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

A Presumptive Friday Afternoon at the Haikulodeon

 

 

 

Here's this week's heap of haikus:

 

 

Yesterday-ku:


Cinco de Mayo?
Torpedo a condiment!
(Yeah, it's a cheap joke.)

 

 

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tanka haiku: 

 

When an opponent
wants to forgive and forget,  
let them and join them.

   bitter recriminations
   never end up as blessings.

 

 

 

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When I eat beef stew,
I think that each leftover
got a second chance.

 

 

 

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Dear God: Stay away.
You've been messing up my life.
Let me screw myself.

 

( Headline: Man goes to court to get restraining order against God )

 


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Beyond the brick wall
behind a small cottage, an
orderly garden.

 

 

 

 

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Charms of finches, and
murders of crows ... memories
of old elephants.

 

 


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tanka haiku:


Crowded Conveyance;
Two women, a dog, a bike,
a small child and me.

   Crammed in an elevator
   Waiting for the thing to go.

 

 

 


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In a fitful sleep,
memories long forgotten,
swarm my un-conscious.

 

 

 

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They sway with the breeze,
which is why her little dog,
barks at sunflowers.

 

 

 

 


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Bells in the distance ...
Yipee!  It's the ice cream man!
Wanna creamsicle?
 

 

 


 

 

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A couple cuddles
outside of the Guggenheim,
then hails a taxi.

 

 

 

 

 

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Friday nights, a line
forms at the lover's leap ... for
the One O'clock Jump.

 


 

 

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I no longer fret
and no longer worry ...  I'm
conjuring rainbows.

 

 

 

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tanka haiku:

 

We fight our whole lives
to thrive in the world of our
parents, only to

     realize that we're living
     in the world of our children.

 

 

 

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Saunter through the woods,
leave all your cares behind. Be
consumed by nature.

 

 


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Seldom will you see
a second thought that dances
in the ev'ning breeze.

 

 

 


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In a smoke-filled bar
A winded woodwind player
got to the coda.

 


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No matter what heights
your Melody soars, Rhythm
Will still be master.

 

 

 

 


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Double haiku:

 

My world has shifted.
I'm now, sadly, no-one’s son.
Who will hold me now?

 


And so, another
Mothers' Day will go by with
only memories.


(Happy Mothers' Day this Sunday to all you mothers out there!)

 

(My sister, my mom and me ... Winter of 1951)

 

 


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Flowery bouquets,
made the room seem less dreary.
and soaked up her tears.

 

 


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‘midst purple flowers,
a hummingbird suspended
in mid-air … awesome.
 

 

 

 

 

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Caught in the downpour
without an umbrella, he
shrugs his broad shoulders.

 
 

 

 


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tanka haiku:

 

Those that can not deal
with their friend’s adversities,
fear their own weakness.

    But smooth sailing weakens sailors
    while stormy weather breeds strength.

 

 

 

---

 

 

 

Windows to our souls,
eyes behold the world, but our
minds create vision.

 

 

 

 

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In a quiet place
which no-one else could enter,
he wrestled with doubt.

 

 

 

 

 


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Loose litter swirling
through the canyons of midtown;
Urban tumbleweeds.

 

 

 

 

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Irreconcilable-ku:

 

'Cuz she doesn't keep
away from bootleg hootch when
she’s on a spree, NOR ...

buttons up her overcoat.
THAT’S why he’s divorcing her.

 

 

 

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alliterative-ku:


Before Bab's beguine’s
begun to beguile, betray
Ben's beignet, Buster.

 

 

 


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They'll take ev'rything
They'll take the shirt off your back
Why are people like that?

 

 

 

 

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Into the darkness
fluttering pigeons rise and
pretend they're fireflies.


Artist Duke Riley's Art project begins tomorrow night in Brooklyn. 
It involves 2000 pigeons with tiny LED lights taped to their feet.

 


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On this Irish morn,
May ye be as happy now,
As God 'ill allow.

 

 

 

 


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She removes his shirt
He unbuttons her silk blouse ...
(The kids are at camp.)

 

 

 

 


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When you're playing 'Dad'
at age seventeen, you must
cast short first-graders.

17 year old MrSmith1 onstage at my high school.  The play was, "The Lottery", the kid was a ringer from the nearby middle school, and way too tall to be my son.

 

 

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


(Photo courtesy Kristina Rebelo)

 

 

****

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On World A.S. Day,
Spondys 'round the world unite;
Fusing Together.


Saturday, May 7th, 2016 is World AS Day. 
There are approximately 33 million people worldwide with some form of Spondyloarthritis.

 

****

Note:  After next week's blog, I will be taking a two week break in order to attend my grand-niece's wedding. 

 

Comments

Oh ... and one more thing.   Just because ... 

 

 

Paul Butterfield
12/17/42 - 05/04/87


Wonderful cache, Mr. Smith.

 

Everything is green

Grape vines are last to leaf out

Wasps search for housing


Everything is green

Although only in my mind

Still in search of Spring


Good one, flowerchild!

 

Everything is green
as I lean over the rail
and puke my guts out.


Excellent, Oxy!

Wasps search for housing
Jews remain in Williamsburg
Blacks still get red-lined.

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