Robotics-Related Haiku

One of our school’s english teachers bound an published a book of some of his student’s poetry recently. Max Ahlquist is a senior this year on our team (350, Timberlane HS, Plaistow, NH - “TechnOtus”). Max wrote Haiku about his experiences in FIRST. As a team mentor, having seen what the team has gone through and done over the past several years, and recognizing the common experiences of many FIRST teams, I thought his work could use a more global forum. Enjoy.

                        **Screwdrivers & Laptops**

screwdriver in hand
shapeless metal before me dinner at school
ideas running wild grease to your elbows and chin
where’s that socket wrench?

competititve thought
and engineering know-how motor turning gears
all the tools arranged cogs 'n sprockets working links
chain rotating wheels

many concepts formed
continuing ideas flow code running, lights flash
hours of debate an electrical fire!
sparks fly, rubber melts

armed with a pencil
ideas set in motion code flows from my head
prototyping starts compiling, syntax error!
build hex upload

mock to scale robots
lots of coffee and takeout Victor 884s
nights, dream of robots modified drill transmission
Timberlane robots

                      slight movement forward
                    screwdrivers, laptops ready
                          only time matters