‘Bye, Andy Rooney
“Don’t you hate it when your wings
“And halo don’t match?”
‘Bye, Andy Rooney
“Don’t you hate falling back for
“Demon Saving Time?”
R.I.P. Andy Rooney, two views haiku
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Category Archives: Everyday things
Anniversary 22 haiku
I was married Nov. 4, 1989. Amazingly, I still am. Thanks, Tina.
Groom walks down the aisle
That crazy percussive sound
Was his knees knocking
Twenty-two years passed
I’m not sure now what I feared
Shouldn’t have worried
Went without a hitch
— Except for the one we planned —
And we’re both still here
Thanks Yael, Alison,
Gary for standing with me
My two brothers, too
And Bob for singing
“From a Distance” for Tina,
For me, and our world
The Kelley Hunt Band
Rocked out at the reception
It was quite a day
Lots of memories
And two great children later
I count my blessings
Random haiku
Chill rain, warm salt sweat
Commingle in runner’s rite
At pulsing temple
Dry gusts, humid breath
Weather patterns roil and clash
Cloud around his head
First flake of fall snow
Crystalline beauty, perfect,
Catches day’s last light
First flake of fall snow
Beguiling Goddamned gangster
You know he’ll bring friends
B.o.A. woos me
Kills debit card fee — too late
I’m feeling withdrawn
Here I sit, forlorn
So sweet, so ready, just like
Halloween candy
Lover’s sighs, baby’s
Laughs, fulfilling work’s rhythm
Monotony thrills
Coffee’s gurgling drip,
Lunch counter’s din, dinner’s peace
Monotony thrills
Mother’s Day, redux
May 8, 2011
Mother’s Day, our chance
To be happy we’re alive
And thank Mom for that
Hug Mom if she’s here
Remember her if she’s gone
She’d like that, you know
Moms never leave us,
Really, so stand up straight and
Wear clean underwear
Mother’s Day echoes
Greeks’ goddess celebrations
Of fecundity
More recent versions
Gave servants a day to see
Mom, visit hometowns
Others used the day
To advance righteous causes
And unite women
Julia Ward Howe’s
“Mother’s Day Proclamation”
Still speaks loud and clear
Howe called for mothers
To stand for peace, raise their voice
Against war’s carnage
And Anna Jarvis
Cemented the tradition
Of sending flowers
Mother’s Day, not just
A Hallmark moment — but don’t
Forget cards and gifts!
Mothers everywhere
Do their best to raise us right,
Send us on our way
It’s hard every day
What’s enough help? What’s too much?
Juggle and balance
Joy and exhaustion
Mingle when kids are little
Pride plays its part, too
Wipe noses, wipe butts
Sometimes you wouldn’t believe
The job description
Insanity can
Take center stage in teen years,
But adults emerge
At whatever stage,
It’s the most important work
We pause to salute
Mother’s Day, the day
To remember who gives life
The first act of love
Memorial Day, D-Day, the Hyatt, Loved Ones Gone, redux
Continuing some re-postings from holidays and other important days on the calendar. These two batches go together well, and I’m following them with a third one on the Hyatt tragedy’s 30th anniversary, and a fourth about loved ones gone. I know I do better with humor — or at least that’s what the muse usually brings me — but I’m proud of all of these.
Memorial Day, May 30, 2011
Headstone and bouquet
Flowers watered by the tears
Of those who survive
We honor duty,
Bravery, courage — and pray
For an end to war
They served and they died
Deserved more than medals for
Sacrificing all
They defended us
Our homes, our lives, our freedom
Stop to remember
We owe them this now
To live life to the fullest
And to work for peace
Headstone in the grass
Only one moves in the wind
But both wait for us
D-Day, June 6, 2011
D-Day. On duty:
Radio Man 2nd Class
John Hack, U.S.N.
Dad played his small part
Never talked about it much
Maybe in Morse Code
I’m glad he waited
Till after the war to be
A hero — to me
Nothing second class
About how he loved us all
And worked for our good
He lived quietly
Died the same way, enjoyed life
The way a dad does
Memorial Day,
As it should, each year honors
Those who died fighting
D-Day let’s toast too
Those who survived and came home
So we could be here
Hyatt haiku, from July 17
30 years later
It still seems like yesterday
The night the sky fell
The loss still stunning
The terror still real, and still
No answers for “Why?”
Life goes on — for some
For others it ended then
We recall, regret
Death comes to us all
Few get to choose how or when
In sorrow, we learn
From Sept. 1
Haiku for loved ones gone.
We don’t think we could
Love them more; somehow we do
After they are gone
Yet they’re never gone,
Not really; their souls echo
Louder than the flesh
In our flesh they live
In our memories never die
And help us go on
How do they still know
What we need? And how did they
Leave their best behind?
It’s all a mystery
But of all the mysteries, this
Is one of the best
Sept. 11, redux
From the 10th anniversary, and the day after.
Sept. 11
Some say change takes time
I say it’s always instant
What is, then is not
And what’s gone echoes
Fading to a whisper or
Rising to a roar
Fire, blood, twisted steel
Crashing planes, falling bodies
Seared in memory
Unspeakable loss
Heartbreaking heroism
Echo, re-echo
A wound that won’t close
Can seem so immediate
Despite passing years
Someone you love gone
Missing forever, some piece
Of you lost for good
A decade passes
For you was it a second
Or eternity?
Sept. 12
Day after haiku
America stops
And honors the memories
Of thousands fallen
America stops
Exhales fear, suspicion, hate
Inhales courage, strength
America stops
And all faiths pray together
One country, one peace
America stops,
Reflects, resolves that love, hope
Mark the next decade
Americans stop
And link arms in unity
Show that we still can
Americans stop
Can we start moving again
As one great nation?
It was a fine day
But just one day. This new day
Demands all we have
That hallowed feeling
Halloween horror:
Came as my best self — no one
Could recognize me
Jack-O-Lanterns carved
Porch light switched to the red bulb
Scary music’s on
Cider’s warming up
Scarecrow’s in the front porch seat
Time for trick or treat!
Ghosts and princesses
Little pumpkins, bumblebees
Vikings, vagabonds
Witches with itches
Darth Vader wheezing, sometimes
Costumes just don’t fit
All will take your stuff:
Pirates and politicians
Just dress differently
First-time toddlers cute
Jaded teens out for some loot
And that sugar high
All brought to you by
The American Dental
Association
Enjoy this fine rite
The little ones’ lack of guile,
Sense of make believe
Their masks worn but once
We put ours on every day
— And don’t get candy
“A little off the top” haiku, redux
From May 28:
In the barber’s chair
The world doesn’t spin so fast
And the mind slows down
A little gossip
A little sports fill the time
In the barber’s chair
In the barber’s chair
You solve all the world’s problems
— Or not; it’s OK
Conversation hums
Like a bee by the window
In the barber’s chair
In the barber’s chair
Tension falls away like hair
Clipped loose, drifting down
A yawn never tastes
Better than the one you get
In the barber’s chair
Annual checkup haiku, redux
Note to those who sometimes take this stuff too literally: My most recent doctor’s visit was routine and went fine. No X-rays or MRI. But my imagination spent too much time in waiting rooms.
From May 27:
At the doc’s office
It all seems pretty sterile
But I guess that’s good
At the doc’s office
Preliminaries go well
I still have a pulse
“X-ray of your head
“Shows nothing,” the doctor says
Well, Jeez, I knew that
“Get an MRI,”
Doc orders. “What’s that?” I ask.
Doc says, “Three, four grand”
MRI: Strapped in
And deafened by pounding sounds
This makes me better?
MRI’s two truths:
— It sure as hell has a beat
— You can’t dance to it
But I flunked this test
Just wasn’t patient enough
To fit their image
The MRI broke
Stymied by my magnetic
Personality
Doc, I don’t know what
You hoped to see in me
But you’re out of luck
Epilogue:
The bill makes me ill
Doc says, “Take out two loans, pay
“Me in the morning”
“Once more with filling,” redux
From a visit to the dentist, where actually I’m always treated well and kindly, by dentists and hygienists alike. This is the first of some “Everyday things” postings, followed by an annual checkup and a haircut.
From Feb. 22:
Dental cleaning day
My God, excruciating!
Hearing “lite” FM
They didn’t numb gums
Or teeth, but Jeez my poor brain
Went catatonic
“Easy listening”?
To rock ‘n’ roll ears that’s just
A big freakin’ lie
Molars, incisors,
Bicuspids all were agreed:
This music bites it
They thought I had lost
A filling. “No, music’s lost
“All feeling,” I said
“Please switch the station,”
I beg; they refuse, tell me
I should know the drill
Next time I’ll demand
Some Hendrix, or else I take
Hygienist hostage
Or maybe protest
Nonviolently, eat box
Of Oreos first
Or I will wimp out.
The mean hygienist, Flossy,
Always has me cowed
But please, just no more
Little River Band; how ’bout
Root canal instead?
Note: The “lite FM” station has changed formats, so on my recent dentist visit for the first time in memory I did not hear “Reminiscing” — and I didn’t miss it a bit.
Greg's Hack-u 