Haiku and Other Forms
Mexicans pulling
invasive alien weeds--
iced tea by the pool*
the slamming screen door--
what it keep out is nothing
to what it lets in*
black grease on her cheek
lipstick on the mechanic--
each wiping it off*
blurry photo
sparks sharp memory--
when peaches bloomed*
legs lost in field-grass
a blue heron in the rain
fishing for crickets*
*versions of the above appeared in Eastern Structures No. 4
I admire those who are able to actually write poetry in a second language. Though composition seems nearly impossible, I thought I’d try to translate at least one haiku of my own into Italian. As can be seen, the 5-7-5 syllable count did not survive the transition.
empty fireplace camino vuoto
long since no one to keep warm— da tempo, nessuno da mantenere caldo--
some sleep on cardboard questi sonno su cartone
without noticing
setting the table for one--
winter rain
for inspiration
two old poets at pond’s edge--
they split a melon
a nice little kid
named for two presidents—but
even cactus blooms
spring bloomers bloomed out
it can’t be global warming…
ah climate change ah
this small stream runs down
to join one equally small
dam—last election
almost returned now
this log to the forest floor
I straggle on past
this great log of beech
the roots torn up with their earth--
bent before no storm
cold crows on a wire
wear the same black one and all
facing the same way
the flat earth receives
the so-called moon in autumn--
waining love waining
something’s in the air (upon finding a heart-shaped patch of bark removed by a beaver)
that’s causing beaver fever--
a Valentine tree
the Easter Bunny
is slower than the turtles
on their sunny log
the prosperous sit (tanka)
in a lonely pavilion
to watch their rice grow--
but I have your company
though I offer you nothing
stitching the hedge…gone
a cabbage white butterfly--
twitched curtains fall back
there’s needles and pins
when a porcupine marries
his trouble begins
church crowds at Easter—
though my dog thinks I am God
the cat knows better
for all our dog’s life
he’s chased cars in the dust--
what now he’s caught one?
a bud a thin blade
though obedient to wind
break through very earth
Lo! the poor girl who
married a frog thinking he
was the Prince of Prague
too close together
weeping cherries break out pink--
come up in the weeds
dropping on high slopes
geese flew over the mountains
frozen in their flight
no roots no stems—bright
with all that it does not have
moss owns this old log
no tune comes to mind
but the owl’s hoo-hoo hoo-hoo--
passing the graveyard
hoarse long in the tooth
shabbily dressed in work clothes--
the broken mirror
wishing on June’s moon
the chance that true love comes—low
astronomically
the bald eagle’s nest
gives a wren its safe crevice--
a stage-door Jenny
high-school choir concert
pure sopranos shaky bass--
buds of magnolia
evening swifts are out
twittering what they call news--
let's call it a day
Let it all hang out
heap your insults on my head--
lizard in the sun
all the time laughing
adding wings to everything--
chillie-peppers
legs lost in field-grass
a blue heron in the rain
fishing for crickets
a hummingbird darts
in the cardinal-flowers--
girls approaching boys
waiting for her flight
how slowly the figs ripen
as strangers pass by
the creek's drying roots—
where water never runs now
a ten-foot gully
packed-up and ready
off to university--
mushrooms overnight
a two-inch-deep stream
in its three-foot bed of stone--
the dog gnaws his bone
all the trees dying
where bicycles skinned their roots--
enjoying nature
the last warbler
just before going extinct
sips from a leaf-tip
wrestle and rustle
gusts of wind in forest leaves --
both taking the fall
starlings in a tree--
along the cement sidewalk
a skateboard crackles
crushing the red grapes
in hope and perspiration--
to be set aside
the earth is depressed
twice one year’s Niagra fell--
depressing Houston
muddy trash can
crushed by a kick in the groin--
welfare office
the newest talent
stage-door johnnies sing their praise--
dogs on a meat truck
orphaned elders left
amid the flood’s after-wreck
with paper towels
set out cross country
bush-whacking it all the way--
woolly-bear's last march
Haiku and Senryu which appeared in R.W. Watkins' Eastern Structures
waiting for her flight
how slowly the figs ripen
as strangers pass by
such well-worn carpet
at the air-arrivals gate--
we all stand to wait
papers dance about
clouds hunch over hunkered hills
the storm’s leading edge
old stories of ghosts sub. 5-18 Heron’s Nest, rej., sub E.Str. 8-18, acc. for issue #7
backed by a scimitar moon
crickets and crickets
out bothering God
the pack of huskies shuts up
when the door opens
gaze down on London
black beetles line up and march--
bobbing umbrellas
dangling from her mouth
the one mouse she ever caught--
what to do with it?
a murder of crows
a crocodile of children
a family of mice
invasive alien weeds--
iced tea by the pool*
the slamming screen door--
what it keep out is nothing
to what it lets in*
black grease on her cheek
lipstick on the mechanic--
each wiping it off*
blurry photo
sparks sharp memory--
when peaches bloomed*
legs lost in field-grass
a blue heron in the rain
fishing for crickets*
*versions of the above appeared in Eastern Structures No. 4
I admire those who are able to actually write poetry in a second language. Though composition seems nearly impossible, I thought I’d try to translate at least one haiku of my own into Italian. As can be seen, the 5-7-5 syllable count did not survive the transition.
empty fireplace camino vuoto
long since no one to keep warm— da tempo, nessuno da mantenere caldo--
some sleep on cardboard questi sonno su cartone
without noticing
setting the table for one--
winter rain
for inspiration
two old poets at pond’s edge--
they split a melon
a nice little kid
named for two presidents—but
even cactus blooms
spring bloomers bloomed out
it can’t be global warming…
ah climate change ah
this small stream runs down
to join one equally small
dam—last election
almost returned now
this log to the forest floor
I straggle on past
this great log of beech
the roots torn up with their earth--
bent before no storm
cold crows on a wire
wear the same black one and all
facing the same way
the flat earth receives
the so-called moon in autumn--
waining love waining
something’s in the air (upon finding a heart-shaped patch of bark removed by a beaver)
that’s causing beaver fever--
a Valentine tree
the Easter Bunny
is slower than the turtles
on their sunny log
the prosperous sit (tanka)
in a lonely pavilion
to watch their rice grow--
but I have your company
though I offer you nothing
stitching the hedge…gone
a cabbage white butterfly--
twitched curtains fall back
there’s needles and pins
when a porcupine marries
his trouble begins
church crowds at Easter—
though my dog thinks I am God
the cat knows better
for all our dog’s life
he’s chased cars in the dust--
what now he’s caught one?
a bud a thin blade
though obedient to wind
break through very earth
Lo! the poor girl who
married a frog thinking he
was the Prince of Prague
too close together
weeping cherries break out pink--
come up in the weeds
dropping on high slopes
geese flew over the mountains
frozen in their flight
no roots no stems—bright
with all that it does not have
moss owns this old log
no tune comes to mind
but the owl’s hoo-hoo hoo-hoo--
passing the graveyard
hoarse long in the tooth
shabbily dressed in work clothes--
the broken mirror
wishing on June’s moon
the chance that true love comes—low
astronomically
the bald eagle’s nest
gives a wren its safe crevice--
a stage-door Jenny
high-school choir concert
pure sopranos shaky bass--
buds of magnolia
evening swifts are out
twittering what they call news--
let's call it a day
Let it all hang out
heap your insults on my head--
lizard in the sun
all the time laughing
adding wings to everything--
chillie-peppers
legs lost in field-grass
a blue heron in the rain
fishing for crickets
a hummingbird darts
in the cardinal-flowers--
girls approaching boys
waiting for her flight
how slowly the figs ripen
as strangers pass by
the creek's drying roots—
where water never runs now
a ten-foot gully
packed-up and ready
off to university--
mushrooms overnight
a two-inch-deep stream
in its three-foot bed of stone--
the dog gnaws his bone
all the trees dying
where bicycles skinned their roots--
enjoying nature
the last warbler
just before going extinct
sips from a leaf-tip
wrestle and rustle
gusts of wind in forest leaves --
both taking the fall
starlings in a tree--
along the cement sidewalk
a skateboard crackles
crushing the red grapes
in hope and perspiration--
to be set aside
the earth is depressed
twice one year’s Niagra fell--
depressing Houston
muddy trash can
crushed by a kick in the groin--
welfare office
the newest talent
stage-door johnnies sing their praise--
dogs on a meat truck
orphaned elders left
amid the flood’s after-wreck
with paper towels
set out cross country
bush-whacking it all the way--
woolly-bear's last march
Haiku and Senryu which appeared in R.W. Watkins' Eastern Structures
waiting for her flight
how slowly the figs ripen
as strangers pass by
such well-worn carpet
at the air-arrivals gate--
we all stand to wait
papers dance about
clouds hunch over hunkered hills
the storm’s leading edge
old stories of ghosts sub. 5-18 Heron’s Nest, rej., sub E.Str. 8-18, acc. for issue #7
backed by a scimitar moon
crickets and crickets
out bothering God
the pack of huskies shuts up
when the door opens
gaze down on London
black beetles line up and march--
bobbing umbrellas
dangling from her mouth
the one mouse she ever caught--
what to do with it?
a murder of crows
a crocodile of children
a family of mice