ||
Dining room office, | ||
Maya Patterson | extra bedroom workspace next, | |
Office Specialist, Senior | kind of miss downtown. | |
Arizona Institutes for Resilience: Solutions | ||
for the Environment and Society | Sacred library | |
in extra bedroom space is | ||
now the home office. | ||
Quarantine hair length | ||
Fostering insanity | My dogs sleep a lot, | |
Solution: No hair! | but are tied to the start of | |
each Zoom meeting, woof! | ||
Who are these children | ||
Running through my Zoom meeting? | Jennifer Priest Mitchell | |
Oh wait, they are mine | Faculty Coordinator | |
College of Medicine – Phoenix | ||
Our cats and our dogs | ||
Do not understand why they | ||
Cannot be on Zoom | Staff meeting on Zoom | |
My kids burst into the room | ||
I never would have | Thank heaven for mute | |
Believed how much it could mean | ||
Speaking face to face | Isaac Flater | |
Marketing Specialist | ||
Shana McClelland | SALT Center | |
Senior Research Administrator | ||
Research, Innovation & Impact | ||
My dress code is nice | ||
Because I’m working from home | ||
The dogs at my feet. | I’m not wearing pants. | |
Waiting for their entrance. Zoom! | ||
Meeting interrupted. | Ding! Buzz! Zoom! Ring! Beep! | |
Multi-tasking is my game. | ||
Alexandra Franz | How may I help you? | |
Administrative Assistant | ||
University Libraries | The phone does not ring. | |
There are no copies to make. | ||
I’m "working" from home. | ||
In PJs or sweats, | ||
A virtual Monet garden | I tried Zoom outdoors | |
Takes my kids to France | Incessant noise from neighbors | |
Now it is too hot | ||
In breakout rooms and | ||
Google docs and Padlet screens | Their school, my school, work. | |
Students still make friends | Brain is bouncing in my head. | |
Where is my coffee? | ||
Can you hear me now? | ||
Students close but far away. | Trying to teach them. | |
Black screens hide their face | I forgot math had letters, | |
But I can still spell. | ||
Heidi Quist | ||
Graduate Assistant | Helping with homework. | |
Department of French and Italian | Mom still rocks geometry. | |
Take that, teenage sons! | ||
Bloopers and hiccups | Lunching on my couch | |
Spotty video and sound | Dog waiting for tasty snacks | |
Just smile. It’s okay! | Drooling on my floor | |
Working from afar | Amy Warren | |
Our resilience is tested | Administrative Assistant | |
Yet we persevere! | Department of Spanish and Portuguese | |
Meg Cota | ||
Assistant Professor of Practice | DRIP DRIP COFFEE NOW | |
Educational Policy Studies and Practice | ZOOM ZOOMS ALL DAY LONG IT SEEMS | |
KIDS SCREAMING… HELP ME | ||
the daily commute | Megan Eagon | |
even that I seem to miss | Manager, Ticketing | |
but not enough though | Centennial Hall | UA Presents | |
focus through a new scope | ||
once was quite invisible | Plugged in life all day | |
is now obsession | Beep Ping Bubble Ding Ring Buzz | |
Technology Loop | ||
revolving seasons | ||
flipping through calendar days | Sam Eagon | |
time is now fluid | Technical Director | |
Centennial Hall | UA Presents | ||
springing from social | ||
to summertime distancing | ||
evolving in fall | Three months, hard pursuit. | |
No Suit. No Rest. And no Hair | ||
thousand one steps round | spring I won’t hold tight. | |
twelve hundred sixty one feet | ||
convenient comfort | Extrovert cooped up. | |
If retirement’s like this, | ||
Andrea Lawyer | Yep, I will be bored. | |
Coordinator, Employee Services | ||
Research, Innovation & Impact | Thomas O. McDonald | |
Chief of Staff | ||
Office of Business Affairs | ||
My kids redefine | ||
“lap-top,” Sorry my email | ||
Read: hhjj | Is this home schooling? | |
I think more like home zooing. | ||
Other essential | Ugh, pay teachers more. | |
Workers: Elmo, Peppa pig | ||
Working mom heroes | Write po-ems from home? | |
Well, only when it is dark. | ||
Leona Davis | My tears? Lyrical. | |
Events and Programs Coordinator | ||
Confluencenter for Creative Inquiry | Andy DuMont | |
Director of Communications | ||
Executive Office of the President | ||
Through the glass – a hawk | ||
Nature penetrates Zoom call | ||
A spray of feathers | I begin speaking | |
Everyone looks on, blankly | ||
Cheryl Gerken | Forgot to unmute | |
Educational Outreach Coordinator | ||
Arizona Public Media | LQP haiku | |
I try and try, but alas | ||
I’m out of syllab | ||
No alarms since March | ||
Hoping to eat out again soon | Andy Ober | |
I miss my coworkers | Assistant Director, News | |
University Communications | ||
Joy Caron | ||
Coordinator, Personnel and Faculty Status | ||
HR Generalist III | Aging parents: Fear | |
Mel and Enid Zuckerman | Silent, empty classrooms: Grief | |
College of Public Health | Hummingbirds: Delight | |
Brenae Bailey | ||
We are all in this | Lecturer | |
The commercials tell me so | Department of Mathematics | |
It's like cubicles | ||
Andy Lewis | isolation angst | |
Executive Assistant | never focused, always hungry | |
Financial Services | Administration | won't return to pants | |
Mikayla Mace | ||
cat sits on the table | Science Writer | |
zoom, write, cook, clean, sit, stand, again | University Communications | |
kitchen universe | ||
Lisa Falk | Alone at my desk | |
Head of Community Engagement and | Cicadas' voices are heard | |
Associate Curator of Education | Can they hear mine too?! | |
Arizona State Museum | ||
Teaching Associate, College of Education | Deborah S. Corcoran | |
Senior Auditor | ||
Internal Audit | ||
Working outdoors now | ||
Mosquitos in my “office” | ||
Getting hot today | it took me two months | |
and still found myself roaming | ||
Snacks in the kitchen | To get to work | |
Computer in the bedroom | ||
Where does my head go | the lost connection | |
Cat is smiling guiltily | ||
I have the best | zoom in and zoom out | |
Coworkers and office mates | ||
Two cats and a dog | Disturbing my writing | |
Someone tries to blind me | ||
Nancy Tepper | Sun at the horizon | |
Garden Kitchen Instructional Specialist | ||
Pima County Cooperative Extension | Ruslan Rafikov | |
Associate Professor of Medicine | ||
Department of Medicine | ||
What is happening? | ||
Learn, accept and find balance | ||
See the world anew | The cat at my feet. | |
The Rincons out my window. | ||
Erin K. Deely | Here I sit, working. | |
Director of Recruitment | ||
College of Science | Cassie Walker | |
Prospect Research Analyst | ||
Development Services | ||
I've always wondered, | ||
can meetings be an email? | ||
We're finding out now! | Gila Monster stroll | |
Love my Sonoran Desert | ||
Scott G. Skinner | Working-from-home views | |
Applications Systems Analyst | ||
Developer, Principal | Betsy Wilkening | |
University Information Technology Services | Education Outreach Coordinator | |
Water Resources Research Center | ||
Morning routine same | ||
Office has changed now | What happened to Spring? | |
Waiting for what's next | Wish it could begin again | |
With no Pandemic | ||
Margie Puerta Edson | ||
Senior Director of Development | Gazing at the door | |
and Alumni Relations | Not missing the morning rush | |
College of Engineering | But I do miss you | |
Nancy Rash | ||
Another day home | Financial Services Specialist | |
Discovering Great things | Financial Services | Payroll | |
I never had time for | ||
I don’t miss the ride. | Spring blossoms blister | |
No traffic is the best part | Electric breeze bears no scent | |
Saving stress and earth | A day without sun | |
When will it all end? | Imprint on closed eyes | |
We must return to normal | Light and dark urgent to-dos | |
Proceed with caution! | Orange cat purring | |
My grandson is here | Glowing faces watch | |
Working on studies and music | Bright song from sole cardinal | |
My home filled with joy | New industry glints | |
My dogs are so glad | Susanna Eden | |
I’m home every day to play | Assistant Director | |
The cat – not so much | Water Resources Research Center | |
Kindness and love abound | ||
Thinking of others is key | Sound is cutting out | |
We’ll all be stronger | Video is way too dark | |
Zoom is the new norm | ||
Tovi Ballesteros | ||
Associate Accountant | Dietlinde B. DuPlessis | |
Planning, Design and Construction | Communications Specialist | |
Lowell Institute for Mineral Resources | ||
Stay out of harm’s way | ||
Zoom is not the same for me | A full day of work | |
I miss my Wildcats | in my pajamas. How nice! | |
Less laundry to do. | ||
Amy Selegue | ||
Program Coordinator, Senior | Roy Goodman | |
University of Arizona Cancer Center | Administrative Associate | |
Student Behavioral Education | ||
Housing and Residential Life | ||
Forced working from home | ||
Was not in my arrangement | ||
But it is working | No quiero pensar | |
Ay, el virus, el virus | ||
Working in pjs | Déjame en paz! | |
Avoid the zoom camera | ||
No hair styling done | I don't want to think | |
Oh, the virus, the virus. | ||
Carol Stuehm | Get off my planet! | |
Clinical Research Coordinator | ||
Department of Medical Imaging | Quieres regresar | |
a la Universidad, | ||
Cuídate pues ya! | ||
Must work from home now | ||
But the fridge is so empty | You want to come back | |
Eating grilled cheese again | to the university | |
take care already! | ||
Kevin Ricotta | ||
Systems Administrator II | Arlene Islas | |
Office of Student Computing Resources | Video Communications Manager | |
University Communications | ||
Mailman strolls up walk | ||
Dog stirs, hackles rise – quick now! | My deadline is nigh | |
Where’s the mute button? | But the fridge, it is right there | |
Cold treats seduce me | ||
URL chains link | ||
colleagues meeting by meeting | Kyle Mittan | |
Through our Zoomiverse | Communications Specialist | |
University Communications | ||
Christine Seliga | ||
Library Operations Supervisor | ||
University Libraries |