__Halloween. Through the imprinted fears of all the -bad- things that could happen... it is still a 'nite-rite' of childish joy, even for we... of age. _m


a candle
shows this pumpkins smile
harvests

__Laziness causes me to post this Cinquain that bubbled up, and out of Talon's good work, her post of Monday the 25th.


cold hands
blood of worry
flows true from yours to mine
yet when this crisis comes to close
warm smiles

Brown, and dry triangles stand in the sun, the pawns.


teepees
cornstalks of this harvests field
checkmate

__Some 'I-net' problems... it comes and goes; next week, a new provider of that service. >'Bong, bong, plunk!'<


falling acorns
pumpkins make this hollow sound
first frost

Quiet walk.


queen ann's lace
above these fallen leaves
partridges

Coming soon... Halloween.


dark walk
along this knotted path
pumpkins

... and the sun keeps moving south... further shortening our northern days.


southern sunset
burns through this darkness
tunnels

The change; a summer vine had knitted itself into the pine's limbs.


red leaves
wrap this evergreen
a vine

As inspired by Lorraine's post... seen on October 9th. _m


at night
the moon streatches my shadow
this pond

"Abstract Deductions." Yes, Dev, your "wayside chapel."


a spire
reaches above the soils
this traveler

Something dreamy about reading by firelight.


fireplace
with this smokey book
a tea cup

__Thursday was wild and windy at the pond; a summer's bird nest had 'fall'en into our Chrysanthemums.
__October third, our thirtieth year of complete and loving compatibility!
............. Such a very Happy Anniversary, Kathy!


fall winds
on this bed of mums
bird nest

Rain drops assume a different sound as the pass thru... the changing leaves.


autumn
changed their sound
rain drops

Soon to be cast.


crows debate
from tree to tree to tree
voters poll

Tomorrow night, the moon is full; I... watch the birds!


full moon
this owl shows its shadow
naked limbs

I'd invite you all to visit Jen's photo haiga blog... Ashi-2, as listed to the right. _m


oarlocks
screech with each stroke
this seagull

The flower cups the rain... until.


soft rain
this flower holds the damp
a bow

The black and white of it, as the harvest has begun.


cold fog
floats above this warm bog
a crow

__There are some flowers that only bloom at night, thus, they take advantage of that night's flies to procreate. "Shame on me; a metaphor... in something I've labled -haiku-."


light fades
beyond these sunset hills
night blossoms

__My friends... see you next week; to be more accurate, from the pond I may be able to 'pop in' from time to time. I thank you all! _m


night songs
chime through the dark
this clock

In a few weeks, the cranberry harvest will begin; though they are 'bogs' the roads that encircle them... are dusty.


golden rod
this dusty bog road
crows call

The tide; the tailor.

each wave
an ocean's stitch
hemming our seas and land
thus bound as one our tender earth
the tide

The rain has blessed us; this first seen at... Wonder Haiku Worlds, 2007.


rains visit
I listen to your song
old friend

A reaction, an instant's echo left at John's... Zen Speug; a reflection of his good haiku. _m


scarecrow
standing at the field's edge
a bus stops

A night at the pond, the fish never sit still.


fish jump
this summer sitting still
a flat pond

Sneeze

Departure: number 2. A Saturday night two summers ago; an observation, with apologies to those that may find my view, offensive.


I really wanted asparagus tonight. Steamed. Barely cooked, bright, crisp and lightly doused with a lemon butter sauce and a light dusting of freshly ground pepper.
__I stood patiently waiting for a shopper to make her choice. Aha... which bundle of asparagus would suit her purpose? Then it happened, she sneezed_! Once! Twice, and a third time, each sneeze a direct hit to those dazzling greens_!
__Suddenly the pre-packaged green beans definitely seemed more appetizing, and certainly a more practical option; the same sauce would do nicely.
__Going about my business, I collected a few potatoes and the unsalted butter, a lemon, pork chops, and a few other essentials needed for the evening's picnic. Too, I remembered those small packets of kleenex Kathy requested; I checked out.
__Once outside, I lit my -pipe- and from behind me came the roar! "Oh yuk! Phew! Cigarette smoke! P.U.! That stinks! You are polluting MY air!."
__Guiltily, I stuck my pipe in my pocket, and snapped my head back to see that person frantically waving her hand in front of her puckered face, whisking away that fictitious fluid cloud of smoke that she insisted had completely enveloped her!
__"Oh, I'm so sorry!" I said. Reaching into my bag I found one of those kleenex packets, and handing her a pouch; I continued, "when next you need to sneeze, you might think of using one of these, and perhaps you might even consider turning your head away? And oh, I do so hope you enjoy your asparagus."
__I stepped away from that look of confusion and bursting disbelief, those wordless questions that suddenly wrapped her self-assured face, a face now seemingly so... unaware.
__Puffing, and guiltily boorish as she may have reasoned, I inwardly smiled and enjoyed my grand lapse of civility... I slid away, further and more deeply into my depraved elation. Ah... such splendid vengeance.

None of the elite purists, with their favored agendas, are so chaste and over-rich in their own virtue, that some benefit can't be realized by a terse, and timely observation.
_m

Unless I can hook up from the pond... see you all Sunday night! _m


northern lights
this night sky glimmers
mosquitoes

Home from our pond... 'till Wednesday night.


this sunset
just a few words away
the campfire

I'd rather be hated for who I am, than loved for whom I am not;
I'd rather be loved for who I am, than hated for whom I am not.


wake me
I walk this path
alone and quite slowly
fearing I'll disturb someone else
a trance

Breakfast rain.


this rainfall
sizzles through the leaves
eggs fry

__From my scribble pad of last Saturday night as we watched the red cresent moon setting; and the doves will coo at night.


moonset
beyond the west shore pines
doves coo

__Silence, may seem "indifference;" silence, though, allows the listener of that silence... to reach their own resolution... without the harmful imprint of the "silent's" thoughts and words.
__I sincerly wish you a very Happy Birthday, Daughter Jess! Much love, Dad.


birthday
of these silent years
flowers

Echoes. Reflections; their nightly conversation, in a looking glass.


frog talk
in this quiet night
a mirror

I often visit "Tinywords," there is some fine short poetry there, by those that are; I am not.
__I link the word -poses- with the Great Blue Heron, their grace.


daybreak
this great blue poses
a sundial

....."pistol journalism"

__This 'title-phrase', as I see it, was written by Louis Vance in his loosely historic novel "The Dead Ride Hard," first published in 1926. I draw a simile between that phrase, and politics.
__Oh... some 'humor' attempted here! _m


politics
spewing the schemer's jumble
these grackles

... and last night at the pond.


clouds weep
this catbird still sings
thunder bass

This, a comment, left at friend Nora's blog.


at my ear
this mosquito...
spilled wine

This... was left as a comment at Talon's good blog.


a wing
into another summer
the bee

Hollow Lies

A departure: a short story that may reflect the thoughts of a Patuxet clansman.

__I looked into the boy's face and saw tears... coursing down those dirty cheeks. "Boy, what are those tears?"

__"These tears question my value to me, and my clan. Old one, hidden among your years you must surely have known these doubts, and found the answers to the troubles of the young; having found those answers, please share them with me and my impatience."
__"Boy, I fear I've frogotten the troubles of a child... as a child sees their troubles. What, can your cares be?"

__"Elder, I have tried to be what the clan wants me to be, to be where I am wanted, and not where... I am not. I have been silent, I have spoken only when spoken to, and then only in the Spirit's truth. I have tried to make my clan proud of me, and me... proud of me; I've cared enough to do these things, but these tears still trace my failures, and my failures seem all that matter. Old one, to unravel these streaks of tears... I ask three questions. Will I ever please myself? Will I ever please my elders, and why are my tries... overlooked?"
__"Child, always be pleased with your attempts to please; If your unnoticed tries to please are your greatest triumphs, that joy is a gift you can give to yourself, and then you will see the sum of those tears fade as you follow that joy into new tomorrows. But first, you must see that tomorrows contentment can never be yours if you linger... within yesterdays unanswerable questions."

I awoke.

__Within that instant's kef of a vanishing dream... I saw the rusting tears of the boy that I once was, and I knew I had told myself... Hollow Lies.
_m

The color, the name... and a child smiles.


tiger lilies
open to a new day's sun
this swallow tail

From last summer.


keeled minds
sail quiet seas
courses of a given chart
this ruddered imagination
explores

Last Saturday even'n... at the pond.


stars hang
in this spider web
a night's dew

I guess everyone knows... why the cat ran.


a cat ran
this dog stands at rigid pose
on three legs

__In, and beyond these rapid and incalculable changes that erode what we once knew, I admire the changeless. I'm privileged... to have been able to watch the Catbird hatchlings change, in that changeless scheme of creation; today I smiled broadly at this sight... an empty nest.


a change
the catbirds take to wing
changeless

An instant's Cinquain echo... left at Cynthea's blog, in response to her good post. _m


my soul
above the flame
from out of this smoke reaches
grasping at every memory
ashes

Twice a day I check the nest; she senses I am of no harm.


catbird...
I watch her nested young
this trust

__Those that know a little of me, know how enamored I am, by those things left behind; found in my imagination are the stains of the sweat and blood that graced the toil of these people... unknown. __Stonewalls, abandoned foundations, crumbled barns... all, monuments to their builders. _m


stonewalls
these lines of once...
a dove coos

This, as seen in Ambrosia Edition 2.


blue jays clamor
in this noonday sun
the brook's echo

__An abrupt stop, and flashers; the driver, my wife quick to the rescue, carried the turtle across the road to its destination... the pond.


this turtle
plants its yearly seeds
a walk back

__From Milton's Masque 'Comus,' circa 1634, a few of the early lines that seem to fit today's life__ as I had read them:

"Above the smoke and stir of this dim spot
-Which men call Earth, and, with low-thoughted care,
-Confined and pestered in this pinfold here,
-Strive to keep up a frail and feverish being,
-Unmindful of the crown that Virtue gives,"


virtue sought
we frail beings...
a breath

__Home from our pond; this from last night as we sat on the dark deck... and watched the spider's work.


candles
light this darkness
a spider

__I saw, a few days back, this photo-haiku at Devica's blog: "Deserted," was the name of her post.
__It's strange that a link there... had taken me back to the Connecticut town where I had been raised, and a school through which I had passed.



long pathway
follow these slippery stairs
careful steps

__Once in a while I actually like something I've written, and I'm not above 're-posting.' This I scribbled several years back, and posted here 'bout a year ago. It was my last 'butterfly' haiku, and since, I've used the common, or the biological name of the butterfly seen.


listen...
above the silent flowers
a butterfly

__One of the charmers of our summer pond-life, the chipmunks, always provide evidence of their surprising intellect, and leave us... smiling at their antics. But one fellow last summer, failed to solve this 'carry away' dilemma... the 'stuffing' of his cheeks. (chips?)

a chipmunk
fails to run off with his prize
this potato chip

Their colors.


a lilac bush
smiles into this new day
purple finches

Yesterday's storm... lightning, and heavy hail.


thunder storm
sleet clatters with the lightning
this pond boils

Reflections, Earth Day_.


trees
on this pond
stand above

Happy Birthday LL! 51 red balloons!


one breath
the steps of learning began
first day

__The Nemaskets, a clan of the Wampanoags, used the phrase -the moon of leaves- and that, it is said, was the month of June; perhaps it was a reference to the first spouts of Mondomin, or corn.
__Now, the tree leaves become full during the first week of May, and May's moon I see as "this moon of leaves." An entry in my scribble book, from last May.


warm night
this moon of leaves...
pond frogs

a dog howls
its forecast across this pond
heavy winds

__An early season night at our pond; as the robin's breast blends with the sunset, the owls begin their nightly calls... and at ease, the robin adds its final chirps of its day.


sunset
this treed robin joins
an owl's call

own the wild
this bear follows a trail
without cages

This Cinquain... I left as a comment at Ashi Words, I'll add that -> Ashi 2, as listed in the links on the right, is Jen's very interesting and participative haiga blog. Well worth the visits!


I write
and of these words
that fall out of my mind
I keep some that I never said
not said

How slowly things change, and yet, how quickly.
__From creaking ice to this greening underbrush... but a moment in time. Just yesterday we were fighting snow and frozen pathways, confined in our boots and parkas, hoods and gloves, the only sounds were the howl of the winds and driven snows.
__Today the tree buds are swollen, the birds are calling, and the squirrels, the chipmunks and rabbits are tending to their awakening, and the Sun warms our world.
__The flowers are smiling; its time to put the snow-shovels away.


green and blue
beyond this winter's bounds
flowers smile

__Yesterday, the forsythia bloomed, and in last night's warm air the peepers sang.


x marked frogs
these peepers in the night
love songs

So often, in spite of our carelessness, nature overcomes... .


green sprout
bursts through this plastic bag
a new flower

Good Friday.
__To those that follow these holy days, I wish you the best of weekends; to those that do not, I wish you the best of weekends! _m


midday shower
dust washes from the leaves
humming birds

Quincy Market's, sidewalk performers.


pigeons dance
a violin sings their waltz
smell of rain

An Austrailian oddity, camouflage.


south coast
these Leafy Seadragons swim
the mimes

A repetitive parallel:
Sometimes, I need to step back... to see where I wish to go.


look beyond
see of that pebble
this ruby

wild turkeys
strut across this muddy path
the owners

Sometimes, I need to step back... to see where I wish to go.


warm new rain
beats this trash can lid
a crocus blooms

I referred to her silently as "Shelly," but, of course, not in class.
__It was 1959 and Shelly was an elderly, High School English teacher; as a sophomore, with extreme misfortune I was assigned to her class. She pulled and pulled, and I hated every moment. As a Junior I was in her English Literature class, I hated every moment. Senior year? I chose to enroll in Shelly's Creative Writing course, an optional class, and I hated every moment.
__Shelly never taught me how to think as she might think, or to dream as she might dream, to write as she would write, or to understand as she understood. She taught me to think as I would think, to dream as I would dream, to write as I would write, and to understand as I would know.
__ She once said: "A poet can only put marks on the page, it is the reader that must interpret the dream."
__Shelly was a teacher, long before the word 'imprint' became a synonym for 'educate'.



the teacher
pulls the student from the root
a tree spreads

For and old friend.


old walls talk
cracks and dust that speak of time
well worn shoes

No inner voice... to point the way.


crossroads
to choose another course
a voiceless owl

"Lost in Spring Dreams" You are missed.


ripples traced
across this silent pond
ducklings

This, is an echo left at Sandy's 'Four Winds Haiga' blog, in complement to her fine post of 3/6/2010.


twilight robin
his breast is the sunset
a night song fades

Moving on...


the sun peers
through this frigid window
a door opens

"All in all... your just another brick in the wall." Hold your youngsters close.


young people
of those that wander astray
society's claws

__Our granddaughter became seven, in October 2009; this was she, frolicking across the lawn just after a July afternoon rain, 2007. __Remember when we... ?


bare feet patter
across this dampened grass
a child laughs

The sleet, rattling at the window, sure sounds like popcorn poppin!


sleet rattles
against these window panes
popcorn

All things reach... a terminal change.


gravity...
melting icicles drip
a river

__My "contrary" view of those things now deemed... indispensable. I certainly use my cell phone!


homeless soul
dozing on the city's bench
his ring tone

__Not a hawk, but a hawk came quickly to mind. Sometimes hawks seem to crawl through the air rather than fly, thus... from a photo at Devica's blog of 2/21/10, Moonlight. _m


nighthawk
crawls above a blooming moon
this air rises

Another... from last summer's scribble pad; the dove sips from a sun-struck rain pool.


this dove
kisses itself
a puddle

Again, looking ahead as winter begins to fade, a scribble from last summer.


a sip of wine
beneath the holly tree
this catbird

Anticipation, seeing that which isn't.

green
below the drift...
a fern

snow melt
streaks down this window
the cat's paw

Release.
__The final step, beyond all pain.
__A daughter, a sister, wife and mother... cousin and friend; this flower girl. A family's sadness at your leaving, but gladness... that you've entered your peaceful realm. For Sandi.

step beyond
this pain is left behind
remember

Saturday.
__Today, February the 13th, this Magyar-Haiku blog has become one year of age; some old friends, and so many new have added in my mind, to its surprising acceptance here!
__Now then, a self-important question has arisen within me and thus, a few days to silently ponder... and a glass of wine.
__This toast to you all, in thanks! _m

this infant
peers through his year old eyes
a smile

Pristine snow... .

new snow
paces of those that are...
not yet

This haiku from 2008, its explanation from moments ago. Perhaps, then, it has become a haibun. _m

__Soon to be... as days are longer, the sun warmer and the nights remain cold, this change of pressures causes the sap to flow. New buds will soon stand and redden, as they begin their swell toward the leaves of May.
__Shortly, the taps will be in the maples... the sugar of spring.

old trees
their life begins its flow
closer sun

A Cinquain of the moment, left as a comment at Talon's blog... here, slightly altered. _m


sunset
a silence ends
the bellow of this day
we travel to that quiet realm
welcomed

__I use the -moon- rarely, last night... its brightness was remarkable, and a herald of things to come. Phil, has seen his shadow.


light path
cuts through these frozen limbs
spring moon

these shadows
cross the ponds creaking ice
snow fall

Freshly filled with sunflower seeds.


a duel
this red squirrel spars the gray
bird feeder

Recycled thought, haibun of a sort.

__I am the splash that missed the funnel's gaping mouth; free, and not locked in this bottle of someone else's preset dreams, I trickle down this bottle's glassn' side and evaporate into... my own adventure.

a free drop
travels its chosen path
this bird flys

Some open water there, as the brook leaves this pond on its run to the sea.


light snow...
before the far shore pines
this lonely swan

Friends, you know the old saying: "Here one minute, gone the ne


pale stars
my silent schooner sails
a weak wind

From last summer, a warm afternoon... .


tiger swollowtail
floats with this old sun's breeze
silent flowers