Poe man’s haiku

Edgar Allen Poe, Jan. 19, 1809 — Oct. 7, 1849

He passed through this world
Like a wraith on holiday
A solid shadow

Abandoned, orphaned
Breathing disembodied words
Instead of Earth’s air

University,
Army, West Point had no use
For this phantom man

But the phantom’s words
Insinuated, haunted
Recesses most dark

Poet and critic,
Macabre’s master, creator
Of detective lit

Child cousin his bride
(Foreshadowing Jerry Lee)
Her death did them part

Before his heart stopped
Poe’s pen poured out his terrors
Still tingling today

Poe man’s haiku:

Flutter in the dark
Raven wings, or telltale heart
Terror of unknown

Single bead of sweat
Right between the shoulder blades
Defies gravity

Rustle in the dark
Fevered brain, or rodent’s claws?
Imagined, it’s real

“Not another rock guy’s birthday!” haiku

Nicolas Steno, Jan. 11, 1638 — Dec. 5, 1686

Nicolas Steno
Father of geology
His legacy rocks

Check Google’s salute
To this foundational dude
From 1600s

Centuries before
Chuck Berry, Little Richard
The man could dig it

An upper crust guy
Yet he studied all layers
And how strata formed

He was all about
Things gettin’ horizontal
Just like rock ‘n’ roll

Nicolas Steno
Father of geology
His legacy? Rocks!

“Warm weather, warbling woman, can’t beat that” haiku

63°
Today’s forecast high, oh yeah
Goodbye coats, hello sunroofs

I get the feeling
We’ll pay for this day later
Right now, I don’t care

Sometimes happiness
Is yes or no; today it’s
Matter of degrees

————————–
Iris DeMent, Jan. 5, 1961
http://youtu.be/YRlaZ5zBDjA

Sweet Iris Dement
Sweet are the melodies she’s
Given to the world

Songs of questioning,
Mystery, longing, belonging
And finding her voice

It’s a unique voice
A term often used lightly
In her case it’s true

Give me two, three notes
I can tell you it’s Iris
I love that voice

At close of “True Grit”
Knew it was Iris singing
It just had to be

Haven’t heard new songs
From her in years, but Iris
Is writing again

Can’t wait to hear ’em
‘Cause when she misses a note
My heart skips a beat

Abecedarian haiku, redux

A few of these appeared first as part of an alphabetical string by the Facebook group Bad Haiku, of which I am a proud (?!) member. I felt challenged (Yeah, he’s challenged all right …) to do a series of my own, for which no one else would have to share the blame. These originally escaped in two batches, Aug.23 and 24.

Anything Aztecs
Achieved animatedly
Augmented action

Blake's behemoth


Bemused Blake bargains,
Buys big Biblical banner
Behemoth bisects

Crude, crass carnivore
Creeps, canters, cavorts, crashes,
Consumes carnally

Debauched demimonde
Deliciously declaiming
Decadent design

Effusive Edgar
Exceeding expectations
Exuberantly

Freaking fast Frederick
Filched filigreed finial
From Fannie’s fiefdom

Gregarious Greg
Gratefully going gaga,
Gorgeously gonzo

Hack’s hackneyed haiku
Hitting horrifying heights,
Haunting headhunters

Iphigenia’s
Ignominious igloo
Incited Iceland

Judicious Jutland’s
Justified jeremiad
Jolts jaded jackass

Kinetic karma:
Kamikaze Kangaroo
Kicks karate kin

Lass, laughter lilting,
Lightheartedly limning lines,
Lightens lover’s load

Monsanto musings:
Mystical mutant mustard?
Manifold mystique!

Native nasturtiums


Nina’s nifty nose
Nonchalantly noticing
Native nasturtiums

Octopus orders
Oriental opposite
Occidentally

Pampered pet pooches,
Plump, primped, partake plentiful
Porterhouse platter

Questioning quisling’s
Questionable qualities
Quite queasy quandary

Recumbent redhead
Risks rapidly receding
Reclines recklessly

Sibilant siblings
Steve, Sara, Sasha, Sonia
Sounding simply swell

Tall tales titillate
Tantalize, taunt temptingly
True trash to treasure

Unassumingly
Undulating undertow,
Unfathomable

Venerable van
Vaunted versatility
Valued vehicle

Which witch witchingly
Watches wastrels waste whiskey,
Wishing wistfully

Xerxes, Xenophon
X-ray Xeroxed xylographs
Xenophilicly

Yesteryear’s yearnings
Yellowing yearbooks yonder
Yoke your yesterdays

Zero, zenith, zilch
Ziggy zigzags zealously
Zooming zanily

And from the Squad Squad and the Department of Redundancy Department, one that was censored from the original batch:

Unabashedly
Undulating underwear
Unconscionable!

“Ukulele romantic” haiku

Eddie Vedder, Dec. 23, 1964

Vortex voice, quaver
Of vulnerability
Irresistible

http://youtu.be/4Em_cRH2eyk

Old man haiku

The old man’s profile
Black marble, jutting white hook
Eagle eye — and beak

The old man’s profile
Darkness, even in full sun
All crags and shadow

The old man’s profile
Stone silent, fixed in sorrow
Gazing toward the end

And if that ending bums you out too much, here’s proof a word or two can make a difference.

The old man’s profile
Stone silent, fixed in wisdom
Gazing toward the end

or

The old man’s profile
Stony silence, dignified
Gazing toward the end

“Happy birthday, Sam” haiku

Mark Twain (Samuel Langhorne Clemens)
Nov. 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910

“Man is the only
“Animal that blushes. Or
“Needs to,” writes Mark Twain.

Few saw so clearly
Or captured so tellingly
Man’s lasting folly

Yet each of us knows
Someone wise, trenchant, witty
Who keeps us in line

A spouse or a friend
A comic or songwriter
A compass and muse

Garrison Keillor,
Neil Young or Bob Walkenhorst
Fill in your own blank

They’re still pointing out
Our glories, absurdities
So rest easy, Sam

Variations on a theme

Couldn’t decide. Take your pick. I think I like the third one most.

Gift #1: Life
Gift #2: Sharing it
Gift #3: Thanks

Gift 1: To have life
Gift 2: People to share it
Gift 3: Gratitude

Gift 1: Our next breath
Gift 2: Our conspirators
Gift 3: Our true thanks

“Long as we got a dime” haiku

The first record store I ever haunted, Kief’s in Lawrence, Kan., turns 52 today. Wish I still had my “Rain”/”Paperback Writer” 45.

Happy birthday, Kief’s
Older than 45, not
Yet 78

You took all my cash
When I was a kid, priceless
Memories in return

Deliver papers
Get paid, ride bike to The Malls
Your spot in ’60s

Just two-ninety-nine
Most mono albums, a buck
More for stereo

Rows and rows of all
The latest vinyl, each with
A hole in its heart

But they spoke to me
So I took them home, we grooved
Over and over

Beatles 45s
Loads of Greatest Hits albums
Beach Boys, Hendrix, Stones

Mamas and Papas
Byrds, Hollies, Doors, Buckinghams
And Wilson Pickett

“Like a Rolling Stone”
With “Gates of Eden” flip side
Dylan masterpiece

A guilty pleasure:
Tommy James singles, but what
The hell’s a Shondell?

The Guess Who, Box Tops
Rascals, Monkees (Pre-Fab Four!)
Had to have them all

Get, spend, listen, love
Pattern I repeated like
A broken record

Happy birthday, Kief’s
Founder John Kiefer’s vision
Still rocks and rolls on

“The wrong parts are frosted” haiku

Overnight deep freeze
Makes rooftops look like my head
All covered in white

Overnight deep freeze
That faint scraping sound? Neighbors
Clearing their windshields

Sorry, but if we
Want de frost we’ll open de
Refrigerator

Hey, Mother Nature!
We love frosting, but save it
For cupcakes, cornflakes
———————————
Silver branches shake
And shiver, their crimson coat
Fallen to the ground