One hot summer night
She sent him off with fireworks
Exploding mid-air
Reds and blues bursting
Sparklers lighting up the sky
Oohs and ahhhs ringing
She prayed he’d return
But the heat left when he did
Dark skies, quiet hearts
Tag: haiku
Breaking Hearts
Every day hearts break
Shattering like fine crystal
Starting with a crack
You’re ugly, stupid,
Fat and flat unloveable
A great waste of space
Those cracks never heal
Ask anyone who has heard
The shattering glass
Butterfly Collecting
I collect butterflies,
But mine are never displayed
Pinned under clear glass
Loosely assembled,
Mine aren’t arrayed in cases
Alphabetically
No, mine flit about
Pausing to sip at petals
Eliciting smiles
For my Friend
She’s forged in the fire
Of unspeakable sadness
Such weighted sorrows
Loss, her companion
Her memories, filled with love
The pain, hers to bear
When darkness threatens
She wields the brightest of lights
Searching for justice
Wide Awake
I slept for forty years
My eyes closed to injustice
But I’m awake now
Patriotism
Might mean kneeling in protest
Soldiers bought that right
We might not condone
The paths these protesters trod
But their rights remain
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
Bottle This
Tentative chirping
Followed by full throated song
Forest symphony
Faint wood smoke curling
From a neighboring chimney
Pairs with strong coffee
Scant breeze stirs the lake
Fish send out rippling signals
While frogs sun on logs
That Woman
She haunts me at times
Those weary eyes and sad smile
When the facade fades
I cannot gaze long
Fearful of her influence
Leery of her ills
Mocking me, she stares
Eye to eye, she locks me in
My mirror tells all
Recognition
We know she’s out there
Churning on the horizon
Her name on our lips
Feverish dervish
Frantic dance for the ages
Spinning tirelessly
Irma, we feel you
Whatever slights you’ve suffered
We will bear your pain
Totem
Totem pole bottom
Weighed down by crows and warriors
View never changes
Lofty intentions
Brought low by circumstances
Hardly moving up
Change doesn’t come
He remains the same old wolf
Underneath it all
Who Indeed?
Who would she have been
Rooted in the old home soil
Victim or victor
How life has changed her
Honed and toughened, awakened
She’s nobody’s pawn
There are those who prey
Others seek in vain to shame
Who would she have been?
Praying for Eyebrowz 