Gesundheit haiku

Religious or not
Who couldn’t use a blessing
To get through the day?

Sunshine on your walk
Turning green leaves to silver
Burning mist away

A hug from your mate
A song from the birds outside
A kiss from your dog

Music in the air
Even if it’s rap — with subs
At the traffic light

Treats at the office
Coffee just the way you like
In your favorite cup

Some praise from the boss
Flowers with poem attached
Good news from a friend

A letter from Mom
Ink and paper memories
Nestled with keepsakes

Cosmic connections
Just knowing good thoughts, wishes
Are coming your way

Blessings: corny, true
Some things it’s even better
To give than receive

“That’s a big 1040, good buddy” haiku

For those of you just wrapping up (or getting started). Written last year.

Income tax, oh joy
I don’t mind paying my share;
Paperwork, I hate

Income tax, oh joy
What form does Charlie Sheen use?
1040 Slea-Z?

Income tax, no fair
Jim Beam’s allowed to write off
His liquid assets

Income tax, oh joy
April 15th’s the 17th
This year. Is that clear?

Income tax, oh yeah,
This year we get two more days
To stew over it

Income tax, get this
My brilliant deductions would
Impress Sherlock Holmes

Income tax, say what?
You sure I can’t count my dog
As a dependent?

Income tax, oh joy
Even my new computer
Despises this stuff

Income tax, no fair
Donald Trump gets to deduct
That thing on his head

Tax time, go figure
Trump’s wives are good examples
Filling out their forms

Income tax, oh joy
Why do I think there must be
An easier way?

Income tax, oh joy
Just total up your earnings,
Mail ’em to D.C.

Income tax, oh joy
My accountant’s not too bright:
H&R Blockhead

Income tax, oh joy
Loopholes somehow turn into
Noose around my neck

Income tax, oh joy
With help from the IRS
Hey, stop that laughing

Income tax, devised
By the best politicians
That money can buy

Haiku with the fishes

Deep beneath the sea
Across 100 years’ time
Tragedy echoes

Luxury, hubris
Trapped in their lovers’ embrace
Of endless rust, rot

Unsinkable ships,
Banks too big to fail tell us
We learn, then forget

A favorite birthday mashup

Written April 13, 2011

What a birthday day
Don Adams, Al Green, Al Butts
— Scrabble’s creator

Adams’ Maxwell Smart
Brought us the first cell (shoe) phone
And Cone of Silence

Mel Brooks, Buck Henry
Were the big comedy brains
Behind spy buffoon

So Max Smart was dumb
Sidekick “99” was smart
And both made us laugh

“CONTROL” fought “KAOS”
Eventually, good guys won
But first chaos reigned

Belated wishes
Would’ve been better for Smart:
“Missed it by that much!”

Righteous Rev. Al Green,
Yeah, “I’m Still in Love With You”
And will be always

“Let’s Stay Together”:
Al, you sing; I’ll listen;
It’s better that way

The Scrabble man made
Special rule, always gave Green
Triple points for “soul”

Alfred Mosher Butts,
Architect, built legacy
Out of words instead

The Scrabble man says
The best resort for a spell
Is Dr. Webster’s

So what’s in a name?
You might ask if yours was “Butts”
Or your game struggled

“Lexico” became
“Criss Cross Words,” groped frantically,
Then scored as “Scrabble”

Rest is history:
One hundred fifty million
Game sets sold worldwide

“Will my ‘x’ work there”?
“What can I spell with this ‘z’?”
Games go on and on

Butts, at 93,
Put “finishe-” in front of “d”
Used up his letters

“You could look it up” haiku

Something to check out:
National Library Week’s
In full swing — no charge!

Love browsing the stacks
Seeing what’s new and what’s old
How titles evolve

My library rocks
Though Internet puts so much
At my fingertips

I love Google, but
Librarians are so smart,
So cool, so helpful

My library card
And librarian still make
A great search engine

Someday I’ll curl up
With an eReader, I know
But not yet, not yet

Ink’s look, paper’s feel
Ignite imagination
I’m bound to binding

Good old books don’t need
A wireless connection
Batteries recharged

And when I need help
My library peeps are there
They’ve got me covered!

And these are from last year, sparked at the time by the annual meeting of the Kansas Library Association. This year’s starts today, in Wichita.

Librarians fine
But overdue for big bash
Break out the bookmarks!

Where else can you say
Dewey Decimal System
Is a hot topic?

Seriously, folks,
They’re working on challenges
Of digital age

Can we use Facebook
And Twitter tweets to trigger
Library flash mobs?

The answer, my friend,
Is blowing in cyber wind
Of tablets, smartphones

Hey, I love gadgets
But not for reading Shakespeare
After a hard day

If pixels be food
Of love for literature
Don’t play on — Kill me!

Amazon has tried
To Kindle my eBook flame;
It always fizzles

Once, a Nook and I
Stared blankly at each other
Like a bad blind date

So, I think nothing
Will ever match the beauty
Of a book in hand

Romance suffers too
When the best pickup line is
“Your iPad or mine?”

For we are such stuff
As dreams are made on: Yes, us!
Not some avatars

In reading, life, love
I must say: Ain’t nothin’ like
The real thing, baby

“It’ll last longer” haiku

Eadweard Muybridge, April 9, 1830 — May 8, 1904
Today’s Google Doodle, April 9, 2012, is here.


Are horses’ hooves all
Off the ground at the same time?
Eadweard Muybridge asked

To find out he took
A gallop poll — with cameras
Triggered in sequence

One shot answered “Yes”
And the rest advanced the art
Of motion pictures

Zoopraxiscope:
He invented an early
Movie projector

Muybridge also shot
Athletes and other people
As they moved about

Muybridge also shot
Wife’s lover dead — talk about
Dark room negatives

Jury rejected
Insanity plea but still
Found him not guilty

“The Photographer,”
Film scored by Philip Glass, told
The trial story

In real life Muybridge
First to charge to see movie
— But no 5-buck Cokes

Edison followed,
Others too, so it behooves
Us to remember

“Crossed my mind” haiku

Give pause, thanks, thought, love
Humble sacrifice to make
This a good Friday

And here are some from last Good Friday, which happened to fall on Earth Day.

Double duty haiku

Good Friday, Earth Day
The Cross, cracked continents say
Our sins have a price

Good Friday, Earth Day
Offer hope for redemption
Of our life and land

Earth Day, Good Friday
“Reduce, re-use, resurrect”
Has a ring to it

Good Friday, Earth Day
Soon the tomb will be empty
So get back to work

Good Friday, Earth Day
Bunnies get their tails in gear
They’re on in two days

“One louder” haiku

Jim Marshall, July 29, 1923 – April 5, 2012

Start with a Bassman
Separate amp from speakers
Use four 12-inches

Close cabinet back
Add higher-gain pre-amp valves
Post-volume filter

Overdrive sooner
Treble frequencies boosted
Voilà! The Marshall

Townshend, Entwistle
Stacked ’em — the world got louder
Cream, Hendrix echoed

Dozens of models
Followed — famed followers, too
Too many to count

Ideas have lives
As do great sounds and moments
Decay and sustain

Marshall, the amp king
Lived to 11, times 8
Rest in non peace, Jim

“Saints, sinners, survivors” haiku

April 3 birthdays: Doris Day (1922), Jan Berry (1941 — March 26, 2004), Wayne Newton (1942), Billy Joe Royal (1942), Richard Manuel (1943 — March 4, 1986), Richard Thompson (1949)

What a birthday day
Lives echo on — musical,
Magical, tragic

Doris Day was fun
Before she was a virgin
Que sera, sera

Jan Berry wrote, sang,
Produced, rode the wild surf’s waves
With lifelong pal Dean

They seemed like two goofs
But led the TAMI show, played
My favorite surf tunes

Eerily, Jan crashed
His Corvette into a truck
Close to “Dead Man’s Curve”

But he did come back
Never gave up, walked again
Helped others go on

Billy Joe Royal
Wrong-side-of-the tracks classic
“Down in the Boondocks”

(And it just wouldn’t
Have been the same if that
Guitar were in tune)

Wayne Newton, lounge king,
Once won big libel case, told
Jury “Danke Shoen”

Richard Manuel
One of the Band’s great talents
And its troubled soul

A keyboard killer
And lights-out high-note singer
Spelled Levon on drums

But trouble found him
Brought cocaine and Grand Marnier
— Cases of the stuff

“Last Waltz” was more like
“Last Stumble,” though he cleaned up
And made a comeback

But his mentor passed
Richie couldn’t cope, became
The “Fallen Angel”

Richard Thompson — saved
The best for last — his guitar’s
As good as it gets

Six heartstrings, plucked out,
Unrequited, echoing
With what might have been

Walking on a wire?
He’ll show you the way — to fall,
Hit, bounce, and bleed on

“Massive HIPAA and TMI violations” haiku

The joy of waiting
For some “minor” surgery
Signing forms, forms, forms

Who’s running this show?
I’m certainly not in charge
Please! More rules, rules, rules

Forget your comfort
But not your insurance card
Gotta have that, pal

Nurses are so kind
But why do they keep asking,
“How are WE feeling?”

“Don’t know about US,”
I roar, “but I’m just DYING
“To be cut open”

They pull the curtains
As if flimsy cloth protects
The other patients

Nurse hisses, “Maybe
“Anesthesiologist
“Can shut this one up”

“Get the gas passer!
“Let’s get this show on the road!”
I’m the im-patient

“Testicles may bruise,”
Nurse warns. I say, “Make one red,
“One blue. Go Jayhawks!”

Next thing I recall
I awake, a bit lighter;
My wallet, moreso

Have me in stitches
And it kind of hurts to laugh
The bill stills all mirth

Though I must admit
Everything came out all right
Minor after all

P.S. I made up
The part about the yelling.
The KU part’s true.

And a couple from last night, one before the game, one after:

KU v UK
Championship in palindrome
In the Superdome

Proud of our Jayhawks
And congrats to Kentucky
The wildest cats won