Here's this week's heap of haikus:

 

4th of July-ku:  

The rockets' red glare,
bombs bursting in air, gave proof
that we love fireworks.

 

 

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Toshiro lit the
firecracker while his sisters
watched with excitement.

 

 

 

 

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A day at the beach
in those days, was more like a
wet pajama fest.
 
(My maternal grandparents are third and fourth from the left.)

 

 

 

 

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tanka haiku:

 

John Fluegel played fife,
Tobias Giltner fought, in
The Revolution.
 
Saluting our ancestors
who fought for Independence.

 

Tobias Giltner and John Flugel were two of my ancestors who fought in the Revolutionary War.  There were others, but these two had the right syllable count.  ;-)

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At his wife's urging,
He posed with her step-father.
Happy July 4th!
 
(Photo circa 1920.  My maternal grandfather and step-great-grandfather.)
 

 

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That summer, I learned
two things; to whistle and how
to blow bubble gum.

 

(Cape Cod circa 1957.  Me feeling jaunty with my sailor hat. That Summer I also learned that if it was hot enough, M&Ms  WOULD melt in your hands. But never mind that. )

 

 

 

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When you're at the beach
with your best friend, you let her
carry the shovel.

 

(My sister is on the right. Circa 1956)

 

 

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Summers of my youth
seem so distant now … me and
memories remain.
 
 
(mid-1950’s … me and my mom at the beach.)

 

 

 

 

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tanka haiku:

 

Two days out and the
Er-i-e is a'risin' ...
Whiskey's gettin' low ...

Scarcely think I'll get a drink
till we get to Buffalo.

 

(199 years ago, July 4, 1817, work began on the Erie Canal. )

 

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On July 4th of
1903, two boys had
mischief on their minds.

 

(My maternal grandfather is on the right)

 

 

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There was a time when
waving striped thing-a-ma-jigs
was quite a fun thing.

(Whatever happened to striped thing-a-ma-jigs?)

 

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He buttoned his fly,
which, he thought, more manly than
zippering his moth.

 

 

 

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To his sheer delight
a woodland sprite cavorted
in the pale moonlight.

 

 

 

 

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Last Wednesday would have been composer Frank Loesser's 106th birthday.    Frank Loesser wrote lots of great songs like "Baby, It's Cold Outside" and both words and music to some terrific Broadway shows, like Guys and Dolls, How to Succeed in Business without Really Trying, and The Most Happy Fella.   His one major flop was a show in 1959 called Greenwillow, which starred a pre-Norman Bates, Anthony Perkins. Here's a clip from a show taped around 1985 in which Perkins sings one of the songs that is still remembered from that musical, "Never Will I Marry."   I notice that the original cast album of Greenwillow has recently been re-mastered and re-issued.  I wonder if the show will ever be given a good re-imagining and/or Broadway revival

 

 

 

 

Some of us "nest" well,
others feel too restless and
never will marry.

 

... 

 

 

 

Calamity struck.
She turned her back on chaos;
calmly cognitive.
 
 
 

 

—

 

 

 
 
A burbling brook
slices through a lazy field
near a chestnut tree.
 
 

 

 
—
 
 

 

Hot dogs on the grill
burgers on the patio …
blame the clumsy chef.
 

 

 
—

 

 

Some planets align,
some go into retrograde ...
come around with me.

 

 

 

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Echoes of sunrise,
fade from the bluing sky; the
moon goes back to sleep.
 
 

 

 

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Waiting on the dock
'til all our friends had arrived
empty row-boats bob.

 

"Bathers at La Grenouillère" by Claude Monet (1840-1926) 

 

 

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On the cliffs near where
Burr shot Hamilton, there was
an amusement park ...

Sure, Hamilton's gone ...
but so is Palisades Park,
and that was more fun.

 

 

 

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The sun cuts sharply
across the red brick building
shadows slice the wall.

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Mad dogs, Englishmen
Donald Trump, Mitch McConnell
deny Climate change.

 

 

 

 

 

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Hiding in cupboards
a little boy imagines
grown-up adventures.

 

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On a crosstown bus
a baby and her nanny
playing peek-a-boo.

 

 

 

 

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Seldom do we pause,
While rushing to tomorrow,
To thank yesterday.

 

 

 

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tanka haiku:

 

To say, (today), that
yesterday's jester may bring
tomorrow's sorrow

   is to add, I'm not sad, the
   sun will come out tomorrow ...

 

 

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That's alright, Mama ...
You did what you could do, "It
just weren't meant to fly."

(Musician Scottie Moore passed away the other day. He played lead guitar backing up Elvis.  His riffs influenced a generation of rock guitarists.)

 
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Only-in-New York-ku:

 

There once was a place
only open for lunch that
served only omelets.

Hundreds to chose from
but only one chef who was
also the owner.

When she passed away
The place closed cuz she'd put her
eggs in one casket ... basket.

 

(For many years, Madame Romaine de Lyon had a tiny restaurant on East 61st St, near Bloomingdales.  It was only open between 11AM and 3PM and it only served one item; omelets.  It had over 400 omelets on the menu.  Madame Romaine de Lyon insisted on cooking all the omelets herself.  She published a couple of books on making omelets, but her quirky little restaurant was, in its time, one of the peculiar joys of NYC.)

 

 

(Edited to add ...)

 

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double haiku:

    I'm a single leaf
    in a summer forest
    no tree of my own

    I float on the breeze
    never resting ... like a twig
    in a lumberyard,

     

     

    ---

 

    tanka haiku:

    When you define the
    world in a limited way,
    change will upset you.
        
        Know that possibilities
         are endless ... and God did that.
     

    ---

     

 

    ---

    Was bound for glory,
    then I got waylaid by Life,
    now I'm bound for bed.

    ---

 

    Summer in New York
    air dense with humidity ...
    and car radios.

    ---

 

 

 

 

****