MrSmith1's picture

    A Fairly Frothy Friday Afternoon at the Haikulodeon

     

     

    Here's this week's heap of haikus:

     


    The sign on the beach
    said "Clothing Optional" ... So,
    he took off his scarf.

     

    ---


    tanka haiku:  

    You can March forth on
    March fourth and even ask, "May
    One?" on May 1, but ...
         You can't ever drink a Fifth
         of July on a Sunday.


    ---

     

     

    Delicate essence
    is what Greeks do with shampoo;
    Lather, rinse, repeat.

     

     

    ---

     

     

    News reports where we're
    watching the street crowd react;
    Journalism? No!

     

    ---


    Mental disorders
    are all in your head, hair-sprays
    however, on it.


    ---


     Nut-so or Schizo,
    it strains at the wits so,
    I use Ju-jitso.


    ---


    Reminder-ku #1:

    As Alex Trebek
    would caution you, replies should
    be in haiku form.


    ---


    moving out, he put
    his desk on craigslist with that
    second-hand futon.


    ---

     

     

    double haiku:

    Riding the porch swing,
    we kiss while listening for
    your father's footsteps.

    The moonlight creates
    shadows which tease my desire
    your allure is pure.


    ---

     


    Fitful nights will pass.
    Sleep will overtake sadness.
    A new day will dawn.

     


    ---

     


    A sliver of moon,
    slicing through the clouds, restless
    shadows roam the fields.

     

    ---

     

     

    The filthy windshield
    gave a sepia toned view
    of my ride to work.

     

    ---


    When you fall in love,
    it will be voracious; Hearts
    never have enough.

     

     
    ---


    In the afterglow
    we must reflect and embrace
    the change the flames wrought.

     

    ---

     

     

    Reminder-ku #2:

     

    The much less optioned
    'mitigated disaster'
    will still ruin things.

     

     

    ---

     


    My old neighborhood
    has now become gentrified.  
    I left just in time.

     


    ---

     


    Swirling rain pelts me.
    I dash for shelter under
    a leafy oak tree.

     

    ---

     

    What’s clearly defined,
    leave alone. What’s blurry at
    the edges, sharpen.


    ---

     

     

     

    tanka haiku:
     
      Standing on the beach,
      looking at the ocean, I
      ponder Life's journey.

       What makes me laugh, is to think
       that seagulls do the same thing.

     

    (Photo courtesy of Kristina Rebelo)


    ---

     

    A starry night, wind
    rustles the dandelions.  
    Cautious lovers kiss.


    ---

     
    When I feel alone,
    I conjour thoughts of you to
    keep me company.


    ---


    The more I focus
    on subtle details, the more
    I'm drawn into Life.

     


    ---


    He was so immersed
    in his work, that he forgot
    to make the coffee.

     

     
    ---

     


    My mind is slipping,
    my thoughts can't seem to grasp hold
    of life without you.

     

    ---

     


    Blue beach umbrellas
    flutter in the breeze, casting
    shadows on the sand.

     

    (Photo courtesy of Kristina Rebelo)

     

     


    ---

     

     

    When you do things right,
    you don't have to do what's left.
    What's left is alright.


    ---

     


    As ev'ning draws nigh,
    chickens roost and dogs bark at
    approaching shadows.



    ---

     


    I'm down on my knees.
    Tell me what I want to hear ...
    How do I get up?

     

     


    ---

     


    Don't feel discouraged
    when your back's against the wall ...
    you've found some support.

     

     

     


    ---

     

     

    As we left the church,
    Birds began to sing. Angels
    whispered, 'Life goes on.'


    ---


    The young schoolgirl's crush
    waited 'neath the boardwalk with
    a cold grape soda.


    ---


    Thoughts run through my head,
    in-congruent images
    chasing after them.


    ---

    His tortured soul found
    small measures of contentment
    just beyond its reach.


    ---


    Ev'ry Flea Market
    has some folks who'll wrestle you
    for Fiestaware.

     

    ---

     

    Marble-sized hailstones
    bounced off air conditioners
    in the East Village.


    ---

     

     

     

    His heart on his sleeve,
    led many folks to assume
    he always wore shirts.

     

     

    ---
     


    A loon on a lake?
    All well and good, but I still
    like my lunacy.

     


    ---

     

     

     

    Stashed behind the soups
    in her kitchen pantry was
    some choc’late cake mix.

     

     


    ---

     

     

    'midst the morning mist,
    the field beyond seems painted
    with watercolors.

     

     

    ---

    tanka haiku:

    My cleaning lady,
    back from vacation, claiming
    to have seen the Pope.

    She adored, in Ecuador ...
    t'was the Holy See she saw.

     

     

    ---

     


    I remain in awe
    of the lives that have touched mine.
    Each brought a lesson.

     

     

    ---

     

     


    A slice of apple,
    a wedge of sharp cheddar cheese,
    And a well-worn book.

     


    ---

     

     


    Deep in the forest,
    patches of stippled sunlight,
    warm a leaf-strewn trail.
     
     


     
    ---

     
     
     
    We search for meaning,
    but as we wander through Life,
    fog envelops us.
     

     

    ---

     


    Do you spend your days
    mopping up calamities?
    or creating them?

     

     
     
    ---

     

     
     
    Will you ever wake?
    Or will you dream forever?
    Will you ever know?


     

    ---

     

     


    My Siamese cat
    sits at the window, and stares
    at distant mountains.

     

     

    ---

     


    Mary had a lamb,
    And little though it was ... it
    started stalking her.

     

     


    ---

     

     

    Irony-ku:

     

    Few will ever know
    private failures we endure,
    unless ... we succeed.

     

     

    ---

     

     


    "Stained glass is easy ...
    Comedy is hard" - Louis
    Tiffany Lampshade.

     

     


    ---


     

     

    When you have a lot
    that's on your mind, let your day
    begin quietly.

     

     

    ---

     

     

    I have been searching
    for this girl most of my life.
    I found her at six.

     

    (Summer of 1957.  I was 6 and a half.  She was ... I don't know.  I don't even remember her name  But I was smitten by her smile ... and amazed that a pretty  girl LIKED me!)


    ---

     

    And finally ...

     

    Sometimes you have to
    take a deep breath and just blow
    the roof off the dump.

     

    (This is the fabulous Broadway Star, Sutton Foster, showing how it's done.)

    And if you liked that, here is a Sutton Foster encore from "The Drowsy Chaperone" ...


     



     

     

    Comments

    Just a twist on one of yours ...

    Never leave alone

    that which seems clearly defined;

    dictionaries change.

    What is contrary

    to popular conception

    may become the norm.

    Complacency breeds

    ignorance in stubborn hearts;

    embrace the question.


    Absolutely terrific, Missy!!   I love this triple haiku!
     


    What is contrary

    to the gadfly is the path

    one should seek to find


    Thanks for the Sutton Foster videos.  Really enjoyed them and all her talent. 


    She burst onto the scene around 2002 as an unknown who, out of town, took over the lead role in the Broadway-bound production of Thoroughly Modern Millie.  I think she's just an amazing talent.


    forgotten black bird

    sliding through the clouds, restless

    and always searching


    Nice.


    Forgotten blackbird

    mournfully searching the light

    for his reflection.


    for his reflection,

    he was told, would offer truth

    no one else could see


    a slice of apple

    with its green skin and two seeds

    waits without knowing


    "Without knowing what?"
    I asked, but I knew I had
    to get to the core.
     


    to get to the core

    one has to shovel all day

    and still not be done


    I was going to speak

    but I can't do Haiku.

    I'll just say goodbye.


    was going to speak

    was going to say my side

    somehow I never did


    Concerned about grease?

    Never eat German food and

    avoid souvlaki.


    avoid souvlaki

    I was told, yet I know not

    what is souvlaki


    some famous grease food,

    moussaka, tzatziki, shish

    kebab and gyro.

     


    Ha!  Good one!!

    (a haiku quartet:)


    The boys had many
    nicknames while workin' the streets;
    Kebab and Gyro,

    Were two of them, but
    Souvlaki Sue and Hortense,
    would make them famous.

    Posing as "trannies"
    was not their idea of fun ...
    then they met, Angel.

    And Angel showed them
    a world they had never known,
    and arrests were made.


    ---

     

     

     


     


    candle-lit cabin

    outside darkness gathering

    sleep is taunting me.

     


     

    Nice one, Oxy!!   

    Candle-lit cabin
    on a ship that sails the seas,
    studying the maps.


    Studying the maps,

    she decided the best route

    home was staying put.


    Excellent, Missy!!  

    Wow, the haiku responses are coming fast and furious now, aren't they?.  hahahaha
     


    Who says cranky liberals can't do poetry? ;-)


    Who are you calling cranky?  ;-)
     

    Speaking of cranky ... where's my agent, DD?   What, he doesn't like me any more?  (Don't get me started.  It's late and I could go cranky on you at any minute!  hahahaha)


    Studying the maps,

    he grew more cranky, searching

    for his childhood town

     


    Good one! 

    For his childhood town,
    he chose Piscataway .. cuz
    he hated Mahwah. 
    .


    Knowing his old haunt

    Had windows shuttered, doors locked 

    And candles burned down


    Go on, don't leave us hanging in mid-sentence!   LOL
     


    See i crash and it does not matter. Hell you got 1100 anyway.hahahah

    Debating the ducks

    Harder than it seems, really!

    I mean they HAVE Christ.

     

    My friends will show up

    But who needs friends really?

    to argue with ducks?

    Wonderful blog Mr. Smith. I wrote three responses that are lost.

    But then again, I am losted most of the time.

    hahahhaha
    I not only got to see my son the last ten days.

    But I got to see my grand children.

    It was a nice week.

    Thank you for this.

    Hopefully i will return.

     


    I got nothin tonite. hahahah

    There was a song not so long  ago.

    You always give me what you got.

    This is all I got

    And that is all I got tonite anyway.

    ha



    Thanks DD!!  I always look forward to your comments.

    ... and dating the ducks
    is harder than it seems too.
    They've got all the chicks.


    The shrinking distance
    introduced a new dancer.
    Follow if you can.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tU_Wx8ooRjI


    The shrinking distance,

    a State of Emergency

    as yet undefined.


    To make that the place.
    Given by those who need it
    in this accident.

     


    In this accident

    need is the intentional

    procrastinator.


     

    Our want, rather than
    need. is our intentional
    determination.

    Our need, rather than
    our want, is the extent of
    our determining.

     




     


    As our desires

    direct determination,

    true intentions fade.

    Around the edges

    of accidental vision;

    peripheral need.


    (I cheated. Went with the idea, instead of the exactness. Intentional oops!)


    The shrinking distance
    'tween my life and my dreams ... It's
    just a-whirled away.


    I finally had a chance to sit and watch this video.   For all her supposed weirdness, Bjork has a vulnerability that doesn't seem to be quite in sync with her quirkiness and that makes her interesting ... at least, to me   I like the play on words re: state of emergency, i.e. being in a state where who you are is emerging and enjoying being in that state of discovery as opposed to the normal meaning of being in a state of emergency.  The song doesn't develop much though, although perhaps I need to listen to it a few more times to get the full effect.   I wanted to see it reach more of a climax and resolution, but I still found it a good listen.    Thanks for sharing it with me.

    She was, she said, in
    a state of emergency,
    and then, she emerged.

     

     

    .
     


    The real version of the song is on an album called Homogenic. The contrapuntal play of words in the lyrics is interesting.
    A big thing about her work is the instrument. If you don't really dig what she is doing with her voice, the rest becomes conceptual.


    I like the video of her from the same concert that came on after the state of emergency video.  She does great visuals too. 
     


    Oh I forgot.

    What about all these nekked ladies?


    The fact is, this group is neither bare, naked or ladies ... but that sure is a great tune! 
     


    There was a story about this team. Last year or....

    Anyway the agent attempted to book them in Toronto or some place up north and the bar said no dice.

    We cannot have this type of porno here.

    hahahahaha

    And the agent attempted to explain that the band's name had nothing to do with...

    hahhaahahha

    I thought it was funny.


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