19 Haiku

School children sitting
in order on the asphalt
before class begins

Clinging to a steep

roof under gusty grey skies—
the morning pigeons

These humming whirring

rushing sounds on the platform
of the train station

*

Bit of broken glass

glittering like a blue star
in the sandy soil

A sunny courtyard—

wind brisks my head and the hum
of machinery

The mind’s amazing—

but we treat it like a damned
amusement park

*

The salmon belly
of an ascending airplane—
flash of pink sunset

Orange nasturtium

in the deep shade of the pine
opens its trumpet

I watch a man watch

the sun sink into the sea—
a still silhouette

*

Noisy little birds
romp in the trees while the cat
sleeps on a cushion

Yellowed by lamplight—

big ghostly billows of fog
fly through the night street

Under the freeway

slumbering in the shadows—
some rusty parked cars

*

Vigilant pigeons

perched on a high concrete wall—
fans in the bleachers

Woman appraising

her fingernails as our train
rolls through morning fog

“That bag don’t pay for

that seat,” he said, moving his
so someone could sit

*

Another grey day
but across the bay—gleaming
city in the sun!

Along the train track

a squirrel scurries with a nut
as big as his head

Nice idea of

a problem—I’m not singing
enough these days man!

*

from a dream:

A cloud of birds lands
on the lawn and squalls with all
the squalling children



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