Nutritionally
Bankrupt, Hostess belly up
Once more with filling
“Golden sponge cake” haiku
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Category Archives: The public arena
“Big Man, little poems”
Clarence Clemons, Jan. 11, 1942 — June 18, 2011
Someday soon we’ll laugh
Till we cry, but today we
Just miss you, with tears
And from June 19:
E Street, Jungleland
10th Avenue all missing
The Big Man tonight
Bruce Springsteen said of Clarence Clemons:
“Clarence lived a wonderful life. He carried within him a love of people that made them love him. He created a wondrous and extended family. He loved the saxophone, loved our fans and gave everything he had every night he stepped on stage. His loss is immeasurable and we are honored and thankful to have known him and had the opportunity to stand beside him for nearly 40 years. He was my great friend, my partner and with Clarence at my side, my band and I were able to tell a story far deeper than those simply contained in our music. His life, his memory, and his love will live on in that story and in our band.”
Eddie Vedder on Letterman, “Without You,” June 20, 2011:
“You can’t win, Amal” haiku
Gangs of roving youth
Terrorize shoppers at Mall
Of America
But what better place
For mega food fight than Mall
Of America?
Pad Thai, burritos
Pasta, meatballs, pot stickers
Cheeseburgers all trashed
Dozens of kids throw
Melting pot of ethnic fare
Cops say for no cause
How about they judged
All that Food Court “food” guilty
Of fraud, price gouging?
In touch with inner
John Belushi, meted out
Justice with chaos
Juvy detention
Or coronary arrest?
Not a tasty choice
“Incredibly tiny chip off the old block” haiku
Robert Noyce, Dec. 12, 1927 – June 3, 1990
You can Google him:
Robert Noyce, the “mayor” of
Silicon Valley
Always tinkering
As a kid he built aircraft
Motorized his sled
Called Rapid Robert
For the way he sped through schools
Grinnell, MIT
Philco and Shockley
Couldn’t hold him long; soon he
Co-founded Fairchild
Then helped found Intel
Genius trio: Gordon Moore,
Andy Grove and Noyce
Inventor’s vision
Was just too big for this world
So he thought smaller
He and Jack Kilby
Credited with inventing
The first microchip
Noyce also fostered
Others’ creativity
Throughout the valley
His parting message:
High-tech education key
To U.S. success
Said that meant teaching
“The lowest and poorest,” too.
Are we listening?
Come January
Come January
“Socialist” president says
Let’s cut heating aid
Come January
We’ll save 2 billion dollars
Presto! So simple!
Come January
That one cold budget number
Will make warm tears flow
Come January
The average heating aid check
Will be half last year’s
Come January
Thousands in one small state, Maine,
Will run out of heat
Come January
Average Bangor low will be
Just 7°
Come January
They’ll hear the jeers: “Get a job.”
“Too bad you’re lazy.”
Come January
Most of them will go to work
Some have two, three jobs
Come January
They’ll all wonder how to get
Through one more winter
At the holidays
When we are snug, think of them
Come January
“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
Post-Black-Friday blues haiku
Amazon, Best Buy
Call it Cyber Monday but
Tuesday’s just as bad
Click away your dough
Wednesday’s worse, dot com shop curse
Thursday’s also sad
Digital dollars
Fly on Friday, Saturday
I go out to play
Nothing left to fill
The plate on Sunday, Lord have
Mercy Judgement Day
Starts Cyber Monday
But the digital drain draws
24/7
Starts Cyber Monday
Bills won’t be paid till I go
To cyber heaven
Carnage? That’s in aisle 3
Black Friday: Don’t jump!
Your death wish fulfilled, no charge,
By fellow shoppers
Just try to get one
Of those huge flat-screen TV’s.
You’ll be flattened first
Women duke it out
Over cheap towels, the better
To wipe up the blood
Wielding pepper spray
And packing heat, we’re ready
To shop till they drop
Cash registers ring
And shots ring out: What do you
Expect at Target?
I know what I’ll get
To win next year’s shopping war.
Are tanks on sale soon?
November 22nd
Sunny day, Dallas
When bullets rained down, stealing
A piece of the light
Veterans Day, 2011
They plunge into hell
For us and for our country
And some don’t come back
To every veteran
A salute of gratitude
For keeping us safe
VFW
And American Legion
Your ranks are true blue
To those in Iraq
We’ll see you soon — this year! How great
Is that going to be?
To the rest abroad
We pray your day will come, too:
A huge “Welcome Home”
We wish we could end
The world’s wars, once and for all.
Wouldn’t that be fine?
Till then, and beyond,
A grateful nation will not
Forget what you’ve done
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