13 Haiku

Descent of swift doves

upon herringbone mountains—

drama in the clouds

A whiff of shampoo

when she tosses her lush curls—

noisy restaurant

Posing for pictures

in front of the monument—

such grandiose smiles

*

A red cardinal’s

crystal metronomic chirp—

lawnmowers buzzing

A white dogwood’s branch

shaking in the aftermath

of a hawk’s take-off

A maple blushing

among murmuring crickets,

a red sagging sun

*

Bicycling at night—

a melon rind moon basking

on pillows of clouds

Listening to wind

through a half-open window

just before sleep comes

Fading motor sound

and the lapping of the tide

just before sleep comes

*

Single sunlit thread

of the spider’s web—a bridge

between two branches

The buzzing shadow

of a zig-zag hummingbird—

the cat’s attention

Waiting for the dawn—

crescent moon like a canoe

in a blueblack sky

*

Bus groans and pauses,

releases a sleepy-faced crowd

in the blushing dawn

.

Flashes 28

Always chasing

that thing I don’t

quite know

If I can imagine this,

something like it

is possible

Every one is

better than you

in some way

*

Suburbia

alienates you

by design

Doing what you want—

always

rebellious

With her

you’ll derail

your destiny

*

I know I have

blind spots—

I just can’t see them!

Walking around

not as a singularity

but as part of this

Flies

clean

themselves!

*

Don’t be an advocate

of the instrument

that rapes you

Giving soul’s never a waste—

it’s only wasted

when there’s no chance to give

It’s sad.

The whole thing is sad.

But you can’t relate to it sadly.

*

You gotta

nose around

in the darkness awhile

They relate to you

through the best

part of themselves

Trusting

yourself

is genius

.

15 Haiku

Bronze moth flutters

at train passengers’ ankles—

swats it with her skirt

That white-haired leader’s

dancing style—a little too

authoritative

Spry stout little bird

declaring himself as he

struts along a fence

*

Faces in two bent

pillows—whispering secrets

to one another

Man in the headlights?

…papers taped to a phone pole

shrugging in the wind

Pouring through the glass

into the dark morning street—

flashing images

*

She enters the train

preceded by a cloud of

nose-tickling perfume

Flash of a mirror

on the jostling morning train

as she makes her face

The throaty gossip

of two ravens on a roof

under churning skies

*

In the cool shadow

of a cluster of redwoods,

a cathedral hush

Black against blue skies—

silhouettes of bobbing pines

breathing in the wind

From a rushing car—

music that struggles to sound

like a fighter jet

*

Tiny bee clinging

to a pink chrysanthemum

shaking in the breeze

Alive as a tree

against a white-painted house—

a tree’s huge shadow

Moon like a searchlight

peers through gaps in passing clouds

while the ocean groans

.

13 Haiku

As the thunder booms

above the shuddering lake

these birds keep singing

Cigarette in mouth

she bends over to collect

our cabin’s garbage

For breakfast, some flies

circling raspberry donuts—

and a dog with fleas

translated from Velko’s Bulgarian

*

Awake while they snore—

electrical hum and drips

of faucet water

Awake while they snore—

the purple coat on the chair

looks calm and alert

Awake while they snore—

a zigzagging fly decides

to land on my thumb

*

Awake while they snore—

such a luscious symphony

of these birds at dawn!

On the white pavement

a tiny red ant scurries

to avoid raindrops

Summer afternoon—

is that toad-faced cloud trying

to tell me something?

*

Cool rippling water

from a tilted blue bottle

pouring into me

A gleam in his eye

with the first sip of cold beer,

sunset behind him

Open book unread,

watching the downrushing rain—

wet pattering sound

*

Gushing summer rain—

I dream of my tombstone phrase:

A friend of the cats…

.