A Haiku – September 17, 2016

the orange cat
on a pink blanket melts
like summer sherbet

Evening Sunflower

A Haiku – July 25, 2016

the garden’s bright
even as golden sun falls
behind the flowers

A Haiku – June 5, 2016

red winged blackbird perched
in purple orange twilight
ignores the highway

A Haiku - May 10, 2016

yellow motion
humming in buckeye blossoms
summer zeppelin

A Haiku – November 18, 2015

November rain
smears and blurs the window
everything fades

A Haiku - November 9, 2015

autumnal glow
is golden after noon
but not very warm

A Haiku – October 23, 2015

the golden fire
of red orange falling leaves
the glow of death

A Haiku – October 17

a favored sweater
with small unravelings
autumn days are brief

A Haiku – September 17, 2015 (Thunder)

thunder that woke me
still echoes in my head
though the rain has ceased

A Haiku – June 7, 2015

waves of light
on the windblown grass
a summer sea

A Haiku – May 29

imperious pips
from a scarlet flash
within green branches

Cardinal by Jeff Carter on 500px

A Haiku – March 31, 2015

soon a full moon
silver light on new grass
but I am waning 

What I’m Reading: Redneck Haiku

I found the little book Redneck Haiku by Mary K. Witte on the shelves at my local public library.  I added it to the pile of books that I borrowed, mostly on a lark.  I didn’t expect too much from it.  But since I’m reading a lot of poetry books recently, I thought I’d give it a shot.

The 100 verses collected in this brief volume explore the various stereotypes of the redneck, white-trash lifestyle:  beer, Wal-Mart, pickups, hunting, NASCAR, beer, guns, and beer…  A few of them are amusing enough to elicit a chuckle, but not many.

When Flo goes to Mom’s

    Bubba dines on canned chili,
        Pepsi, and Pop Tarts.  (page 24)

But calling them haiku is really a stretch.  They adhere to the 3 line / 17 syllable (5 – 7 – 5) formula that many of us were taught in elementary school.  But that’s not really enough to qualify a poem as a haiku.  That rule is really only the barest outline of what makes a haiku (and isn’t entirely accurate, even…) For a better sense of what makes a haiku, you would do better to read another book that I found at the public library – Writing and Enjoying Haiku: A Hands on Guide by Jane Reichhold. 

I decided that I would try to rewrite one of these redneck (not-quite)haiku – to try to make it more like an actual haiku. 

Pickup, shiny red
in Grandpa’s dim memory
now rust in tall weeds. (page 65)

This one is probably the best of them – or at least it comes closest to actually being a haiku.  It’s not perfect, but here is my reworking of those lines:

grandpa’s pickup
in weeds and rust
forgotten

As Light Fades - Haiku

as light fades
from overclouded skies
orange red leaves glow

Haiku – June 22, 2014

red lilies, yellow
sway in purpling twilight breeze
will you dance with me

A Haiku (May 5)

orange house cat always
just beyond my reach mewing
for my attention

A Haiku (April 20)

between the branches,
green with spring buds, I see
a circling buzzard

A Swallow Swoops - Haiku

a swallow swoops, dives
over the rippled surface
he will not light here

Several Days Later

this is where I saw
blackbirds against the grey sky
they’ve all flown away.

November

sudden startled flight
blackbirds against grey sky
it’s time to go