Writings by Thomas Radwick. Mostly poetry and lyrics. t_radwick@yahoo.com

18 Haiku

Little birds pecking
at overhead power lines—
please be careful there!

A bare muddy hill
against a movie-screen sky—
morning after rain

Good-looking woman
surrounded by the results—
kids traipsing to school

*

A laughing seagull
swoops through a still street at dawn—
sky like flaming foil

Clouds like giant leaves,
like cyclones crowding the sky—
like continents!

As seen by Jack Kerouac:

A pregnant woman
rolls a baby carriage past
a cemetery

*

Little girl in pink
crosses the street in the dark—
off to school with mom

The slumbering line
of a dark-hilled horizon
under waking skies

Battling this aging
like a man shaking his fist
at a booming sea

*

She sleeps with crashing
battalions in her head!
Earphoned passenger

Gregory Corso, poet:

Once at summer camp
he kissed the moon glowing in
a barrel of rain

Old age—I see first
leaves fall, then more fall, and then
that’s all I see

*

Burst of orange sparks
flutters like glowing ashes
from a turning train

Silver airplane glints
over solemn blots of clouds—
chilly morning sky

Washing before bed—
and already preparing
tomorrow’s excuse!

*

A bark like a beep—
white puppy in a parked car
calling her keeper

Clouds of seagulls swarm
like…orphans from a beehive!
Dazzling morning sun

Thanks for the red wine,
my friends who just visited—
it tastes good alone



.

Tricked By The Devil Again

It’s always been this way
You know you’re falling down again
It always feels the same
You know what’s coming round the bend

Tricked by the devil again
Tricked by the devil again
My god it happened again!
Tricked by the devil again

What’s so sweet and easy keeps you
Coming running back for more
And slow creeps the beast you meet
At last rapping at your door

Tricked by the devil again
Tricked by the devil again
My god it happened again!
Tricked by the devil again

(Going round and round you know it
 Going round and round you know it
 Going round and round you know it
 Going round and round)

Tricked by the devil again
Tricked by the devil again
My god it happened again!
Tricked by the devil again

Maybe you’ll escape
Into the mazes of your mind
But the crazy games you play
Make you afraid of what you’ll find

Tricked by the devil again
Tricked by the devil again
My god it happened again!
Tricked by the devil again



.

Flashes 18

We are here
to get it right
one more time

Blues:
a flower
from fire

At night
before bed
forgive everyone

*

Made happy
by others’
happiness

The courage
of people—
amazing!

Yet another
distraction
from the facts

*

Karma:
bedrock
phenomenon

Technology:
tool or
appendage?

Ignorance:
great source
of confidence

*

“Angels under heaven
who don’t know
they’re angels”—Kerouac

All
in our own
fantasy worlds

Paying for all
you do and don’t:
proof of God—and the devil

*

The mean
business of
pleasure

We’re all
brilliant
when we’re young

Preparation’s
always
inadequate

*

Sky is
without
contrivance
 
 
 
.

15 Hawaiian Haiku

“I’m in between jobs”—
said casually en route
to Honolulu


Mosquito, my blood
isn’t so sweet as you think!
Muggy afternoon

 
Song of the river
gurgling under choirs of birds—
what’s to desire now?

*

Before I was born
this was my face—giant sky
over the ocean

Two drifting clouds merge
with fiercely kissing faces
over the ocean

Bearded king’s cloud face
morphs into a crying clown’s
over the ocean

*

Tunnel Beach, Kauai—
a hen fights off a pesky
dog and wanders on

A plump seal sneezes
while she sunbathes on the shore—
people take pictures

She finally got
a shot of him standing up
on his surfboard!

*

Grey-bearded long-haired
man whooping and hollering
after his surfing

Can’t see the stars yet—
only rolling water and
twittering crickets

A sky so full of
stars it could be snowing them—
nightfall in Kauai

*

A fist-shaking raving
man becomes a waving friend—
clouds over the sea

A skull whispering
counsel to a doubtful man—
clouds over the sea

The whispering rain—
So what’ll we do today?
Just sit and listen?



.

Crack in the Ceiling

Poetry by Thomas Radwick

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