Category Archives: Poetry

First Half of April Haikus

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Last month one of my readers suggested I break my monthly summary of daily haikus into two. Here are the April 1st to April 15th haikus.

4/1/2012
The streets of our town
Lost the meaning they once had
Forgive me, my friend

4/2/2012
Flowers bloom in Spring
Life swells green below our feet
Vibrations of life

4/3/2012
Your laughter warns me
Like a meditation bell
To appreciate

4/4/2012
When you say my name
My heart soars above it all
You catch me grinning

4/5/2012
I love to watch when
Your hands dance as you speak
You are not Latin?

4/6/2012
Chasing history
Has never been this much fun
Are you surprised too

4/7/2012
Car rides together
When you break into a song
Are a dream to me

4/8/2012
When it is all done
What makes a true holiday
But your hand in mine

4/9/2012
Sometimes I am scared
That the ringing in my ears
Becomes all I know

4/10/2012
What a silly pup
You brighten every morning
With your carefree ways

4/11/2012
I run to stay fit
The truth is much more than that
It’s meditation

4/12/2012
People make choices
How do they arrive to them?
No one is the same

4/13/2012
Pressure in my head
Threatens to rip it open
Make too much of it

4/14/2012
From the other room
I hear you tell life stories
It’s a symphony

4/15/2012
I irritate you
I never mean to do so
Can you forgive me?

The Tiger

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I was an old man when I heard about him
My peoples’ lives had been saddled by
Two thousand years of hatred and confusion
To the Deer Park I traveled
To get a glimpse and to understand
What had been forgotten with time
I heard him speak of open hearts and minds
I felt my soul stir at his mere presence
So I decided to stay and learn what others have
I sat beneath the Bodhi tree as he once did
But I did not comprehend
I shaved my head and donned saffron robes
But I did not comprehend
I walked miles with begging bowl in hand
But I did not comprehend
I took the four noble truths to heart
But I did not comprehend
I followed the noble eightfold path
But I did not comprehend
As I grew older and weary I decided
To go back to my ancestral Rome
For clearly I lacked what was required
On the way I met a fellow traveler
A tiger she told me she was
She could show me what I could not grasp
I laughed and told her that I was too old
The path for awakening is left to those
That have their heart and their wits
She jumped and clawed me with her sharp paws
And I began to comprehend
She toyed with me as I tried to get away
And I continued to comprehend
She growled fear into my heart and soul
And I continued to comprehend
She grabbed me by the neck and took my breath
And I continued to comprehend
She devoured me in one swift move
And I finally understood
There is nothing and everything left
I am her and there is no me left
The old man is now part of the tiger
We roam the forest looking for souls
We tell them the truth and show them
That there is no me left and there never was

.

Note: I wrote this piece a few years ago. It’s my favorite piece, but one that no one else has liked. I’ve submitted it for publication several times and has always been turned down.

Have you?

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Have you ever had the aftertaste
When desperation subsides?

Life has kicked you in the teeth
You were flat on the ground
Swallowing your pride
And a good dose of blood

You looked around to see
What hit you so hard
Standing there wearing bloody boots
Was yourself smirking back

You are not what you thought
There was only one person
That could have taken you down
And it would always be yourself

Have you ever looked around
And found insanity waning?

You look in the rearview mirror
And see carnage behind you
What could have done that
Yes, it was you and you alone
But you are too good
You have thought
Turns out you were not
You are all too human

Have you ever reached out
And found another landscape?

You find that the calm
Means something else now
All that once was is gone
A new world stands there

You want to crawl back
For what you know
But that is long gone
Even if you can still see it

Have you ever been deafened
By the silence between heartbeats?

You die every second or so
And every breath is your last
And you are born again
Only to die once more

There is always calm
Somewhere and sometimes
There is always turmoil
When you least expect it

Image

March Haikus

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3/1/2012
Moving your own space
Even when it is not far
Unexpected toll

3/2/2012
Doors open each day
Clouds pass by above our heads
That one looks like love

3/3/2012
You blossom each day
Inspiration at close range
You are a beacon

3/4/2012
Please hold me, I pray
I falter away from you
Show me our future

3/5/2012
How quiet it can be
I still worry all the same
Are you satisfied?

3/6/2012
Doer was my fate
Ideas stole me away
I’m grasping at straws

3/7/2012
Relief for tasks done
Only to jump to the next
Enjoy the journey

3/8/2012
Welcome warm weather
The seeds awaken ever so
Promise of light soon

3/9/2012
Coming home to you
A promise that delivers
Revive me, I plead

3/10/2012
Halfway through the day
I recalled what this was once
Bittersweet it’s now

3/11/2012
I woke up achy
My body is rebelling
How to bring order

3/12/2012
Food sustains us all
The art of cuisine is lost
To a sorry world

3/13/2012
Patience is a gift
You practice it with aplomb
My awaken one

3/14/2012
The audience filed in
My mouth dried like the dessert
Become another

3/15/2012
Snow capped peaks reach up
Lazily we cruise, it seems
A flight over clouds

3/16/2012
Slight changes transform
A life driven by routine
For better, I hope

3/17/2012
Below me unfolds
Geography so alive
Dragons engulf towns

3/18/2012
Music brings to life
Happiness and a longing
You and I just dance

3/19/2012
I am told my role
How strange that I become it?
When did comfort grow?

3/20/2012
It seems very odd
Surrounded by those like me
They all say my thoughts

3/21/2012
Away from our home
We both want to just go back
We miss our sweet boys

3/22/2012
Never saw Texas
This little corner is fun
Keep Austin weird, y’all!

3/23/2012
It’s back to the grind
Returning to regular
Means harried clean up

3/24/2012
A day filled by plans
Prepare a new surrender
For soon I move on

3/24/2012
Once this was all new
Today is a new future
Time to clean and dust

3/25/2012
I sit back in awe
I’m sure I’ve said it before
I’m drunk on your love

3/26/2012
With her arrival
It’s time to let go once more
A small death of sorts

3/27/2012
It’s all very strange
Suddenly calls from afar
Tell me they want me

3/28/2012
I hear loud ringing
Like it’s an emergency
Worry starts to grow

3/29/2012
The pounding starts slow
Becomes a cacophony
Threatens sanity

3/30/2012
I decide it’s stress
Even when I feel relief
The mind, a wonder

3/31/2012
You are like the lamp
The light that you can emit
Makes this place our home

The Coil

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There is a sudden desire to undress
It’s urgent as if all depends on it
I shiver regardless
My body shakes but it must come off
I get under the covers
I seek warmth or reassurance

I’m not sure what I know
A headache grows
Pounding like a drum
Surging over everything
The drum gives me warmth
I struggle to pull a sheet over me
Someone is holding it
I look but no one is there
The drum gives me strength
I mightily wrestle it away
The sheet wraps me
The cold recedes as does the drum

The coil that forms my brain unravels
Slowly at first
It gathers speed
How did I not know it was a coil?
Laughter rises as a Cinnabon appears
Yes, the coil is delicious
As the coil unravels I worry
What happens at the end?
The unraveled brain flat like ribbon
Will it pile up around me?
I have to get up to pick up the ribbon

I look outside
Well below my window they are there
The undead walk to and fro
Do they know about the coil?
Do they have a coil?
Maybe they are just jumbled ribbons

A chuckle noise distracts me
It’s me, I’m laughing at the undead
And their jumble ribbon brains
Maybe I can show them
We could put their ribbon brains in a coil
Maybe they’ll stop being undead
They could hear the drum
What happened to the drum?

The coil is gone and I’m falling
Falling into the void where the coil once was
I have to call someone
Can someone help me gather the ribbon?
Maybe keep me from falling
Before I call I better get dressed
Being undead and naked is embarrassing

What’s the front and what’s the back?
Ribbon brain is not that smart
Clothes come on quickly

Where is the phone?
I dial something
A voice answers in Swahili
A least it sounds like it
My mouth opens and the drum beats
She hangs up calls me an idiot
Idiot in Swahili sounds sweet
Maybe I’ll just wait
Someone will find me covered in ribbon
My friends are smart
They’ll know how recoil it

Six hours pass as I watch the undead
They walk aimlessly
Why don’t they pick up the ribbon brains?
My brain starts to recoil on its own

I’m hungry, I’m so hungry
I pick up the phone again
Rick picks up the line
He sounds like an undead
I think he’s upset
Did I interrupt him?
He shows up, eventually
He’s with Jackie
They are arguing
Rick the undead with ribbon brain
And Jackie with a tight coil
Why can’t we get along?

I’m hungry, is it dinner time yet?
They agree that it is

We meet with Mark outside
The undead have listened to me
They have gathered their coils tight
Even Rick has although he’s still upset
I haven’t eaten in 3 days
I eat a lot
My coil brain forgets
My coil brain will become Judas

For twenty years it will betray me
Maybe I should let it be ribbons
Or maybe just a Cinnabon.

Would

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In a couple of weeks,

it would have been

your 44th birthday.

Throughout all these years

You’ve been in my mind

as frequently as ever.

It’s amazing that there are

only three people in this planet

that ever think of you.

Of course it’s only because there are

only three people alive

that remember you like we do.

I often wonder what kind of man

you would have been,

if you could have stayed.

I know you would be someone

I would admire,

and always would look up to.

You were younger

but you took care of me,

in the way only you could have.

I was the fragile one,

and you were the strong one,

even at such age.

How would that strength

manifest now,

as a grown man?

Maybe you would have been

there when I lost my mind.

Maybe I wouldn’t have lost my mind

if you could have been nearby.

I’ve been so alone for so long

without you.

I know it’s because no one

can ever fill your role for me.

Maybe that is too much

to assign to someone so small,

but you’ve figured large in my life.

Do you remember our marches?

Do you remember our drumming?

Do you remember hugging?

I remember us laughing a lot.

I remember your hands.

I remember your hair.

Have I told you about her?

Her skin is like yours;

her hair is too.

Is that strange?

I’ll talk to you again soon,

like I always do

when no one is around.

I hope you hear me.

I hope you understand English.

I miss you so much, my Brother.

Road Trip

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The ping drives
The cans fall on the floor
They roll to the front
And then they roll back

Whispers from afar
It sounds like a refrain
I once knew, knew well

A steady clink appears
It moves forward
Building upon itself
While the Florida heat
Melts the pavement beneath

The bottles roll again
Crashing underneath the seats
Forced to hit the breaks

Whispers grow to a shout
They tell you that it all matters
Then the murmur drowns it all

Beat, upon beat slow down
All to a trickle ends
Leaving us wet and tired