Haikus at Writing Retreat 2025

In an effort to engage with our research creatively and convey projects in abstract but concise form, we have a surprisingly long standing tradition of writing haikus. Despite some initial trepidation, the team came through with some absolute gems, from the insightful to the whimsical.

Manisha –

Bulbous eyes staring
No will to strike at cockroach
I implore you, eat!

Mech beetles open
Surprise! It shines bright blue true
Magpie don’t worry

Shiny bugs dazzle
Do they though – everywhere?
I hope they still do

Min –

A slithering snake
Swift and fast in the bushes
Blink and it is gone!

Laura –

Nice fiddler beetles
They shine so bright like opals
But dude! What are they?

Green fiddler beetles
Two-point-five-D crystals, what?
Yeah, I am lost too..

Devi –

Crystalline pteridines
Got big bucks to explore them
But they don’t exist

Avichal –

Baked in heat beetle
Will it ever try to cool
Die, you sad buffoon

Alexis –

Fight or flight or freeze
Or any combo of these
How do they survive?

P. beata larvae
Attacked by scary forceps
How do colours change?

Black, yellow, and red
These beetles look poisonous
But are they really?

Many defences
In a froggy’s arsenal
Do they correlate?

Ayush –

Spiders shine in webs
Luring their insect prey
Day and night they shine

Green is a lizard
The hawk comes around
Makes friends with it soon

Tarani –

Feeding bugs to mantis
Or their legs get sampled off
Die, or I’ll kill you

My bugs, warn them foes
Weird reds prevail on them blues
Race to signal more

Chenyue –

Birds build nests with care
Nests shaped by environment
Survive climate change

Katrina –

Matte or glossy trap
To which will the beetle come?
Glossy in the sun

Kei-Lin –

Butterflies are cool
When they have warning colours
Please diversify

Why don’t my code work
It takes forever to run
Always suffering

Shiny bugs heat up
Due to body size not hue
Though males are more blue

My chapter got scooped
But that is okay because
It was negative

Mia –

Beetles are so cool
How can you not look at them,
Haven’t you seen them shine?