The Bishop and the Butterfly: Murder, Politics, and the End of the Jazz Age
    MrSmith1's picture

    A Lazy, Hazy and Crazy Friday Afternoon at the Haikulodeon

     

     

    Here's this week's heap of haikus:

     


    A beach umbrella
    keeps a lonely vigil as
    the tide starts to turn.

     

    (Photo courtesy of Kristina Rebelo)

     

     

    ---

     

     

     

    Cool September night
    A golden moon is shining o'er
    the harvested fields 

     

    (Photo courtesy of Kristina Rebelo)

    ---

     


    I did not have you
    standing with me, but always
    you were in my heart.

     

    ---

     

     

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

     

    (Photo courtesy of Kristina Rebelo)

     

     

    ---

     

     

    I wish I had known
    how to give what you needed.
    I was such a fool.

     

    --

     


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

     


    ---

     


    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.

     

    ---

     

     

     A curious mind,
    some spirited pondering ...
    Voila, fresh insights.
     


    ---

     


     We both know that she
    is fishing for compliments …
    (Get me off the hook.)

     

     
     
    ---


     
    Cynicism is
    easy, Optimism hard.
    The sky is still blue.

     

     

    ---
     


    Do you feel the world
    is here for your amusement,
    or you for the world’s?

     
     

    ---

     


    It’s often said that
    mischief stalks the mundane to
    make it laughable  bearable.


     

    ---

     

     

     A dagger as sharp
    as a lover's rebuke has
    not been invented.

     

    ---

     

     

    Blessed are those that
    never got sick, for old age
    will be a surprise.

     

     

    ---

     

     

    He felt so awkward
    in the glittering ballroom
    with his two left feet.

     

     
     
    ---

     


    Red-headed co-eds ...
    Ragtime on the radio ...
    Remnants of past lives.

     

    ---

     

     

    Sticks of patchouli,
    smouldered in his messy room,
    his mom was incensed.

     


    ---

     


    An old weathered rope,
    hangs 'round a lonely fence-post;
    purpose forgotten.

     

     

    ---

     


     tanka TV-ku:
     
    Horizontal lines,
    adjust the Vertical Hold,
    play with Rabbit Ears.

    TVs were simple once. Now,
    you need to call Tech Support.

     

    ---

     

    Though she pined for him,
    she could not find a way to
    gracefully forgive.

     

     


    ---
     

     

     

    He sits quietly
    on a stool in a diner
    and stares at his soup.

     

     

    ---
     

     

    Silent surrender;
    she flops onto the sofa
    and turns on TV.

     

     

    ---
     


    In the apple tree
    sat a happy little boy
    dangling his feet.

     


    ---

     

    Hard-to-believe-ku:

     

    Just twenty-one years
    separate "Casablanca"
    from "Meet the Beatles" ...

     


    ---
     


    A yellow note was
    pasted on the scaffolding ...
    "Soft heads need hard hats."

     


    ---

     


    Pretending we'll meet,
    each time I turn a corner
    makes me walk faster.

     


    ---

     

    Stuck on sandy beach?
    Quick, call the Police!  Umm ... Wait.
    We ARE the Police.

     

    (Photo courtesy of Kristina Rebelo)

     

    ---


    Although her heart ached
    in the middle of the night,
    by dawn, it had healed.

     


    ---

     

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


     

    ---

     

     

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

     

    ***

     

     

    Comments

    With down like ducklings

    pillowed clouds floated softly,

    disguising the swans.


    Ha!  Good one, barefooted!

     

     

    Disguising the swans

    as prima ballerinas

    takes stepping on toes.

    -

    ---

     

    Clouds that masquerade

    as ducklings? What can I say

    but ... I'm down with that.

     

    I
     


    On her tippie-toes

    the ballerina surprised

    the prima donna.

    And in so doing,

    caused the soprano to sound

    much like a chicken!


    Gianni's sister,

    the prima Donatelli ...

    Chicken Versace

     

    (Sorry, it's 4 AM, and that's the best I could come up with.  )