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forever
there is an old couple
who very, very slowly
walk past my store
every day
and the neat
dignified old man
leads his wife by the hand
because she needs to be led
as there is the fixed expression
of a smile frozen in time
which looks exactly the same
every moment of the day
as she sees or hears nothing
she can recognize
-but she can slowly walk…
and so her husband walks her
every day up and down this street
stopping to sit on public benches
for long periods of time
her, staring straight ahead
-day after day
-year after year now
he has led her along
the same forgotten path
by the hand
…his wife…
and i hope
that i see
them
forever
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haiku
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stifling heat 蒸し暑い
poor business 空のポケット
sunset butterfly 日暮れ蝶
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girlfriend frowning
boy keeps flipping records
i play “take time to know her” by percy sledge
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Don’t bring your paranoia to my city…
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haiku
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ceaselessly humid
sirens and choppers abound
G20 madness
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I wrote this last month, before the cardinals moved further north… (further below, I explain my haiku style)…
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haiku
cardinal
odd girl out
still singing
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Late spring…
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haiku
I watch
babies struggling
to fly
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June 6th… cold and rainy… hungover… feel like vomiting – and I’m not the only one having a bad morning… (far below I explain my haiku style)
haiku
bottle lady
cursing flies
distant sirens
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gliding on bike 銀輪の
dragonfly 肩に寄り添う
keeps pace トンボかな
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egg season 鶏卵期
ended, axe hits 終わるとともに
wood 斧下りる
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golden tears 金の涙が
spiral down, into streams 螺旋を描いて流れに落ちる
on the ground 大地の上に
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haiku
one mile
ladybug on me
content
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true to life
if there is
some sort
of consciousness
to whatever comes
after this life
then i hope
that it involves
being able to
watch things
grow and die
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the rock garden
i ripped up the concrete
in front of my store
and planted a garden
and a small path of stone
leads to two large rocks
that people can sit on
it’s right downtown
where all manner of folk
are trying to get by
without losing their minds
-what with the wars
and the homeless
the jobless and the manic
and quite often
someone with a deeply etched face
sits on one of the rocks
surrounded by the wild grasses
mosses and the occasional bird
-the stress draining out of them…
it’s good to have a rock
to run to for rescue
-but its’ not of Gibraltar
it’s not of Love
it’s not of Ages
it’s not of Israel
it’s not of Islam
nor is it of Knowledge
it is just a rock
it just is
and it is strong
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Spring, spring, spring…
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It’s April, and the economy is still on shaky ground
and my paintings aren’t selling like they were
last month or the month before
and I don’t know why…
I’ve also changed my sleeping habits
for the first time since I was a kid
I’m getting up at dawn or shortly after
(not so strange for someone turning forty)
but its a good thing… actually a great thing!
and I’ve been walking my wife to work most mornings
not just for her company and the exercise
but to see how the plants and trees and flowers
are changing and budding and blooming
and how the squirrels and birds and children
are chasing and wooing and fighting
and so I’ve come around now to believe that
who the hell needs to buy art
when each day, the world is your new painting
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Welcome to spring… Here are some of the things going through my head on this lovely March 29th…
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wet ground
warm sun on my face
i am budding
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robins return
circling a large fir
fighting for a new home
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Hi there… Here’s another, more recent haiku. Below I explain my haiku style.
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february snow
melts – unblocking path
we march
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Here’s my second December haiku for those of us who get a good dose of winter every year. ***My haiku are written very short in English so that they can be translated into 5-7-5 in Japanese -a language which most often requires more syllables to say in that lingo, what we say in this one.
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long shadows
walking carefully on ice
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generate the vital power!
my cat came back
after another fight
and started bleeding
all over our kitchen floor
until i wrapped him up in my arms
and carried him to the animal hospital
while applying direct pressure to the wound
and of course the lady veterinarian
told me again that i should cut off his balls
but his name is steve mcqueen
and i will not cut his, or any male’s balls off
ever
“but he’s going to keep going out
and getting into fights and getting other cats pregnant.”
“yes but if i cut off his balls his personality will change
and he’s the coolest, friendliest cat i’ve ever met.
-look at him!”
“yes, he’s very well behaved .”
-who the hell would want to go through life
as a neutralized house pet?
-never going outside…
-never fucking or fighting or chasing a leaf in the wind…
i wouldn’t want any creature
to live out their time here on earth
without the god given vitality
that they were born with