19 Haiku

Breeze through the plaza
teeming with people at lunch time—
the smell of fried food

Morning train station—

uniformed young man strides by
smiling, with a gun

A solid grey day—

people so slow and sleepy
in the calm still air

*

Cracking explosion

rips through the packed evening train—
old man dropped his cane

Lying under sky,

my breath rising and falling,
cars breezing by

I do some yoga

before the party—and now
I don’t want to go!

*

Drunk man savoring
his cigarette on a cold
stone bench at dusk

Alone on the beach—

friend at the end of the world
calling out my name

A beautiful mood—

you don’t see it go, you just
recognize it’s gone

*

Caterpillar train
crawling out of its tunnel—
sleepy grey morning

Whispering rhythm

from some earphones on the train—
sleepy grey morning

A parade of garbage
sliding along the asphalt—
cloudy morning breeze


 *

Cotton fiber clouds
lacing a blue summer sky—
so many faces!

On the phone he sounds

like a little guy who squints
upward when he talks

Everywhere I go

I hear a chirping cricket—
it’s my belt buckle!

*

Honking geese and whoosh
of a train by the platform—
heading home from work

Black bird on a post—

doesn’t budge when people pass
on the path at dusk

Little dragonfly

buzzing between green branches—
slow-falling feather

*

A green baseball field
speckled with stars of seagulls—
misty morning calm



.

Reminder

Even in the suburbs
of capitalized America
with its franchise monotonies
strewing these lands
with the debris
of exploded televisions
yes even here
they've still got it
staring through a desert
of loveless business
unblinking
invisible
without thought
without outcry
the Great Cosmic Eye
gazing through the eyes
of all the lonesome folk



.

Flashes 17

The sky
is full
of ghosts

Life, he said,

is terrible—I eat
the same thing every day!

A man

through whom
music flows

*

Fat

obscures
you

The world is

like a movie
of life

The world’s
a lonely
crock of shit


*

He needs

more time
in the temple

Self-loathing

is still
ego

Man
blues
soothes!

*

It’s so sad

but you
don’t have to be

These

lusts
pass

Defining things

by what
they are not

*

An oddball
like every
one else

Why

trouble your mind
with that crap?

The Meaning Of Life:

cultivate consciousness
and live accordingly

*

The air

is full
of souls



.

21 Haiku

A bearded cloud man
—his hat like a roof or road—
laughing in the sky

An orange lozenge

swallowed by the sea again—
slow summer sunset

Bright fang of a moon

over a vanishing shore—
and now it’s night

*

A tree’s red tassels
against a grey summer sky—
home to many birds

An ordinary fool

with a pocket-watch heart—
napping sick at noon

Evening train—somber

woman exits with her son
who has the same face

*

Crescent moon, gull, plane—
all sharing the same blue sky!
Summer afternoon

Wind-blown clouds race past

a phantom sliver of moon—
last light in the west

Moon dims and brightens

as veils of clouds wander by
in mid-summer dusk

*

Two girls on the train
sit opposite each other
putting on make-up

Evening train—a man

standing in a wild plaid shirt
smiling to himself

Alone on the train—

is everyone out drinking?
Briefcase and white shirt

*

Sunny afternoon—

flitting white butterfly makes
the garden greener

A swirling white pair

of butterflies overhead—
mating ritual?

A butterfly lands

on a sunny cobblestone—
a bird’s lazy chirping

*

A shy smiling girl

sits alone on the church steps—
the six o’clock bells

Face in the mirror

just before bedtime—I smear
cold cream on crow’s feet

Want to diddlydoo

but the cat’s between my legs—
what’s more delightful?

*

Morning train station—

a fast-passing panoply
clutching coffee cups

Elevated train

speeding through the mist above
broccoli tree tops

Hissing hydraulics
of the train in the station—
waiting to move on

.

Leave Here Running

Got crocked in the hotel bar
Feeling like I lost my star
A man can fall so far
Crocked in the hotel bar

Earlier I felt so good
Like I finally understood
Now I’m drowning in a mood—like I’ve been
Stranded on the moon

I thought I had come
To a pause in the war
But here I am again I’m feeling
Lost in the storm—I’ve got to
Leave here running but I
Don’t know where to go

I gotta get out of this place
I’m staring at the devil’s face!
He’s laughing at my disgrace—the whole human
Race has the devil’s face!

Why must I wander?
What am I stumbling under?
I think I’m into something that could make a fellow
Come undone—I hope I’m wrong!

Quivering meat
Out in the street
There’s a hunger gnawing all
The people I see—I’ve got to
Leave here running ‘cause
A man has got to be

(All my life I’ve been

Lost and wondering
I’ll my life I’ve been
Running somewhere
But I am always here)

A branch of lightning gleams

Feels like it’s reaching me
Doesn’t need to be believed
A branch of lightning gleams

A flash in the night

A flash in my mind
I’m looking for a light while I’m
Groping blind—I’ve got to
Leave here running but I
Don’t know what I’ll find

Might lose my mind!



.