haiku (archived 2009-11-12)

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• through the dead of night ~ the remote conversations ~ of neighborhood dogs

• in a thousand words ~ ghost-written on blank paper ~ essay on "silence"

• basking in the moon ~ my second chance for sunlight ~ having slept all day

• vietnam vet sits ~ by his box, wipes the spit off ~ like when he came home

• forgets her name twice ~ blowing his second chance at ~ a first impression

• small boy at the beach ~ in his hand, a million years ~ of ocean pebbles

• my private raindance ~ sorrows dropping from the sky ~ into the desert

• wrapped around themselves ~ in the dark back row, they miss ~ the second feature

• he closes his eyes ~ and air tickles his palm as ~ the hummingbird lands

• still dressed as skeletons ~ long after Halloween ends ~ the trees without leaves

• cat back from the sun ~ slinks back through the prison bars ~ to warm his cold hands

• before he wakes up ~ the stars replace the lost dreams ~ the night has stolen

• dropping from a cross ~ a spider leaves his sanctum ~ starts walking on air

~

haiku (archived 2009-11-06)

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• drinking in the park ~ homeless man writes poetry ~ talking to the birds

• in the hospital ~ listening to the beeping ~ of his tell-tale heart

• reading Poe at night ~ hearing a tap-tap-tapping... ~ rain on the window

• frozen in the sky ~ watching the snowflakes dancing ~ falling star escapes

• ghosts of butterflies ~ swirl past unopened cocoons ~ riding on snowflakes

• the bright voyeur moon ~ quietly peeks in my room ~ then sneaks dead away

• to run in the wind ~ not knowing that heartbreaks ~ are but luxuries

• the echoing drip ~ from a hidden waterfall ~ the cavern's music 

• the dark clouds lighten ~ after dropping their troubles ~ on the backs of trees

• lying on my chest ~ warming my soul while he sleeps ~ God's purring machine

• from street-lit caverns, ~ gutters dripping waterfalls... ~ night rains of music

• she and I alike, ~ tossing pebbles in the stream ~ ripples meet sometimes

• I'm watching her dream ~ from thousands of miles away ~ laying next to me

• cold, crisp morning light ~ shining bright on my worries ~ making them sleepy

• The bad dogs of words ~ never coming when you call ~ knowing the way home

• they all chose the blue ~ but inside his quiet heart ~ he held a green stone

• like shards of sharp glass ~ reflecting a thousand suns, ~ my brave broken heart...

• it is hardly fair ~ that he can both sing and fly ~ while I watch, earthbound

• first time seeing snow, ~ ferret catches a snowflake ~ and it disappears...

• dreams tap my shoulder ~ my door creaks itself open ~ the sky says "up here..."

• scratching at the door ~ with a realistic dead mouse ~ yowling trick or treat

• so quickly, snowflakes ~ asking me why? then melting ~ before I can speak

• tattered, edges frayed ~ I pull it over your pain ~ my heart's worn blanket

• to face the dark ~ and yet, at the last moment ~ not turn away

• thief in my pockets ~ ferret steals my wallet while ~ picking my heart's lock

• native girl praying ~ for the forest animals ~ before the storm comes

• we are God's canvass ~ on which He fingerpaints life ~ beaming like a child

• still filled with water ~ her vase of wilted roses ~ and his unread card

• morning shivering, ~ the roaring night burns out ~ blurry-eyed star winks

• little deaf girl sings ~ two sparrows sing harmony ~ on the fence, unseen

~

haiku (archived 2009-10-12)

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• I search for myself ~ with lights from a billion stars ~ and a pitch-black mind

• a giant pearl shines ~ while colored stars rest on sand ~ an ocean of sky

• the words locked inside ~ patient, waiting for release ~ in perfect haiku

• my clouded mind cools ~ the ice thaws and I release, ~ falling as fresh rain

• coming from his rounds, ~ spectres gone, he warms his feet ~ with fur soaked in sun

• raven sees my tears ~ "do not worry, life's a joke" ~ flies away laughing

• psychedelic pond ~ orange frogs splashing! ~ Bashō ate mushrooms #BashingBashōhaiku

• a blind woman ~ listening to an email ~ seeing her new dog

• silent house asleep ~ glowing eyes with tail held low ~ shooing away ghosts

• all ferrets sleeping ~ cherubs, who could have never ~ destroyed the whole house...

• she looks at her face ~ in a charcoal drawing hung ~ next to the mirror

• single snowflake drops ~ extinguishing the candle ~ pumpkin stops smiling

• from a great distance ~ snow falling on breaking waves ~ blending with seagulls

• tiny meteor ~ crashes through NASA's window ~ note: "take that" - the moon

• woman with black eye ~ tells the waiting room proudly ~ that she was beat up

• the symphony starts ~ the first crescendo of rain ~ sounding on the grass

• from the trunks of trees ~ moss watching the floating leaves -- ~ deep green with envy

• reading people's tweets ~ like picking out a new life ~ from a catalog

• faraway sirens ~ the neighborhood dogs howling -- ~ then silence wakes me

• homeless, babbling ~ hassling passers-by, staggers ~ daring them to care

~

haiku (archived 2009-10-06)

~

I keep waiting
for her pain to be gone
but it is never gone
because the pain is me
and I am always here
waiting

~

• funeral of leaves ~ falling, beautiful corpses ~ painted faces smile

• chill-damp twilight fog ~ ghosts of fallen leaves rising, ~ downed by midnight winds

• with my pocket knife ~ I cut a haiku open ~ and shook the words out

• near a quiet lake, ~ a lonesome monk plays his flute... ~ the loons cry with him 

• in our mind's eye ~ fragile snapshots of memories, - blurred by forgetting

• Bashō's twitter stream ~ uploads picture to yFrog... ~ comes up 404 #BashingBashōhaiku

• doomsday calendar ~ what if Mayans just got bored ~ stopped at 2012?

• this sweet, sweet morning ~ I felt so romantical ~ all the roses blushed #makeupaword

• past summer nights ~ hearing millions of crickets ~ seeing none of them

• the missus asleep, ~ sneak out with wine and french bread... ~ affair with the birds

• spending my whole life ~ accepting impermanence ~ to die in one day

• so disapproving, ~ watching them enjoy their lives ~ like we used to do...

• hot air balloons rise ~ flames lift flimsy plastic bags... ~ those crazy bastards

• the heart in my chest ~ ignored, abused, and broken -- ~ suddenly attacks!

• overhead, while I drive ~ I watch the clouds follow me ~ I stop, they head west http://twitpic.com/k5nqr

• deep into twilight ~ sitting in a grape juice sky ~ vanilla moonpie

• hidden by the sun... ~ but tonight, behind the clouds ~ she's naked with stars

• honey-toast sunrise... ~ iridelicious skysweet ~ solar breakfast time #makeupaword 

• mass ascention ~ balloons, the rising faithful ~ touch His holy chin

• Bashō by old pond ~ frog hops up, gives him a kiss ~ "Wrong story, frog.." ptuey! #BashingBashōhaiku

• dirty glass, it is ~ specks and smears, day-old water ~ still half full, waiting...

• to be the worst horse ~ broken, beaten - and carry ~ buddha's compassion

• our body and mind ~ that we die and do not die ~ not one, and not two

• in total darkness ~ he paints with perfect brush strokes ~ undreamt dreams of her

• faraway sirens ~ the neighborhood dogs howling -- ~ then sudden silence

• old woman's wheelchair ~ rusted fan in the window ~ neither one turning

• homeless, babbling ~ hassling passers-by, staggers ~ dares them to notice

• the coming winter ~ the sound of new-falling snow ~ in leaves crinkling...

• his worn, broken heart ~ too frail for midnight kisses - ~ beating just the same...

• lost in memories, ~ behind those beautiful eyes ~ she is somewhen else

• just before the dawn ~ the stars cease their shimmering ~ so the night can sleep

• a black shape moving ~ in the corner of my eye ~ dog I used to have

• the battery chirps ~ but I do not plug it in ~ waiting for last rites

• upload love sequence: ~ sparked motherboard triggered by ~ acrylic key taps

~

At The Zoo (written 2009-09-26)

~

• wrinkled dusty eyes ~ giant legs chained to the ground ~ statues eating hay

• in too small jungles ~ cheetahs pace along the fence, ~ eyes closed, sleepwalking...

• an eagle dreaming ~ trapped behind chain-link fences ~ flight feathers twitching

• like lifeless paintings, ~ motionless reptiles freeze... ~ children tap on glass

• the fence divides them ~ giraffes stretch their neck and tongues ~ eat each other's trees

• penguins in plastic ~ glide in circular oceans ~ one way, then the next... 

• forlorn pack of wolves ~ sleeping out in the open ~ flies buzz 'round their heads

• across cement floors ~ chipmunks scurry past lions, ~ unafraid of them

• chimpanzee and boy ~ with plexiglass in between ~ trying to touch hands

• begging grizzly bears, ~ having forgotten salmon, ~ prefer stale donuts

• with wing feathers cut ~ conures, banded with numbers ~ screaming with boredom

• ancient tortoises ~ hiding from indignity ~ blend in with the rocks

• gates locked, stars above ~ all the captured innocents ~ dream with uncaged souls

~

haiku (archived 2009-09-24)

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• rosebloom theater ~ taking one last curtain call ~ outside my window

• origami swan ~ pristine folds faded yellow ~ love note sits inside...

• painter, so intense ~ thinking colors, brushes, light.. ~ vase got up and left 

• no wings in heaven ~ when asking for mine, God said ~ "Believe you can fly..."

• twitter haiku stream ~ a three shift assembly line ~ I feel like Lucy

• framed by leaveless trees ~ mountainside falls stop white-blue ~ winter bites the gorge

• a painting of fall ~ bound with paper on the floor ~ a rat gnaws the string

• ripped them up, she did ~ poems my heart bled in pencil ~ thirty long years gone

• fall takes a deep breath ~ holds it till noon, then exhales ~ warming its cold hands

• down in dark basements ~ the furnace dragons hiss ~ breathing small blue flames

• roasting marshmallows ~ hungry kid with no patience ~ sugar flames on sticks

• no wisdom in this... ~ stiff back, knee pain, and the mind ~ a rusted steel trap /

• empty-lot jungles ~ the weeds disturbed by movement ~ wind stalking its prey

• through diesel horn blasts, ~ and cars linking on steel tracks ~ bums sleep like the dead

• my proud young lion, ~ I know you're tired from hunting - ~ come dream in my lap...

• overbloomed roses, ~ their pink petals edged in brown ~ matching the foxtail

• how she sees herself ~ as His cricket, one last song ~ before the winter (to @HIScricket )

• to pray upon hope, ~ to prey upon hopelessness ~ two different Korans

• I care not for stars... ~ infinite space between them, ~ hidden by daylight

• radiant diamond ~ faceted glint of promise ~ blinding clarity

• the furious moon... ~ sweeping oceans side to side, ~ blotting out the sun

• in the race for krill ~ gliding underneath ice floes ~ penguins drubbed the seals

 ~ #BashingBashōhaiku ~

• frog hops out of pond ~ eats Bashō's lunch, Bashō mad - writes "to hell with frogs." // #BashingBashōhaiku

• wife on vacation ~ Bashō sits in jacuzzi ~ blond girl jumps in - SPLASH! ;) // #BashingBashōhaiku

• Bashō drinking wine ~ can't find pond, passes out cold ~ raccoon steals sandals // #BashingBashōhaiku

• quiet ancient pond ~ no frogs yet, just small tadpoles ~ Bashō twiddles thumbs... // #BashingBashōhaiku

• at the ancient pond ~ young frog dives, hits a rock - SPLAT! ~ Bashō shakes his head... // #BashingBashōhaiku

• @NotOneNotTwo smirks... ~ but sneaking up behind him - ~ Bashō holding club. // #BashingBashōhaiku

~

haiku (archived 2009-09-18)

~

• afraid of the dark ~ little girl asleep, the moon ~ holding her night light

• pads sore, mistreated ~ thirsty and tired, dodging cars ~ tags jingling freedom

• black morphs into blue ~ gradients of clouds appear ~ night fades into sky

• heartfelt, lovesick poems ~ once sent by perfumed letters ~ now love at first tweet

• love is a specter ~ a penny floating in air ~ always there... always (r.i.p. Patrick Swayze)

• cataract windows ~ paint cracking, screen door askew ~ roof crying with rain
  
• green breaking away ~ white snubs red, black cheats on blue ~ rainbow's falling out..

• only rules in life... ~ experience everything ~ change without harming 

• sitting by the pond ~ Bashō falls sound asleep - Splash! ~ all frogs heard laughing

• old pond, frog jumps in ~ Bashō, suddenly inspired.. ~ Splash! drops his pencil

• near the ancient pond ~ drinking his sake - "Bashō!" ~ wife calling loudly

• to be or not to ~ Shakespeare never considered ~ there might be choice three

• "where were you that day?" ~ "it don't matter, my brother ~ all of us were there..." (for 911)


• on dirty sidewalks ~ awkward pigeons take to flight ~ startled into grace
  

~

 

haiku (archived 2009-09-10)

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• a mouse in shadows ~ hiding from a nescient world ~ wide-eyed soul trembling..

• on dirty sidewalks ~ awkward pigeons take to flight ~ startled into grace

• spread out on clotheslines ~ split-tail wooden birds perching ~ swaying with the breeze

• sometimes late at night ~ I doze off watching TV... ~ then it watches me

• in silent shallows, ~ underneath swirling currents ~ oysters hide their pearls

• my soul, rain snow streams ~ streams into rivers, rivers ~ to the sea of you (inspired by @urbancrafter)

• the moon holds the light ~ while the sun sneaks off to flirt... ~ twinkling stars giggle

• gargoyles of strong words ~ crouched fiercely on my shoulders ~ guarding my silence

• you have it, don't you? ~ the tail of my kite-shaped heart ~ infatuation

• pencil upside-down ~ endlessly erasing lines ~ between you and I

• wheelchairs, canes, wrinkles ~ enclosed in their exhibits ~ unliving in zoos

• eggs wait, late for work ~ expensive TV too loud ~ reading about monks...

• mysteriously ~ bees disappearing worldwide ~ no bonnets missing..

• his heart and a rose ~ fell from his hand, bewildered ~ watching them kissing..

• kings in palaces, ~ beggars, drinking the same tea ~ from different cups

~

haiku (archived 2009-09-06)

~

• front paws down, tongues out ~ canine jesters for no one ~ kings of the dog park

  

• the falling of rain.. ~ droplets becoming prisms ~ crash-diving in mud

• towels on the clothesline ~ colorful banners streaming ~ announcing the day

• night shift moon waiting ~ sunrise yawning and stretching ~ day shift birds punch in

• noisy birds flitting ~ impatiently, branch to branch ~ feeder hangs empty

• in the dark he reads ~ a book that only he knows ~ mind turning pages

• french quarter street lamp ~ old man plays a beat-up sax ~ "da notes, dey jess shiine.."

• only those knights armed ~ with soft words and open hands ~ slay angry dragons

• hummingbird darting ~ sees his mirrored reflection ~ a heartbeat too late

• a small tree, stunted, ~ sun-scorched; pale green buds hoping ~ for the sweat of clouds

• trajectory off ~ staring carcass, plumage singed ~ grid loses power

• at the zoo, first date ~ holding her for the first time ~ animals cheering

• standing in your heart, ~ I step in the hole he left ~ ...feel myself falling

• the reeds long decayed, ~ saxophones in museums.. ~ John Coltrane lives on

• they're searching for peace ~ using bombs, as if buried ~ underneath rubble...

• unnoticed, struggling ~ a writhing ant slowly dies... ~ thoughtlessly placed steps

• monk facing the wall ~ body practicing zazen ~ while his mind dances...

• so suspiciously, ~ questioning all the answers... ~ never the questions

• a forgotten book ~ yellowed, in a box waiting ~ laptop recharges

• frayed wires touching ~ positive to negative ~ tripping love's breaker

• very hard to tell.. ~ either crickets or the music ~ are off their rhythm

• ((A + B) * 2) ~ * 10³ ~ solution: quit math

• solar flare kicks up ~ rise and decay of the sun ~ dying giant spits

• I'm not the first one ~ to have this difficulty, ~ just first time this life

• angry, desperate ~ proud and ashamed ~ withdrawing, reaching...

• just like evening stars... ~ all the same, all different ~ voices of crickets

• in the daylight sky ~ invisible stars shimmer ~ behind the cloudbanks

• black and white jumping ~ two old men playing checkers ~ two kids twirling rope

• beautiful bare feet ~ pretty lady with a cane ~ wears pain on her face

• zen is very much ~ like noticing the slash mark ~ in between two/words

• thoughtless wind frees them ~ twirling ghosts pass ancient eyes ~ he and leaves are one

• and if I wouldn't die ~ would I still sit near the sun ~ like I dare today?


• each tweet, a ripple ~ butterflies above the pond ~ causing hurricanes

• traffic lights changing ~ the wind swings them back and forth ~ flipping plastic cups

• each of us living ~ intrepid and cowardly ~ like fat men dancing

• the cracks in my heart ~ repaired by time's arteries ~ drop, by drop, by drop..

• never expecting ~ changes in your stagnant life ~ does not hinder them

• sleeping through my life ~ warm and safe, caught up in dreams ~ God yanks the covers

• lights, slow sensor beeps ~ the room clock synchronizes ~ with my traitor heart

• singed fur, lifeless eyes ~ subhuman evil giggles ~ tiny voices mewl

• seventh-story glass ~ stares out for a hundred miles ~ and whispers to stars

• squealing rubber burns ~ subwoofers rattle windows ~ drowned-out crickets sing

• without a pink slip ~ mountainous old-growth forest ~ is given the axe

• just one little me ~ looking at the world so big, ~ wondering so wide.. 

• after the rain stops ~ trees blow-dry their soaking leaves ~ with solar power

• human saline drips ~ in the cracks between the keys ~ circuit board encroached

• whirring, clicking buzz ~ electromechanical ~ lights blink "One Free Play"

• phone to satellite ~ thousand mile round trip to say ~ "hold on a minute..."

• who needed it more? ~ the starlet with sultry eyes ~ or dead chinchillas..

• "made in His image" ~ photoshopped, resized and cropped ~ malformed artifacts

• our purpose in life ~ taken so seriously ~ God's television

~