Haiku, Senryu & Other Shorts

just to vanish
into the varnish
overnight

–December 6, 2019

nightfalling–
the wind in
the black trees

–December 3, 2019

rain falling on the roof
I’m so thankful

–November 28, 2019

So, I went West
one last time

with $1000,
a silver horse,

and a borrowed pistol.
I hope the horse makes it.

I borrowed the pistol
for looks.

–November 27, 2019

winded–
the oak tree
makes its own gate

–November 10, 2019

Yes, m’am, send us your address.
We can have anything

you want over to you
in fifteen minutes

or less. No, m’am.
The things you need

we don’t have on the shelf, exactly.
Yes, m’am, I would,

I would start lookin’ now.
Yes, m’am, prolly gonna

be longer than 15 minutes.
I wouldn’t even suggest

makin’ a list, tell you
the truth. It’ll all change

along the way. Yes, m’am,
you too.

–November 9, 2019

virtue is its own reward–
noble prize

–November 8, 2019

Let’s get married
on a tractor.

Just me and you
and the tractor.

The old-school kind,
rusted and red

and done with all that
plowing and tilling.

Wait, we’ll need a witness.
I’ve got a sugar-cube, sugar.

Come on, Buttercup.

–November 4, 2019

heart-broke selfie
I point the camera
lucinda

–November 2, 2019

I see what you did there
night-blooming cereus

–October 23, 2019

holding my mood
together–
climbing ivy

–October 23, 2019

last sting–
one buzzing bee left
still bothering lily

–October 21, 2019

There’s the part of you
at peace, the part

of you moved on
to the next battle,

and the part of you
that just wants

to keep carrying
the same dead away.

–October 19, 2019

religious work–
she runs her hands
through your trouble

–October 19, 2019

And, you just go along
with her

while she goes along
reminding you of

the people she
reminds you of.

–October 13, 2019

Everyone’s dealing
with everyone

in good faith, right?
I mean that’s all

we got. Good
fucking faith.

–September 24, 2019

appeal–
all this charming
money

–September 18, 2019

love on spec–
wild guesses couldn’t
drag me away

–August 16, 2019

hoarder–
the shelf is unknowable

–August 9, 2019

two lovers sing
in the shower
soap opera

–August 4, 2019

right, right straight
into the teeth of the wind

–July 21, 2019

silence of the lawns–
I’m about to take that leaf blower
and stick it up your ass

–July 19, 2019

If something were really
written on the wind,
how best to interpret it?

Read the swaying
of the swaying trees.

–July 5, 2019

We’ll get your silhouette
with a black brush
framed against the moon

How we’ll get the moon
I don’t know.
We’ll get your silhouette

–July 4, 2019

…a complete work
turned in by the waves

–June 14, 2019

They gotta lotta
good lookin’ chairs
over there, Ricky.
Wicker, and such,
Adirondacks.

It don’t take a genius
to figure out
one day you’re gonna need
a nice place to sit down.

–June 9, 2019

fine feathers–
pretty, pretty, pretty,
talk to me

–June 5, 2019

falling all over myself
pink bougainvillea

–June 4, 2019

rain sounding on the roof
I’m so thankful

–May 28, 2019