(haiku)
small flower photo
croons and warms my very soul
coffee. haiku. dawn.
big flakes
(haiga)
snowstorm in window
love letters from old boyfriends
hot fireplace toes
[ CLICK ON ABOVE IMAGE ]
snowstorm in window
love letters from old boyfriends
hot fireplace toes
majesty
(haiga)
[ CLICK ON ABOVE IMAGE ]
startled by puppy
great blue heron takes off, flies
pond explodes in awe
startled by puppy
great blue heron takes off, flies
pond explodes in awe
social media
(haiga)
[ CLICK ON ABOVE IMAGE ]
Ant fills his pantry.
Grasshopper wastes time online
like everyone else.
Ant fills his pantry.
Grasshopper wastes time online
like everyone else.
forgotten
I walk to the edge of the forest
I yearn to enter
to explore
Fear!
I am already lost
cannot find my way in and back out again
I am forgotten of the woods
birds sing to each other but know me not
I sit on the curb
next to the car in the hot sun
parking lot
mechanical world
smell of old tar
gasoline
tire screeches
spilled Big Gulps and dead bees
The cool of the forest mocks me with its indifference
on
and on
and on
and on
And I am not in there
and I am not in here
I am lost
I close my eyes
shed my human skin
float into my imagination
It cannot compare
it cannot hold the memories of the cool forest forever
mist of fear
evaporated tears
heated on the pavement
black sticky stinky tar
The new human environment
yet not humane
holds me
yet caresses me not
Educating Malala
The corners of humanity
are turning, in they curl
What kind of world would hold out,
not educate a girl?
Malala! Young, courageous!
I fear your cry's in vain
when others' fathers teach their sons
to war and strive for gain
It's more than education,
compassion, love, and hope;
when still it takes a penis to be
president or pope
earthquake survivor
(haiku)
all shaken awake
how beautiful our earth looks
the poet yet lives, breathes
immortal
on the table
still in shock
the deed is done
the caring doctor
happily cries
"I found it!"
"Would you like to take it home?"
"What?"
"I can save it for you."
conceived but 10 days ago
now aborted
jellied mass
yet identifiable
as human
"No... and thank you for asking."
Haiku Diarist
one day, living
The Haiku Life
newer eyes
write haiku daily
indulge in the written word
the keenest vision
sunrise
stumbling in darkness
climbing over obstacles
dawn reveals mountains
things I see only after perking up
just had my coffee
my eyes are fully opened
"That's dawn! Breaking now!"
things I see only after perking up
just had my coffee
my eyes are fully opened
"That's dawn! Breaking now!"
exercise
I hate my treadmill
exercise works its magic
I love my treadmill
brilliant smile
how to keep smiling
floss! every single day, floss!
did I mention, floss?
brilliant smile
how to keep smiling
floss! every single day, floss!
did I mention, floss?
breakfast
sensible oatmeal
planning out my daily goals
the mourning dove's coo
commuter boredom blues
roadkill distraction
tiger lilies, still in bloom
far too many miles
commuter boredom blues
roadkill distraction
tiger lilies, still in bloom
far too many miles
noon
pausing at lunchtime
red tree near the parking lot
a haiku moment
dinner
how sweet this salad!
nourishing my unborn child
my growing family
sunset
"having really looked,
recorded what touched me most"
poetry journal
midnight
just before midnight,
haiku under the bed... caught!
now, I'll sleep soundly
Muse-ku
(haiku for writers)
What
Time Does Your Muse Cruise?
5:00 a.m.
Dawn Débutante
Dawn draws out my muse.
Her disguise du jour intrigues!
Enchantment resumes...
7:00 a.m.
Sudsy Shower
No pen, for capture,
my muse sings while I shampoo!
Ideas, down the drain...
12:00 a.m.
Midnight Muncher
Late-night snacking muse...
"My, my, my . . . that looks so good!"
Eat, instead of write.
Love Letters
Haiku Inspired
by Letters from Abigail Adams to Her Husband, John
"Alas! How many
snow banks divide thee and me, and my warmest wishes to see thee will not melt
one of them." ~ Abigail Adams
Separation
Snow banks between us!
and all my warmest wishes
will not melt a one :(
"My pen is always
freer than my tongue. I have wrote many things to you that I suppose I never
could have talked." ~ Abigail
Adams
Familiar Pen
Forgive my boldness!
With pen I stroll right on in,
make your heart, my home.
Fable-ous Haiku
Aesop Retold
Ant and
Grasshopper
Ant works to find food.
Grasshopper fiddles all day.
Who'll starve come winter?
Fox and Grapes
Grapes too high to reach?
Fox ignores their sweet fragrance,
they'd taste much too sour!
Tortoise and Hare
Hare napped during race;
Tortoise kept plodding, plodding
past sleeping loser...
Elegy
Reflections on a Twitter Poet's
Passing by Suicide
(haiku)
Mr. Yojimbo
dazzling haiku star!
passion flared through darkest night
poet, flamed and burned
poet, flamed and burned
Summer's Sultry Songs
A Lei of
Haiku
summer's invitation
ocean waves beckon
"Get out of that plastic seat!"
squish your toes in love
summer's heats
sun-bathing beauties
s'mores-sticky marshmallow roasts
no-blanket evenings
summer's neons
fireflies, flashlights, stars,
glowing campfire embers, eyes,
skinny-dipping moon
summer's frights
ghost stories at camp
first-timers hear of "Hook Man"
pee in sleeping bags
summer's frights
ghost stories at camp
first-timers hear of "Hook Man"
pee in sleeping bags
summer's toys
badminton, frisbee,
beach ball, pail, shovel, clam shell,
hot naked body
summer's airs
dawn: mourning dove's coos
noon: kids' playing, screeching squeals
dusk: lovers' drumming
summer's echos
summer's sounds linger
crickets chirping, singing rounds
autumn, be patient
summer's echos
summer's sounds linger
crickets chirping, singing rounds
autumn, be patient
as yet, no sign of spring
(haiku)
marching on the trail
searching in vain for flowers
crunching, rocks and ice
Picture Window Sunbathing
(haiku)
Summer's sun warms me,
brightens my day, though it's just
Winter's, in disguise
Tag-Team Wrestling Play-by-Play
Team "Winter" (February/March) vs. Team "Spring"
(April/May)
"March has a choke-hold!"
"Hang on, April's back, and she's
ripped off Winter's grip!"
caught by poetry
my experiences
try to escape me
I seek to capture the essence of each one
I draw it back to me
pull it close
to be caressed
again and again
until I say
I am ready
to let go
Canvas
Preparing my brain
to paint a fair "poem,"
I check out my pallette,
the colors swim, thinly
I gesso with "ANGER"
and brush smooth the surface
Isn't there room left
for anything more?
I scoop out "COMPASSION"
(a small dab'll do ya)
a pinch of "HOPE" (sprinkle,
conserve "HOPE"—for next time)
I ladle on "SCRIBBLES"
and "PROCRASTINATION"
"A BARK FROM MY PUPPY"
(he's scared of the rain)
Now, add "MY FIRST LOVER"
(the pain, not the kisses)
this "TENDERNESS" comes from
The Gift of the Magi
"TRADITION!" from Fiddler,
"MY ALGEBRA TEACHER"
"THAT PUDDLE I SPLASHED IN"
(I was a sixth-grader)
Some "HUMILIATION
FROM LAUGHING TOO LOUDLY
WHEN ALL OF THE OTHER GIRLS
MOCKED FRAN'S RED LEAKING"
Combined with the whispers:
"SHE LIVES WITH HER GRANDPA"
"THEY ALL LIVE IN TERROR!"
"HE BEATS THEM WHEN DRUNK!"
Oy...
Some "poem" I've made up,
from beating the bushes
of nightmares that haunt me
as I stare, awake
I glare at "INJUSTICE"
What!!!
"COLD, FAITHLESS HUSBANDS"
Why!?!
"MOTHERS FORGETTING
TO TUCK US GOODNIGHT"
...
Things I See Only After Perking Up
(haiku)
Just had my coffee,
my eyes are fully opened.
"That's dawn! Breaking now!"
all in a day's work
you know you're
having a good day as a writer of poetry
when the front of
your shirt is sopping wet
you're so focused
you don't stop to
swipe aside the streaming tears
man kind
when all decide they cannot eat
beside their hungry kin,
when what befalls one, touches all,
then, surely, all will win
both ways
in my next life
I will stop and smell the roses
(without being prompted)
I'll love my neighbor as myself
(it will be obvious)
I'll look before I leap
(who wouldn't?)
I'll mind my p's and q's
and pray the rosary daily
(after mass)
and respect my elders
and let well enough alone
in my next life
I'll get a tattoo
I'll do all things
(in moderation)
I'll give tit for tat
and have no regrets
in my next life
right now
I will love my neighbor
and myself
I'll look both ways before I cross
The Twinkle in My Sky
(haiku)
Lael
my dear, dear, sweet friend
our hearts entwined forever
how much I love you
101 Uses for Friendly Haiku
(a haiku collection)
confidante
haiku believe you
haiku believe you
they keep your darkest secrets
I trust my haiku
under one's breath
counting syllables
under one's breath
counting syllables
takes my mind off my worries
thank God for haiku
tearfalls
get your haiku on
tearfalls
get your haiku on
thunderstorms and flash floods loom
let's protect those hearts
stern haiku
my haiku calls me,
stern haiku
my haiku calls me,
sets me down for a lecture
"Pay close attention!"
vision
stoked
haiku fire me up!
vision
haiku describes it,
opens your mind's eye to life:
mourning dove calls dawn
stoked
haiku fire me up!
imagine, little engines,
stoked with intentions
poetry marketplace
"Haiku! Perfect for
poetry marketplace
"Haiku! Perfect for
hanging your tears out to dry!"
I'll take a dozen
clean-up crew
suddenly, haiku
clean-up crew
suddenly, haiku
spring from the depths of my soul
toting love's sweet shards
haiku whisk broom
cleaning out my heart
haiku whisk broom
cleaning out my heart
sweep out shards of love's desire
haiku tidies up
comfort-food poem
it's been a long day
comfort-food poem
it's been a long day
give me the Haiku Special
extra whipped cream, please
it keeps
leftover haiku
it keeps
leftover haiku
always deliciously fresh
warms up by itself
poetry photoshoot
fully-dressed novels
poetry photoshoot
fully-dressed novels
short stories, modestly draped
full-frontal haiku
birds of a feather
innocent haiku
birds of a feather
innocent haiku
rounded up with the others
wrong place and wrong time
pamper your haiku
feed haiku with love
pamper your haiku
feed haiku with love
walk your haiku every day
show haiku you care
47 obituaries
after I read your obituary
I exhaled
now I can walk into ShopRite
without expecting to see your face at the end of the
coffee aisle
now I can turn onto Spring Street at dusk
without thinking Was that your silhouette in front of the
parking meter!?!
now I can answer the phone
without thinking you might have finally found me...
but that was not your obituary
that was a
different lover
<catching my breath>
three down,
maybe forty-four
obituaries to go
Spring Mirage
At the outer limits
of what I could stand
of winter
With the same desperation
as the desert wanderer
who stumbles upon an oasis
and drinks heartily
I saw a robin
My "MICA" Child
(Ode to My "Mentally Ill, Chemically Addicted" Loved One)
I've seen many horrors
I've seen many horrors
But few can compare
With the look in your eyes
When you just don't care
You stand blank before me
No joy on your face
Anxiety hovers
Wherever you pace
Depression consumes you
You hide in your room
My grief knows no limits
Your fate? Death, your doom?
There's no way to help you
You have to decide
You can fight all your troubles
Or not, you can hide
I wait it out, hopeful
I celebrate now
Today you're still breathing
Will you survive? How?
Prayer to Saint Jude
(haiku)
booze has lost its kick
memories haunt and won't let go
there is no escape
Life Is Not a Dress Rehearsal
When now I look back at the dreams I had early
My great expectations, to live a full life
To experience tugging the edges of possible
Learning and loving and giving and strife
I'd invent grand new plans as I worked toward my future
I'd reach for new heights, give great effort, and thanks
I'd achieve my best hopes, and my peers would acknowledge
We'd made the world nicer, we'd closed up the ranks
And while I was waiting for my little curtain
To rise, I'd rehearse all my lines, so I'd shine
I'd press neat my costume and do my own make-up
And fuss with my props and insist I was fine
I argued the plot with the cast, the director
I sulked in my dressing room, far from the stage
I could not see myself in this role I was destined
To play, I would write my own script, as a sage
I auditioned each morning for new roles I wanted
In plays that had not yet seen light of day
I vaguely felt certain the course for my action
Would start, any minute, I'd know what to say
As I read the reviews of my peers in their roles
Their astounding successes, their families, careers
Their latest falls downhill, after such greatness
Retired, now grandparents, years upon years
I feel kind of jealous, like I missed my calling
But lately I realize I never did start
While all those around me were playing society
I sought perfection, deep down in my heart
Never did I think I'd ever have trouble
In finding my place in the world as a star
But I've stumbled blindly, alone and in circles
And missing my mark, I can now see how far
winter stampede
(haiku)
bread, milk, eggs, water
panicked shoppers clear the shelves
rumors of snow storm
patience
(haibun)
As my son undergoes treatment in a residential facility
designed to aid the MICA (mentally ill, chemically addicted) client, I sit at
home, writing haiku, waiting to hear some positive news from either his
therapist or from my son himself. I revisit our path, the one we have traveled
together through life thus far.
I search for signs that this nightmare is soon to be over,
that his recovery is within sight, that we will be happily reunited, that we
will take a moment next year at this time to give thanks for continued
progress, that Thanksgiving will take on a new meaning, as a milestone in
living, not just in sobriety, but in creating a new and wonderful life full of
the possibilities of summer.
I wait by the phone, to hear happy news.
pawing through the snow
looking for spring, signs of life
nothing but dead leaves
the empty nest
there are worse ways
to spend your life
than trapped
with the person who
once made you happy
sleep
if you once ever
stopped for a
second
in the middle of
your hurt
feeling quite
misunderstood
and wronged
and oppressed
even
and had such dark
thoughts
of being hated
despised
looked on as
ignorant
stupid
hopelessly
incorrigible
dirty
you felt like no
one wanted to touch you
smell you
everyone wished
you had not been born
nor any of
your ilk
and you began to think to yourself
I am beginning to
think
I understand
what it must be
like
to hear the n word
shot in my
direction
like a flaming
poisoned arrow
straight at my
heart
and smash into
smithereens my s e n s e
of m e
and then
you sat up
relaxed
and felt proud of yourself
for having
succeeded
in finally o
p e n
i n g
your mind
you smiled
went to bed
went to sleep
and f o
r g o
t . . .
until I just now reminded you of your moment of righteous
realization that you are now fully
o p
e n -
m i n
d e d
go back to sleep
for you are not open-minded
when you wake up
still without a clue
come back here
I will kiss you on both cheeks
and s
t i l
l this will not wake you up
when you do wake
you will not rest
if you did know
you could not sleep
while I cry
you.
will.
not.
sleep.
w
h
i
l
e
I
c
c
r
y
y
Spring Love Dance
(haiku)
Oh, beautiful fir!
Two birds, dancing their love dance
Their nest, in your boughs
Town Crier
(haiku)
Hark! My heart quickens...
My Mourning Dove calls, "Here's Spring!"
Spring! Here, at long last!
The New Kid on the Writer's Block
I hate when my characters
Start to play "Freeze Tag"
They might be in mid-stride
They suddenly freeze
No, I can't make them giggle
I can't make them fall
I can't make them talk
Can't move them at all
It's a child's game, you see
A fool's game, on me
They want to be set free
They hover, in glee
They wait for a tap
The signal to run
The signal to play
They're just having fun
But I am not "It"
It's not me they obey
So this game, it goes on
It might go on all day
I watch them, all poised
I see their next step
But refusing to take it
They whisper, "Not yet"
We wait 'til the Muse
Makes her rounds, sets them free
She'll touch each one's shoulder
They'll run home, to me
Rocks in Place
I watch the horizon
Emerging at dawn
I don't see the rocks
Posing there on the lawn
My eyes are drawn high
Way, way up, to the sky
To the clouds, to the sun
To the day's chance of fun!
Mere rocks stand no chance
Of a mention in verse
Look ahead to what's best!
Just ignore what is worse
Sullen rocks crouch down low
Though embraced by the dew
They hide bits of earth
On a bare spot, or two
Amidst the green leaves
Of the grasses, the
hue
Of pink flowers
And red, and bright orange, and blue!
Lowly rocks, go to sleep
No one cares about you
My heart wants to soar
Seeking yellows, and more!
Dawn's light, my delight,
Comes now slowly in view
Little rocks on the ground
Silent, dull... Still around?
Just don't make a sound
My eyes scan the skies
See the clouds
Singing loud
Day, at last!
Wonders vast!
Hope for joy!
Life's a toy!
Play, and say,
Life's a blast!
Boring rocks
Have no place
Show no grace
Still exist?
They've no face
I ignore
Boring rocks
Underfoot
Blocking light
Which gives life
To more grass
And more flowers
More color
More alive
More soaring, gliding, dawning, wondering joy!
chemical bondage
(haiku)
fighting addiction
I feel like I'm endlessly
rumbling with wolf packs
(written in sympathy with those struggling to survive chemical bondage)
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