I Could Swear

…today was the first warm day of an early spring

the tulips have pushed themselves up out of the ground

and people flooded into Kensington Market

to drink and meet and buy and ride and walk and talk

because the sun and warmth brought out

the youth and optimism in everyone

and as i rode home on my bike

i [...]]]> aaa

I Could Swear

…today was the first warm day of an early spring

the tulips have pushed themselves up out of the ground

and people flooded into Kensington Market

to drink and meet and buy and ride and walk and talk

because the sun and warmth brought out

the youth and optimism in everyone

and as i rode home on my bike

i passed an old italian woman

sweeping in the back alley

and when she looked up

i could swear that

i could see her

as she looked

when she

was 15…

A Record Of Change

I own a record

That is a compilation

Of Primitive World Music

From all over the world…

Passionately and tenderly felt

Indignous song after indigenous song

And I wonder… if…

We played this record

For every newborn baby

What kind of result would it have

For future generations?

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 …real haiku… (5-7-5 in Japanese)

左ちょう – hidari choo (two syllables for choo) – 5 – left, butterfly
みぎ女の子 – migi on’na no ko (extra syllable for the first n) – 7 – right, girl
どっち見る – dochi miru (dochi can be 2 or three) – 5 – which to look at?

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…almost at the end of my trip to Japan for the birth of my daughter…

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さぎ川の – sagi kawa no – heron
中に沈んで – naka ni shizunde – sinks into river
夜忍び寄る – shinobi noru – stalking something

(in Japanese, the n in shizunde is an extra syllable)
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long weekend

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it’s a busy saturday and

a couple and their teenage son

just left my record store…

they took forever to buy

two records between

the three of them…

quietly talking to each other

 as if unwinding from a long week.

-smiling as they found favorites

and showed them to each other

“this is more fun than buying online”

the minutes ticked away

and they didn’t build a pile

but they finally settled on two

and left just as gently as they had arrived

just going through the easy motions

of being together as a family

“this is more fun than buying online”

damn right it is…

take as much time as you need

to do these things together

i prefer it that way

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play for me

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big strapping lad about 50… 55

“…i remember this place…”

i didn’t know exactly what he meant

having just entered my record store

so i asked…

you used to live here?

no… this is the last place

that i was with my friend

before he died

ah… i thought… that’s why…

his wife waddled in

together they looked like

superhero and slob

they poked around while talking

and she pulled out a gospel record

-we don’t have a record player

-i know. he’ll play it.

yeah… sure… i’ve got nothing better

to do than to play records for people

who ain’t here to buy

so i put it on and it was good

old gospel vocal quartet – 1956

and i sang along in a baritone

and as the first song began to end

i saw them heading for the door

but that giant man came up to me

misty eyed with hand outstretched

…ah… …the song had been for his dead friend…

thanks man! he said intensely

so i took his hand firmly…

any time, i told him

and they left

putting a little more closure

on something that had affected him deeply

while teaching me – yet again

that there’s always a reason

a song needs to be heard

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四月雪  - - shigatsu yuki  - -  april snow

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桜の香り - –  sakura no kaori  - –  cherry blossom’s fragrance

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待ちましょうか  - –  machimashou ka   - –   let’s patiently wait for

.の香り           sakura no kaori          cherry blossom’s fragrance
待ちましょか       machimasho ka          let’s patiently wait for
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…this is what i saw while jogging…

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yellow bird                     向日葵と

disappears                     黄色い鳥が

into sunflower                混じり合う

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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

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)

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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 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