Spring Tanka
The first seeds planted
Settle in a cold wet ground
A bit too early in spring.
The seeds and the gardener
Place bets against another frost.
….
The first seeds planted
Settle in a cold wet ground
A bit too early in spring
The seeds and the gardener
Are dusted with cool faint rain.
….
The first seeds planted
Settle in a cold wet ground
A bit too early in spring
Jewelweed and gardener
Both species of impatiens.
….
autumn cold –
watching a coup
slowly melt
Some monk somewhere made slow delicious love to each letter,
holding each word close to his hand, his face, his heart.
Was it the sound of the letter that revealed its intricate shape?
Slowly, after listening and sleeping and waiting for it to speak?
Or did the sound of the whole word open the canvas before him?
The pen was carefully crafted, the nib stroked and stroked again.
The ink was pounded into being,
then left in long curling trails to slowly dry on calfskin.
With these he created creatures which will never be seen elsewhere.
They spin and devour and tangle and do not rest.
But one look at the deer, or the winged ox, the endless dragon, the knotted lion, or the birds, oh the birds,
One look and this creature nests in your mind,
appears in your dream,
or out of the corner of your eye
when you need it close.
Haiku instructions:
Optional: write a few phrases.
Suggestions for opportunities to write haiku:
How to judge haiku:
Thus did haiku save my soul.
A burning sun
slowly going down to drown –
Mogami River
One feather of sunlight
settles on the icy lake
gently gently
.
Spring passes
and the birds cry out – tears
in the eyes of fishes
Where summer walked
oaks stand naked over
crusted rivulets
Theft
The United States is a misnomer
The Destroyed States of the Americas has an honest, forthright, sound.
Countries steal other countries all the time.
England stole my ancestors’ country.
But I don’t live in other countries, I live here,
On the rubble of a civilization so advanced
That Europeans could not even see it.
Here where I live:
Their names: Nipmuc, Mohawk, Nonotuck, Norwottuck, and
Deadly battles with English names: Turners Falls, Springfield, Deerfield, Hatfield.
Out west today, the meager leavings of their land have money-making dirt.
So out they go.
Theft.
This mirror has spots melted into the glass,
Age spots like rust in the upper right hand corner.
The glue holding in the glass is leaking from the frame.
It seemed a good idea at the time,
Buying a mirror at a pawnshop.
.
The mirror is curved; we hadn’t noticed.
So our chins droop down a bit
And our foreheads are long.
We do not use a mirror to see ourselves anyway.
A mirror is a toy for making faces.
.
It is a little too low on the wall and the sink drips.
The overhead light throws unflattering shadows.
Grandma lives there, and a bit of Grandpa;
Sigourny Weaver makes occasional appearances,
As, on bad days, does Mussolini.
.
Can Dorian Gray be somewhere near?
.
….and then the handle fell off
the passenger side,
the car runs fine though.
The blower doesn’t work
except on high,
the car runs fine though.
.
Needs new wipers,
the tires may just last another winter,
it runs just fine.
The window doesn’t quite close
on the driver’s side,
but that’s okay and
A little Bondo will take care of those holes.
.
When it won’t start in Park,
it’s sure to start in Neutral,
If not, it might need a jump start.
Once it gets going,
the car runs fine.
.
Just change the oil,
keep the gas tank full,
use a hanger to prop up the muffler,
and you’ll be fine.
.
