The Bishop and the Butterfly: Murder, Politics, and the End of the Jazz Age
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    A Doo-Wop Friday Afternoon at the Haikulodeon

    By MrSmith1 on Fri, 10/09/2015 - 3:18pm |

     

     

    Here's this week's heap of haikus:

     

    A cool autumn night
    A golden moon is shining o'er
    the harvested fields,

     

     

     

    (Photo courtesy of Kristina Rebelo)

     

    ---

     

     

    Hailing a taxi,
    her scarf flutters in the breeze.
    God, I wish she'd stay.

     

     

    ---

     


    As day turns to dusk,
    neatly anchored sloops slowly
    bob in the harbor.

     

     

    (Photo courtesy of Kristina Rebelo)

     

     

    ---

     

     

     

    He tried to please her,
    he tried to reason with her,
    she tried his patience.

     

     


    ---

     

     

     


    If you own a gun,
    you've agreed to a world where
    shooting's an option.

     

     

     

    ---

     

     

     

    Quiet young ladies
    sit in Starbucks and "like" their
    own Facebook comments.
     

     

     

    ---

     

     

    Words had no effect,
    so, reluctantly, he tried
    throwing sticks and stones.

     

    ---

     


    Sunshine and whiskey
    are a lot like love; too much
    can make you go blind.

     

     

     

    ---

     


    Being unemployed
    both lightens your income and
    darkens your outlook.

     

     

     

    ---

     

     

     

    The ocean so vast,
    and the waves so persistent ...
    I'll swim tomorrow.

     

     

    (Photograph courtesy Kristina Rebelo.)

     

     

    ---

     

     

    When his heart's desire
    bitch-slapped his raison d'être,
    his mantra passed out.

     

     

    ---

     

    Now, let us slumber,
    for we have come a long way
    and have eaten lunch.

     


     

    ---

     

     

     

    And now, for this week's challenge:


    Post your haiku in the Comments section under the title: "I Do-the-Haiku!")

     

     

     

     

    ---

     

    You must keep in mind;
    to deteriorate is
    the way of all things.

     

     

    ---

     

    A dark, grey morning
    Serious people crowd me
    I can’t help but laugh.
     

     

     

    ---
     
    She stirs the stew, and
    sprinkles with pepper, while she
    stares out the window.

     

    ---

     

    That big old elm tree,
    it knows my heartaches and has
    heard my confessions.
     


    ---

     

     

     

    Locked in a body
    that can no longer run, I
    decide to just walk.
     

     

    ---

     

     

     

    Finding harmonies
    while standing on the corner,
    gave Doo-Wop 'street cred',

     

     

    ---

     

     

     

    Although she left me
    I pray she'll return to hear,
    my story untold.
     

     

    Story Untold - The Nutmegs - 1955

     

     

     

    ---

     

     

     

     

     

    It's really simple;
    tell me why I love you so ...
    then I'll let you go.
     

     

    The Rob Roys - Tell Me Why - 1957

     

     

     

    ---

     

     

     

     

     

     

    You make days seem bright
    Only you and you alone
    calm my fear at night.

     

    Only You - The Platters -

     

     

    ---

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    Why don't you write me?
    Was it something that I said?
    You're gone and I'm sad.

     

    Why Don't You Write Me - The Jacks -  1955

     

     

    ---

     

     

     

     


    You can ask around,
    hearts of stone will never break
    So I hope and pray.

    The Jewels - Hearts of Stone - 1954

     

     

    ---

     

     

     

    If you leave me, please
    don't ask me to be lonely.
    ( I have some issues. )
     

    The Dubs - Don't Ask Me to Be Lonely - 1957

     

     

    ---

     

     


    A day spent with you,
    falling even more in love ....
    And oh, what a night.

     

    The Dells - Oh What a Night - 1956

     

     

     

    ---

     

     

     

    A Saturday kind
    of enthusiasm, a
    Sunday kind of Love,

     

    The Harptones - A Sunday Kind of Love - 1953

     

     

     

     

    ---

     

     

     

     

    She's a golden girl
    with a silver spoon who now
    sheds golden teardrops

     

     

     

    The Flamingos - Golden Teardrops - 1953

     

    ---

     

     

     

    The still of the night,
    in the dreams I am having,
    there is always you.

     

    Fred Parris and the Satins - In the Still of the Night - 1955

     

     

     

     

     

     

    ---

     

     

     

     

     

     

    we strolled through the park
    'neath moonlit skies, then sweetly
    said ... goodnight sweetheart.

     

    The Spaniels - Goodnight Sweetheart

     

     

    ****

     

     

    An Encore from a different era:  


     

     

     

    Why life's worth living;*
    Louis Armstrong playin' those
    Potato Head Blues.

    ( * In "Manhattan", Woody Allen said this recording is one of the reasons that life is worth living.)

     

    ---

     

    Encore # 2:

     

     

     


    Fat Tuesday parade ...
    Struttin' with some barbecue
    down on Bourbon Street

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     


    ---

     

     

    A lonely bus stop
    on a Monday afternoon
    I count the taxis.

     

    ---

     

     

     

    Our hearts are widest
    when we put aside our thoughts
    and let ourselves feel.

     

     

     

    ---

     

     

     

    He's considered dull;
    just muddling through Life ... yet
    his heart slays dragons.

     

     

     

     

    ---

     

     
    We seldom notice
    the slow erosion of Life.
    we prefer dreaming.
     

     

     

     

     

    ---

     

     

     

    When you discover
    you have reliable friends,
    fruit falls from the trees.

     

     

     

    ---

     

     

     

     

    Whether at War or
    fighting a Chronic Disease,
    Courage will rise up.
     

     

     

     

    ---

     

     

     

     

    The arc of your life,
    will pierce many souls, sewing
    tapestries of hope.

     

     

    ---

     

     

     

     

     

    My serious cat
    stalks its prey, then it pounces ...
    on a ball of yarn.

     

     

     


    ---

     

     

     


     Somewhere in the deep
    recesses of my brain, sleep
    forgotten haikus.
     

     

     

     

    ---

     

     

     

     

    By the garden fence,
    a quiet blue hydrangea,
    contemplates escape.

     

     

     

     

    ---

     

     

     

     

     

     

     
     

     

     
     Laughter's a rainstorm,
    that washes away our gloom,
    and cleans Life's sidewalks.

     

     

     

    ---


     

     

     

    In the corner of
    my garden, by the brick wall,
    purple asters bloom.

     

     

     

     

                                                                                  ****

     

     

     

     

     

     

    Comments

    Smith, thanks for the great play list.

     

    It was a good day,

    he wanted to give up but

    decided not to.


    by Oxy Mora on Fri, 10/09/2015 - 6:58pm

     

    Nice one, Oxy!  

    That's exactly what good days are for.  ;-)


    by MrSmith1 on Fri, 10/09/2015 - 8:17pm

    I thought you would relate.

    Sometimes I think I'm nuts running a business at my advanced years as well as maintaining property and holding up my side of a relationship. So I question myself, why am I doing this. Then again, what would I be doing otherwise. What has value?

    Having a few acres under a Texas sky has value, in the sense that I know my feet are on earth and I have a connection to the physical universe. I get the same feeling when I cut into a piece of black walnut to make a table. It's physical, it's real.

    What has essential meaning is doing something fot someone else---which is ultimately the only memorable act for a human.

    So you are an inspiration, Smith. Thanks for this very special venue.  


    by Oxy Mora on Fri, 10/09/2015 - 8:42pm

    I get so wrapped up in my Friday routine, I sometimes forget things I wanted to include in the mix.  Here is one from this week.  Irish playwright, Brian Friel died this past week at the age of 86.    I first discovered this gifted writer when I performed one of the great parts that Friel wrote:  Private Gar in Philadelphia Here I Come.    In this play, Friel separated his lead character, Gar into two parts, his public side and his private side.  As the Private side, I got the vast majority of the lines in the play, and it all flowed so beautifully out of Friel's pen.   Friel was a great writer and poet.  His words created vivid images and evoked powerful emotions of longing and regret.  Some of Friel's other plays include Faith Healer and Dancing at Lughnasa,  Brian Friel RIP.

    ,This tanka haiku is a truncating of one of the speeches I still remember from Philadelphia Here I Come ..Private Gar is speaking to the Father ... in words that his public side is unable to share with him. 

     

    The boat was blue and
    the paint was peeling ... your
    hat soft on my ears...
      between us, at that moment,
      there was this great happiness..

     


     


    by MrSmith1 on Fri, 10/09/2015 - 11:47pm

    A wonderful recollection. Thanks.


    by Oxy Mora on Tue, 10/13/2015 - 10:42am

    I loved this one as a little kid.  I still sing this to myself. This was a hit in 1957.

     

     


    by trkingmomoe on Sat, 10/10/2015 - 7:20am

    In the corner of
    my garden, by the brick wall,
    purple asters bloom.

    Purple asters grow wild in the ditches. Every Fall, Mr. Flower picks a big bunch and sets them out on the back deck where they stay quite happy for a couple of weeks.

    I love 'em.


    by wabby on Sun, 10/11/2015 - 3:56pm

    Those are lovely.  It is a shame that winter comes and that ends the flowers.  


    by trkingmomoe on Sun, 10/11/2015 - 4:54pm

    Lovely Flowerchild! 
     

    Spilling onto the
    wooden deck behind the house,
    wild purple asters.

     

     

     

     


    by MrSmith1 on Sun, 10/11/2015 - 5:36pm

    Love is like Monday.
    It takes up what was laid down
    and draws you back in.

    The steps are new and awkward.
    Echoes off old walls warn me.

     

    What kind of lover
    comes to the doo wop party
    wearing bell bottoms?

     


     


    by moat on Mon, 10/12/2015 - 6:12pm

    Wonderful, moat!!   Don't you want to try the "You do the haiku" challenge?

    Listen to Ragtime
    wearing a Nehru jacket ...
    and people will stare. 
     

     

     


    by MrSmith1 on Mon, 10/12/2015 - 6:27pm

    I am pretty sure the challenge haiku engraving shows a couple. One bird says to the other:

    Yes, there is nectar.
    But your beak need not explore
    each flower that blooms.


    by moat on Mon, 10/12/2015 - 9:11pm

    Ha!  Thanks for taking on the challenge. moat!  Your haiku made me laugh out loud.  :-)


    by MrSmith1 on Mon, 10/12/2015 - 10:36pm

    Internet meme say:

    Laugh out loud - roll on floor too -

    No one know you dog


    by PeraclesPlease on Tue, 10/13/2015 - 12:24am

    PP ... You're funny ... even though you never want to play the game the way it was set up to be played. Thanks for your independent streak.  It frustrates me at times but it also makes me laugh.

     


     

     


    by MrSmith1 on Tue, 10/13/2015 - 3:26pm

    (lather, rinse....repeat)


    by PeraclesPlease on Tue, 10/13/2015 - 12:26am

    But there's another

    tasting the fruit on the vine ...

    up for a threesome?


    by barefooted on Tue, 10/13/2015 - 1:09am

    Haiku challenge.

     

    A print is a print,

    rose a rose, birds as biplane,

    a haiku is born.

     


    by Oxy Mora on Tue, 10/13/2015 - 10:52am

    Ha!  Nicely done.  Thanks for taking the challenge, Oxy!

    Flowers as King Kong
    strafed by circling 'bi-planes'
    T'was birds killed beauties.
     

     

     


    by MrSmith1 on Tue, 10/13/2015 - 3:34pm

    Deo De Deo

    Yeah, Iko Iko Anay

     Today, be a song 

     

    by A Guy Called LULU on Tue, 10/13/2015 - 11:25am

    Ah, a classic from New Orleans ..  Excellent, Guy called LULU!
    I remember this version of it by the Dixie Cups.




     

    by MrSmith1 on Tue, 10/13/2015 - 3:46pm

    Love the colorful Caribbean costumes. Did you catch the lead line's reference?

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9L9angh4KdQ


    by A Guy Called LULU on Tue, 10/13/2015 - 4:11pm

    Daaaaay-O!  Yes.  I caught it.  Another classic!   The Stan Freberg parody of Day-O still makes me laugh:


    by MrSmith1 on Tue, 10/13/2015 - 5:47pm