Haiku, Senryu & Other Shorts

coughing up
wildflowers
summer cold

–May 27, 2019

I couldn’t say a damn thing.
I just sat there

staring at her
like a heart-eyed emoji

until she left.

–May 23, 2019

the recipe for sugar
one well-rounded
tea-spoon

–May 22, 2019

(senryu, for my friend Royce Miller)

de la frontera–
hay paz y tristeza
en el cruce

–May 21, 2019

either way–
whispering or mouthing
the words

–May 8, 2019

only the flowers
can come and go–
walled garden

–May 4, 2019

dark, sleepy eyes
a yes with an accent
french press

–May 3, 2019

I thought about her
from 3:10

all the way to Yuma,
and then back.

It was rainy
and I had nowhere else

to go.

— April 28, 2019

Stay rare
stay scarce
stay almost
undiscoverable,
girl.

–April 13, 2019

about eight seconds–
the foreseeable future

–April 13, 2019

brunswick stew–
never get a georgia girl
all stirred up

–April 12, 2019

Keep going
it’s back there

it’s back there
somewhere

through the pines.

— April 5, 2019

Baby, how many mornings
do I have to ask you

how your breakfast is
until you understand

I’m not really asking so much
about your breakfast?

–March 31, 2019

You remind me
of someone,

but, she was from
Ecuador.

–March 30, 2019

I feel like I’m a teapot
and I’m whistlin’.

Like someone sat me
on a stove,

it’s hot,
I’m a teapot

and I’m just whistlin’.

— arch 30, 2019

I swear, just sing like
one more minute

of Jolene. One
more minute and I

am yours.

–March 29, 2019

spanish bayonet–
the rabbits ought to
run us through

–March 28, 2019

whole continents
heavy with flowers
springtime

–March 27, 2019

cherry blossoms…
the tree itself
superfluous

— March 27, 2019

It was an amazing feeling,
sitting there, down by 30,

but, with a pocketful
of time-outs.

To stop all action?
Delay the inevitable?

Yeah, all of that.
Spare us from

what you can,
captain?

–March 23, 2019

Babe, you are smart,
strong, beautiful,

and anxious. Pretend
I’m walking with you.

Now, go shoplift something
and send me a picture.

–March 23, 2019

hunting and pecking–
you find all your voices
looking for your voice

–March 23, 2019

shaking hands–
every drink
a christmas truce

–March 22, 2019

heirloom–
everything you love eventually
spins its way back home

–March 17, 2019