We had a baker's dozen of honorable mention haiku in the 2026 Mu Sigma Rho Statistics and Probability Haiku Contest.
As with the winners there is an international mix of haikuists. Thanks to all participants and a special thanks to our esteemed judges:
Larry Lesser of the University of Texas at El Paso and to David McMurray of the Kagoshima International University, Kyushu, Japan.
Order of haiku listed were randomized.
1. 1 Ernesto Santiago
applied statistics–
beautiful the entire time
first sunrise
2 Vamshika Reddy Bhoomireddygari
cherry blossom spread-
chaotic in its clusters
as the petals fall
4 Robert Serfling Retired
All models are wrong",
George Box said and continued:
"But some are useful".
5 Shawn Boles Oregon Research Institute
origami box
with seventeen careful folds
hiding a haiku
6 Caitlin Walsh Elon University
Numbers test the null
P-value whispers softly
"Doubt what you assume"
7 Grace Harper Elon University
Little did I know
that the data about spread
wasn't about jam
8 Stoianka Boianova Bulgaria
autumn wires
hundreds of black swallows -
only one white
9 Stoianka Boianova, Bulgaria
late summer
thousands of crickets
in one melody
10 Mary Kwasny Northwestern University
Does this seem normal?
Statistically or for real?
Yes, context matters.
11 Mary Kwasny Northwestern University
Showing and spelling
Homoscedasticity
Proves you've had some stats.
12 Andrew Adrian Pua De La Salle University - Manila
Locked up hacking p –
Great, the null is rejected!
Go out, smell the air.
13 Sebastian Chrobak
a daisy
the probability
of her love
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Charles Smith
North Carolina State Univ.
President Mu Sigma Rho
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