MURDER, POLITICS, AND THE END OF THE JAZZ AGE
by Michael Wolraich
Order today at Barnes & Noble / Amazon / Books-A-Million / Bookshop
MURDER, POLITICS, AND THE END OF THE JAZZ AGE by Michael Wolraich Order today at Barnes & Noble / Amazon / Books-A-Million / Bookshop |
Here's this week's heap of haikus:
tanka haiku:
Try to retain the
ability to express
delirious joy.
Any moment, happiness
could spring from your consciousness.
---
When the universe
conspires to foil your plans,
don't bitch, make new plans.
---
haiku quintet:
Forced to make choices,
Ramona's voices told her
t'was best to be wed.
Now, they fit snugly,
their bodies melt into one;
their love, just oozes.
There is a comfort
that blesses lovers after
nearly sixty years.
They're like old shoes, whose
leather has grown supple 'cuz
they're worn ev'ry day.
Only Love will last
beyond the moon and stars ... so
keep your hand in mine.
(Happy 59th Wedding Anniversary, Ramona!! Here's to many happy years to come!)
---
(a haiku quintet:)
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.
Convictions, of course,
were harder, but you knew who
got it in the end.
---
Candle-lit cabin
on a ship that sails the seas,
studying the maps.
---
For his childhood town,
he chose Piscataway ... cuz
he hated Mahwah.
---
Debating a duck
ain't easy, and depends what
topic's on the bill.
---
The shrinking distance
'tween my life and my dreams ... It's
just a-whirled away.
---
She'd prove, she said, her
state of emergency ... by
slowly emerging.
---
To remember love
is to journey through the soul
and restore the heart.
---
A tall glass of juice,
is no substitute for a
big mug of coffee.
---
double haiku:
Our want, rather than
need. is our intentional
determination.
Our need, rather than
our want, is the extent of
our determining.
---
Charms of finches, and
murders of crows ... memories
of grey elephants.
That was inspired by hearing my Spondy friend Fee's song entitled Murder of Crows:
---
Life may intrude on
well-crafted scenarios,
never write in ink.
---
Slowly I arose
squinting to see the peaches
'neath the bamboo tree.
---
Storming the Bastille;
not something that you want to
lose your head over.
(Happy Bastille Day - July 14th!)
---
When kids are forced to
sing TO their supper, sometimes
noses get messy.
(Photo courtesy Kristina Rebelo)
---
It was a new look
for the British embassy ...
and a lot more fun!
(Photo courtesy Kristina Rebelo)
---
Architecture that
inspired awe surrounded us,
and we tore it down.
(The old Penn Station, 1936. Photo by Berenice Abbott.)
---
Sneaking through the dell,
he followed a dried creek bed
and made his escape.
---
Pretty little birds
clinging to branches, swaying
in the morning breeze.
---
I do much wonder ...
I also do much yearn and
dream of tomorrow.
---
An over-dose of
an antidote, will become
a poison itself.
---
On the road of Life,
focus on what drives your heart,
not the car you're in.
---
She seemed unaware
her stunning figure put the
guys in an uproar.
---
After harvesting
the amber waves of grain, what
remained were flowers.
---
Sometimes what we think
are flaws are, in fact, strengths when
in the right context.
---
Crushing a spirit
through humiliation is
what breeds most evil.
---
A ladybug clings
to my sleeve. I give her a
ride to my garden.
---
double haiku:
Elegant gestures,
are sometimes ways of easing
tense relations ... but,
your ‘middle finger
’ain't no elegant gesture.
Know what I'm sayin'?
---
Before he mothered
us, he tried to play a bike.
Zappa for the Schwinn ...
(March 4, 1963 ... The Steve Allen Show - Guest: An unknown and clean-cut Frank Zappa plays a bicycle.)
---
The future, said the
gypsy, held great things ... to her,
that meant reading palms.
---
To start the music,
you must cover stops. Pick up
your stone flute and blow.
---
And Hope shall lead them,
it shines through darkness ... besides,
who else knows the way?
*****
Comments
Thank you so much for your contribution to our celebration! You have made me cry once again. I've shared this with a few others and you'll be happy to know (or will you?) tears have been shed all over the country. I'll bet you didn't know you had that kind of power, huh?
BTW, you are very, very special. If I could write as well as you, I would let you know in so many words.
by Ramona on Fri, 07/17/2015 - 3:16pm
You are so kind, Ramona! I am in awe of your relationship. 59 years is no small feat and deserves major celebrating! As for me, I've been making people cry for years, not always intentionally, but never mind that. LOL
by MrSmith1 on Fri, 07/17/2015 - 4:11pm
Lovely poem. Congratulations, Ramona.
Didn't mean to intrude with my nonsense.
by Oxy Mora on Fri, 07/17/2015 - 4:50pm
Thanks, Oxy. Mr. Smith has touched my heart with this.
by Ramona on Sat, 07/18/2015 - 9:16am
Congratulations to you and your husband, Ramona. Most folks don't like anyone enough to look at them every day, much less live with them for 59 years ... so you're an inspiration to us all!
by barefooted on Fri, 07/17/2015 - 5:30pm
Thanks, barefooted. I can't say it's always been easy, but we're both grateful now that we stuck with it. We're still not convinced it's been 59 years. That's impossible! But the calendar doesn't lie. Lol.
by Ramona on Sat, 07/18/2015 - 9:21am
That lady bugs me.
That, sir, is no ladybug,
That bug is my wife.
Take my ladybug, please.
by Oxy Mora on Fri, 07/17/2015 - 4:47pm
Lady bugs ... hmmmm
Oh sweet and lovely,
Lady be-ugh Oh Lady
be-ugh to-who me.
---
a lady bug can
fit down in a manhole, but
flies will zip right up.
.
by MrSmith1 on Fri, 07/17/2015 - 5:05pm
Lady bugs are good
but they put the bite on you
that's why they're called tramps.
by Oxy Mora on Fri, 07/17/2015 - 6:00pm
You like lady Bugs?
It always made me laugh how
Elmer couldn't tell ..
by MrSmith1 on Fri, 07/17/2015 - 6:04pm
You got me. Fudd?
by Oxy Mora on Fri, 07/17/2015 - 6:11pm
Yes, Fudd seemed to like "Lady" Bugs ... (see below)
by MrSmith1 on Fri, 07/17/2015 - 10:33pm
To bug a lady
all a gent needs to do is
treat her like a tramp.
by barefooted on Fri, 07/17/2015 - 6:17pm
Good one, barefooted.
by Oxy Mora on Fri, 07/17/2015 - 6:49pm
;-]
by barefooted on Fri, 07/17/2015 - 8:10pm
Excellent, Missy!!
by MrSmith1 on Fri, 07/17/2015 - 10:38pm
ride into my garden
a shiny new bicycle
sadly built for one
by Elusive Trope on Fri, 07/17/2015 - 10:42pm
One syllable too many in the first line;
try "Ride through my garden" instead.
Ride through my garden,
park beneath the sycamore,
let me pluck your spokes.
by MrSmith1 on Fri, 07/17/2015 - 10:57pm
mis-wrote a line of yours
ride through my garden
on shiny new bicycle
sadly built for one
by Elusive Trope on Fri, 07/17/2015 - 11:03pm
big mug of coffee
no sugar, no creme: coffee
a simple white mug
by Elusive Trope on Fri, 07/17/2015 - 11:04pm
Again, one syllable too many, this time in the second line;
try "no sugar, cream ... just coffee" instead.
Also try using the third line to comment, contrast or add something new, not simply re-state the first line.
by MrSmith1 on Fri, 07/17/2015 - 11:04pm
already changed it.
I'm really tired. Time for me to go to bed.
by Elusive Trope on Fri, 07/17/2015 - 11:06pm
slowly emerging
like wisps of clouds over heath
swirling and then gone
by Elusive Trope on Fri, 07/17/2015 - 10:58pm
Excellent!! I like this one a lot!
by MrSmith1 on Fri, 07/17/2015 - 11:06pm
Slowly emerging like wisps of clouds over heath, swirling and then gone ...
She was so excited to meet him, so sure she'd know exactly what to say.
He was standing right in front of her, waiting to hear all her thoughts, smiling pleasantly.
Oh, please! Words, why won't you come when I call? Help! This can't be how it ends!
He looked at her and laughed ... as he took her hand in his, she wondered why she ever wondered.
Time passed, tears later she came upon the place they met and anchored herself to the memory.
No, I can't be that anymore. I tried my best! Why aren't the answers where they used to be? I can't find them!
Beauty is fleeting,
perhaps innocence is, too.
Swirling and then gone.
by barefooted on Sat, 07/18/2015 - 2:09am
beauty is fleeting:
papers fluttering across
unforgiving streets
by Elusive Trope on Sat, 07/18/2015 - 9:51am
Nice!!
Beauty is fleeting,
like Cinderella rushing
back home at midnight.
by MrSmith1 on Sat, 07/18/2015 - 10:09am
Married for ten years
To Mildred, Maude and Mabel,
Brooklyn, Bronx and Queens.
by Oxy Mora on Sat, 07/18/2015 - 11:11am
HA!! Excellent, Oxy!! I think there is more to this story ...
Married for ten years
and never an argument ...
just bitter feelings.
by MrSmith1 on Sat, 07/18/2015 - 11:26am
I enjoyed this as always. I even like reading the comments. Thanks.
by trkingmomoe on Sun, 07/19/2015 - 2:32am
Thanks, trkingmomoe!!
by MrSmith1 on Sun, 07/19/2015 - 12:18pm
A life together.
Can get a lot of things done;
Divided labor.
Being good with words is good;
But we must carve the mountain.
by moat on Sun, 07/19/2015 - 4:23pm
Good one, moat!!
I packed my swimsuit,
but we must carve the mountain ...
hope someone brought knives.
by MrSmith1 on Sun, 07/19/2015 - 6:02pm
Getting close to it
gets the thing done in real time.
Showing up again.
by moat on Sun, 07/19/2015 - 7:33pm
Showing up again.
Answering futility
on the same worn path.
by barefooted on Sun, 07/19/2015 - 8:00pm
Good ones, moat and missy!!
Secret to success?
It's very simple really ...
showing up again.
by MrSmith1 on Sun, 07/19/2015 - 8:18pm
She has a point, though.
It could all be really dumb;
A Novocaine dream.
by moat on Sun, 07/19/2015 - 8:47pm
Good one, moat!
A Novocaine dream
will often have one sub-text;
never trust Dentists.
---
That was the weird thing;
it could all be really dumb,
Republicans don't care.
---
She has a point, though
he was loathe to admit it.
He hated losing.
by MrSmith1 on Sun, 07/19/2015 - 10:32pm
When the hand gets close,
what is the body doing?
Putting itself out.
by moat on Sun, 07/19/2015 - 8:24pm
Nice.
Smokey the bear says:
"A burning forest won't be
putting itself out."
by MrSmith1 on Sun, 07/19/2015 - 10:36pm
A hand is withdrawn
Two young faces lose their charm
The moment has passed.
by Oxy Mora on Sun, 07/19/2015 - 10:36pm
Excellent, Oxy!!
Friendships may not last,
People grow apart, and then,
a hand is withdrawn.
by MrSmith1 on Sun, 07/19/2015 - 11:35pm
A hand is withdrawn;
a cheek reddened by blushing
instead of a slap.
----------------
A hand is withdrawn,
shyly self-conscious over
putting itself out.
by barefooted on Mon, 07/20/2015 - 12:54am
Shyly self-conscious
hand draws a wavering line.
Not the other kind.
by moat on Thu, 07/23/2015 - 8:44pm
A hand is withdrawn,
he can't bluff without laughing.
See you next Friday.
by Oxy Mora on Thu, 07/23/2015 - 8:54pm
Mr. Smith always shows up on Friday.
Thank the Good Lord. hahahahah
I was thinking about him. I told Missy, go to Mr. Smith's corner. Nobody aint never going to bring you down there.
Missy still shows up on our blogs generally. hahahahah
It is a safe place.
But we are a relatively safe place anyway. hahahah
We shall see our hero on Friday.
the end
by Richard Day on Thu, 07/23/2015 - 9:23pm
Indeed, Oxy, indeed.
Note to Gamblers: If
you can't bluff without laughing,
Joker, don't poker.
by MrSmith1 on Thu, 07/23/2015 - 10:41pm
Best not to poke 'er,
cause if 'er doesn't like it
then the poke's on you.
by barefooted on Thu, 07/23/2015 - 10:58pm
Ha!
If 'er don't like it,
the match, she won't strike it,
smoke 'em ... then poke 'em.
by MrSmith1 on Thu, 07/23/2015 - 11:12pm
Good one, Missy!
riddle-ku:
Why is a cat like
a burning monk? 'Cuz neither's
putting itself out.
by MrSmith1 on Thu, 07/23/2015 - 10:35pm
I missed this. I do not even know how I missed this.
I receive delirious joy when I see my granddaughters
The oldest does not even like me. hahahah
That just adds to my love for her.
The nine month old has not reached an intellectual level in order to understand her sister's understanding of reality. hahahah
Anyway I am nuts about these kids, probably because of their love for their father. ha
It is genetic and familial and psychological I guess.
Oh and ladybugs.
A couple of years ago I was caught in a rainstorm around the pond and this stupid turtle was running the wrong way. I just had to pick him up and turn him around and he went for the pond.
You reminded me of this insignificant incident.
the end
by Richard Day on Tue, 07/21/2015 - 3:22pm