Here's this week's heap of haikus:


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Oh what sadness has
risen in me. it makes my
heart the heavier.


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Maya Angelou
told me why the caged bird sings;
How her words could soar.

( RIP - Maya Angelou )


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Life may intrude on
well-crafted scenarios,
don't write them in ink.

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Veterans deserve
more than empty rhetoric;
we owe them their lives.

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Live a life of love,
look to better angels, carve
your own walking stick.

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An old jelly bean
found in my jacket pocket
still tastes pretty good.
 

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Daddy's fingers wagged
and wiggled, she just giggled.
'Do it again ... Pleeeeease!'


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 An incoming tide,
coral clouds at sunrise ... all
my hopes are reborn.


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Edges of her path
were frayed, for she'd not always
kept within the lines.


---


Today may be rough
tomorrow may be silken ...
We will survive both.


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Slowly I arose
squinting to see the peaches
'neath the bamboo tree.

 
---
 

Across the river,
a past I recall only
in sepia tones.

(Photo taken while access-a-riding this week.)

 

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When poets can twirl
literary lariats,
they're soon laureates.

 

---
 

haiku: What do you say when
more children are killed by guns?
I say, NOT ONE MORE!

 

---
 

As the dawn breaks, a
boat with peeling paint, drifts through
the icy water.

 

---
 

 In the darkest night,
there remains an ember which
will re-light each dawn.
 

---
 

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

 

---

 

Almost unnoticed,
beyond the tangled branches;
'Old Glory' still flew.

 

---
 

 In my fitful sleep,
memories long forgotten,
leap to confront me.
 

---
 

When you walk through a
storm, hold your head up high ... The
rain will look like tears.

 

---

 

Youth is insistent,
while Old Age negotiates;
Neither accepts well.

 

---
 

Appreciation
of Life's complexities makes
easy answers rare.
 

---
 

Enjoying the shade,
of a leafy maple tree;
ladybugs and me.
 

 
---

 

When his heart's desire
bitch-slapped his raison d'être,
he felt quite confused.

 

---
 

The world passes by.
I look out my window and
imagine stories.
 


---

 

Tucked in his wallet
was a photo from his youth
of a secret love.
 

---

 

We're not defined by
what we have lost, but by what
we do with what's left.


 

---
 

Mysteries end, but
questions aren't always answered;
the moon hides in clouds.

 

---


tanka haiku:

When our old dog died,
There was no reason for us
to keep his chew toys.

But we did. And even now
they lie on the floor ... hoping.
 

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Photographed at age 103 ... in 1852!

" ... the only photographed Revolutionary War veteran ... (He) served under George Washington and crossed the Delaware River to Valley Forge."



He was quite old when
photography was still young
His stare cuts through time.

---

He's still a bit numb,
sitting in their bedroom with
her empty closet.
 
 

---
 

 
 I search for a way
to connect to the world, and
if I'm lucky, you.


 

---
 

A tall vase full of
perky yellow daffodils
assuages anger.


---

 

When you think of friends,
round their rough edges, and put
smiles on their faces.

 

---

 

 tanka haiku:
 
Why defy the wind?
Or swim against the tide? Why
make things so damned hard?

There's but one answer to this ...
It is where I am going.


 

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Thoughts while waiting for Access-a-Ride:

The other day, I watched a kindergarten teacher lead

a line of small children across

Broadway (going East to West.)

Then, moments later,

I saw another teacher lead another

line that crossed 108th Street (North to South,)

And I thought ...

Is New York being stitched into a lattice of little ones ... ?!
 

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The Best Medicine Night of Comedy event is tonight!  Arrrgggh!