MrSmith1's picture

    A Mostly Ghostly Frightfully Scary Afternoon at the Haikulodeon

     

     

    Here's this week's heap of haikus:

     

     

    (Ding-Dong!)  Trick or Treat!!
    "Who are YOU supposed to be?!"
    (Candy dropped in bags.)

     

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    Life is but a dream,
    and in dying we awake
    un-departed souls


    (Photo courtesy Kristina Rebelo)
     

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    Disneyland has changed
    since the zombies were given
    half-price admission.


    (Photo courtesy Kristina Rebelo)

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    Young girls and boys dance
    in front of the mission on
    the day of the dead.

     


    (Photo courtesy Kristina Rebelo)

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    Padre Hernandez
    blesses convertibles with
    zombies at the wheel.


    (Photo courtesy Kristina Rebelo)

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    Just because you're dead,
    doesn't mean you can't be chic.
    This is Haunt Couture ...


    (Photo courtesy Kristina Rebelo)

     

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    A swirling of skirts
    arouses the senses and
    makes old padres blush.


    (Photo courtesy Kristina Rebelo)

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    Welcoming our dear
    departed with tributes in
    the trunks of our old cars.


    (Photos courtesy Kristina Rebelo)

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    The divide between
    life and death now weakened, the
    dead walk among us.

     

     

    (Photo courtesy Kristina Rebelo)

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    Creaky door opens ...
    two bony hands emerge and
    grab her by the throat!!

     


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    Carving pumpkins? Yuck.
    Buying candy for 'those brats' ...?
    Who needs Halloween?

     
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    Wet leaves line the street,
    pedestrians wear jackets.
    brisk autumn morning.
     

     


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    Will you please turn back?
    Your clocks that is, this weekend.
    We must save daylight!


     

     

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    They spent All Souls Day,
    still stuck in Purgatory.
    Heaven help them ... please.

     

     

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    Bags full of candy,
    ('Goodies' gleaned on Halloween),
    Seldom last a week.

     

     


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    Sibling rivalries
    get bitter when it comes to
    Halloween candy.


     

     

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    In Grandma's parlour,
    quiet domesticity,
    and a sleeping cat.

     

     

     

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    The flowers were left
    leaning 'gainst the headstone, for
    no-one had a prayer.


     

     

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    Youth asked, 'What is Life?'
    The old man paused ... 'Life's how you
    clean up afterwards.'

     

     


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    GPS lady:
    "Approaching destination ..."
    Eh, what does she know?

     

     

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    Mortally wounded,
    he nevertheless tried to
    remain positive.

     


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     tanka haiku:
     
    From the cab of his
    pickup, he could see the smoke
    rise from the chimney.

    It was nearly sunrise and
    he could not wait for coffee.

     


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    Spider Woman!  I'm
    caught in your web of love and
    it's gettin' sticky.


     

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    She wore gingham and
    polka dot dresses, which made
    her seem cartoon-ish.

     

     

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    In the corner sat
    a haunted piano, which
    played only lost chords.

     

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    We're Brimstone Bank, When
    your assets have gone to Hell,
    we have a branch there....

     


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    Global crisis fixed;
    coldly, methodically he
    spliced the equator.

     

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    Their bodies entwined,
    passionate kissing nearly
    suffocated them.

     


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    Happy is the heart
    that varies not in knowing
    it's a treat to beat.

     


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    Now they're seen, now not ...
    Errant ships of sea and sky,
    don't know how to please ...

     

     

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    Two more from the series, "At Rest" ...
     

     

    Dear old Aunt Esther
    passed away on Christmas Day.
    Her gifts unopened.

     


    (Photo courtesy Tom Contrino)


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    I imagine the
    Revolutionary war
    caused lots of issues.

     

     

    (Photo courtesy Tom Contrino)

     

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    Mind all aflutter,
    She left her glasses at home
    and her keys at work.  

     

     

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    A brisk eve'ning breeze
    swirled 'round my shoulders as I
    waited for the bus.

     

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    Mary, full of Grace,
    had a wine stain on her dress
    turned into water.

     

    (Photo courtesy Tom Contrino)


     

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    Sweeping through the sky
    lost souls in search of heaven
    as daylight retreats.

     

    (Photos courtesy Kristina Rebelo)

    *****

    Reminder: This weekend in Spondyville, 'the little town that Time forgot, but Spondylitis remembered', Spondyville's town handyman, "Pops" DeMaupassant, will once again climb the rickety ladder to the tower high atop the Spondyvile Town Hall and re-set the town clock, which marks the official end of Daylight Savings Time in Spondyville for another year.   You might remember that last year was supposed to be "Pops" final time re-setting the clock, but his young assistant, Todd Tripzen-Stumbles lived up to his name earlier this week and broke his ankle.  So "Pops" was asked to come out of retirement and do the time change as he has so many times in the past.

    As always, a small crowd will gather across the street in Ankylosinger Square to watch "Pops" perform his task at 2AM on Sunday morning.   This loyal group of Spondyville residents will yell encouragement and remind "Pops" to "Fall Back!" (This vocal "reminder" was deemed necessary after the 2001 incident, when "Pops" mistakenly set the clock forward in the fall and back in the spring, thus confusing everyone in town for the entire year.)

    You might also recall that tragedy was averted two years ago, when "Pops" again set the clock forward one hour in the Autumn instead of back.  The helpful crowd yelled up to him, "Fall Back, Fall Back!!”, but "Pops", who had come straight from an all-night "Simon Sez" session over at the Senior Center, had a flashback to earlier in the evening, and proceeded to 'fall back' ... off of the ladder ... even though the crowd had not said "Simon Sez" ... Fortunately, he grabbed the hands of the clock as he fell, which re-set the clock to the proper time.   He then had the good sense to hold on until the local EMS unit arrived to pry his hands off the clock and take him to the Emergency Room for "observation." (Where the young ER doctor looked at him, rolled his eyes, threw up his hands and sent him home … But never mind that.)  Hopefully, this weekend, "Pops" will once again remember that the yelling of the crowd refers to what he is supposed to do with the clock and not what to do while standing on the ladder.   As per tradition, "Pops" will perform his task while uttering his
    now famous slogan, "An hour saved is
    a minute earned sixty times."

    Meanwhile, his erstwhile replacement, Todd Tripzen-Stumbles, a recent graduate of Spondyville High School for the non-performing arts, will offer his assistance, if needed, by holding the ladder for "Pops".

    For the "100 percenters" in the crowd, (Spondyvilleans who are totally fused), there are, of course, prism binoculars available, donated by the Marie Strumpell Charitable Foundation, which makes it easier to watch Pops' antics atop the ladder.

    Coffee and crullers will be provided for all by the adjacent Spondy Cafe.

    Officer Floyd Crimp (aka 'Flatfoot Floyd, the fused fuzz.’ aka 'Officer Crimp, the cop with the limp.'), asks all residents of Spondyville to make sure they toss their uneaten donuts into the "Crullers for Coppers" barrel outside the post office, AND remember to set YOUR clocks back one hour on Saturday night.

    P.S. Todd Tripzen-Stumbles is, of course, the great-grandson of Spondyville pioneer, Andrew Tripzen.   As you know, Spondyville's co-founders, Uriah Stoop and Elias Fuselot immortalized their pal, Andrew Tripzen, by naming the cascading waters outside of town, Andy Tripzen Falls.

     

    Happy Halloween!!

     

    Comments

    And coffee and crullers to you, Smith. Or would you like candy corn. Damn, is today Halloween?

    I've been so scared of ebola I forgot what day it was. (got to lock my gates)

    I've got something on "carving pumpkins, to wit,

     

    Ice cream quart melting.

    He spooned around the edges,

    offending his wife.

     

    Speaking of offenses.

     

    Double murder charge.

    "Yo, I never killed no one"

    Language can hurt you.

     

    The netflix couple.

    He jumped up to get a beer.

    She quietly streamed.

     

    Texting ? four u:

    Wht dus th wrd banal meen?

    Ans: dmb thgs peep rite.

     

    A face lift only works

    when life is on the upswing.

    per Isaac Newton.

     

    October tin roofs

    brace for rain, hail, dead branches,

    pinging of acorns.

     

    leaves let loose their grip,

    glide with dignity onto

    beds of winter grass.

     

     


    Thanks Oxy.    I was surprised a few years ago to learn that some parts of the country had never heard of the term, 'crullers'... I like the word, it evokes wonderful smells from the past in my imagination ...   Nice set of haikus. 


    You just got me thinking I have to get my recipe out.  It is just choux paste.deep fried.  I have some new large piping tips that the craft store had marked down. I just got done making orange flavored cookies with chocolate chips and rice crispy treats. I still have chocolate cup cakes to make later tonight to use up the orange flavored icing. 

    I am getting ready for the beggers.  My kids have home made costumes. The youngest is a box troll named sparky.  Sammy is a cat and the young genius is going as a geek. 


    I am getting ready now to leave my office and go back home.  My apartment building is having it's annual Halloween party tonight in the lobby, so when I arrive, I will have to slowly and carefully work my way through a sea of small children with candy-induced sugar highs running all around me and screaming at the top of their lungs.  For a half-blind arthritic person , that can be a very scary situation.  HA!  


    Ah your pix are superb, but I still hate tombstones.

    I have of course, been in purgatory for decades. ha

    Halloween

    Candy is dandy

    But candy is fattening

    Liquor is quicker

    the end

    for now


    Thanks, DD.   Sorry about the tombstones.  I keep thinking that I'm done with that tombstone series, but then my friend Tom, the photographer, posts another photo on his Facebook page and I feel obligated to come up with a haiku to go with it. 

    I haven't found the Fred Allen play on my computer diskettes yet, so here's a link to one of my plays. The Two Books of Connie Betters  It was written in 1990 and was originally a stand-alone one-act, but after a successful debut at the New Hope Performing Arts Festival in Pennsylvania, I was encouraged to write more with the character and turned it into a full length one-person play, An Evening with Connie Betters.  Right now, I only have the first act posted online.   I also went back a few years later and wrote another short play with the same character, detailing his time as a magician in Vaudeville.   Enjoy.

     


    Thank you very much.

    I will examine this link or these links. Gives me something to do.


    Let's turn clocks ahead,

    skipping Tuesday completely. 

    Scary elections.


    I was just thinking maybe I will go to bed tonight and get up on Wed.  I was also thinking about how Kendrick Meek running for the Senate in 2010 helped build more voters in Florida that led to the big turn out in 2012 even though he lost.  Wendy Davis running this year will be the building stone for Texas Democrats.  


    Thanks. That's interesting about Meeks' contribution. I hope that will be the case with Wendy.

    I'm really dreading the news on this election.


    It does take several cycles to get minorities used to voting and get the numbers up in registration.  We have had all kinds of voter suppression here in Florida under Rick Scott.  Turn out has been good so far. 

    Meek is now one of the 3 US Representatives to the UN and works with the US Ambassador. His career is not over for Florida. 

    I am optimistic that this election will break towards the Dems to hold the Senate. It will be very close.  We won't know on Wednesday because of all the counting in Co and Ak that will take days and the run offs in La and Ga.  Alaska has been one of the most expensive GOTV operations in history this time.  They have targeted everyone that is in the wilderness and villages who never get a chance to vote. 


    There is a piece in HuffPost today.already conceding that the Dems blew it.     On the other hand, just when you think Republican absurdity is a recent thing, there's this article. which deals with FDR moving Thanksgiving in 1939 and Republicans not going along with it.
     


    I knew about the Thanksgiving date story because my parents were married on Thanksgiving 1941. Two weeks before Pearl Harbor.  The next week after that my dad was activated because he was in the Army Reserves. So every year at Thanksgiving we heard the FDR story.  Also many states in the South didn't celebrate Thanksgiving because they considered it a Yankee holiday. 

    Huffington Post is more of a tabloid now that AOL owns it.  They want all those Republican dollars that have been sloshing around in our political system.  The media don't spend much time putting cameras in front of liberal politicians. 

     

     

      


    My parents were married on November 8th, 1941, one day short of a month before Pearl Harbor   Somehow I missed out on hearing the Thanksgiving story.  ... You're right about Huff Post. 
     


    Halloween's over.
    We have saved enough Daylight.
    Next stop: Thanksgiving!

     

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    Scary elections;
    What Japanese porn stars say
    'bout their leading men ...

     


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