f/k/a archives . . . real opinions & real haiku

Haiku lovers know the value of brevity.  With Presidential campaign “debates” coming soon, the venerable Dean Stanley Fish shared some invaluable advice with John Kerry in a New York Times op/ed piece yesterday.  E.g.:

 

“If you can’t explain an idea or a policy plainly in one or two sentences, it’s not yours; and if it’s not yours, no one you speak to will be persuaded of it, or even know what it is, or (and this is the real point) know what you are.”

 

[more]

tired of listening
the man walks away…
cicada on a branch

from Kobayashi Issa, translated by David G. Lanoue  

River current

one by one the geese

bottom-up

 

 

First light

through old-growth forest

an owl hoots

 

from “A Flutter of Wings,” by Pamela Miller Ness

printed for the Haiku Canada Conference (2003)  Click for contact info.

 

• 
  
  by dagosan: 

parents’ new home:

old bladders

one bathroom

                                          [Sept. 24, 2004]

 

“bryant”

A visit to my birthplace, has given me a chance to learn about the alleged crimes

of suspended Rochester-Greece, NY, lawyer Kevin C. Bryant.  Bryant, 46, is charged

with hiring his wife’s half-brother, for $5000 plus 50% of life insurance proceeds, to

kill his then 26-year-old wife, Tabatha, [click here for the rest of the story].

– also: Papers Detail Bryant’s “Bad Acts” (D&C, Rochester, NY)

 

 

 

his detested wife’s
violets…
all have bloomed

from The Haiku of Kobayashi Issa, translated by David G. Lanoue    

 

• 
  
  George Wallace is correct: grapez has penned the Acme of autumnal haiku. (warning: it is graphic and Loony) 
  
  
• 
  
  FYI: I’ve collected a number of excerpts about Cat Stevens and the Satanic Verses fatwa here, in a response to UCL’s Comment.

     swallow flight

looking out the window

        long after

   

 

 falling leaves

the house comes

out of the woods

 

 

from Presents of Mind, haiku and illustrations by Jim Kacian

(Katsura/Red Moon Press, 1996).

• 
  
  by dagosan: 

siblings’ kids –

comparing laughs

and bald spots                   

[Sept. 25, 2004]

 

 one-breath pundit  

“First autumn morning!”
just saying it…
lonely

born again
morning-glories make
autumn bloom

it’s my life’s autumn
but the moon
looks perfect

from The Haiku of Kobayashi Issa, translated by David G. Lanoue

[click to see this self-portrait by Issa, with accompanying haiku]

• by dagosan:
  

visitng mom and dad

faces and refrains

gettin’ old

[Sept. 22 & 26,, 2004]

one-breath pundit

• • Yusuf Islam, f/k/a Cat Stevens, a terrorist threat?  haikuEsq is skeptical. It’s hard to disagree with
    his statement about the terrorists in Beslan, Russia:

    “Crimes against innocent bystanders taken hostage in any circumstance have no foundation whatsoever in the life of Islam and the model example of Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him.”

    The lyrics and tune from Moon Shadow are rolling around pleasingly in my mind this morning, as are the hopeful words from Peace Train:.

    I’ve been crying lately
    Thinking about the world as it is
    Why must we go on hating?
    Why can’t we live in bliss?

    For out on the edge of darkness
    There rides the peace train
    Peace train take this country
    Come take me home again

    
    

  • Do you care what music your weblogger is listening to?  Evan wants to know; Tony Pierce doesn’t care, and neither does cranky old Prof. Yabut.
  • Update (Sept. 25, 2004):  I’ve collected a number of excerpts about Cat Stevens and the Satanic Verses fatwa here, in a response to UCL’s Comment.
  • Update (Sept. 26, 2004):  Time magazine says it was all a spelling mistake. See our post.

    
    

autumn’s first geese
crapping on people
fly on

 

 

autumn wind–
red flowers she wanted
to pick

 

lying belly-up
yet still singing…
autumn cicada

from The Haiku of Kobayashi Issa, translated by David G. Lanoue  

 

 

• 
  
  by dagosan: 

last day of summer –

the old cat naps

in the sunny window         

                                        [Sept. 21, 2004] 

 

      neither frivolous nor meritless    

Crisp autumn afternoon–

shouts of window washers

from floors below

 

 

late fall–

my echo calling

the dog

 

 

by Rebecca Lilly,

“crisp autumn” from A New Resonance 2; Modern Haiku XXXI:1  

“late fall” – Frogpond (XXVII:2 (2004)

 

• 
  
  by dagosan: 

equinox stroll:

cold fingers

and sunglasses

                                             [Sept. 21, 2004]

 

piano practice

in the room above me

my father shouting

 

 

autumn breeze

the new smell

of my red jacket

 

 

by Roberta Beary

from A New Resonance 2: Emerging Voices in English-Language Haiku “piano practice” – Woodnotes #31

 

• 
  
  by dagosan: 

caught hiding the stash –

colombian

caffeine 

                                           [Sept. 19, 2004]

 

 

  . . . . . 

 

dropping stone after stone

into the lake     I keep

reappearing

 

Divorce proceedings over

wet leaves stick

to my shoes

 

by George Swede from  Almost Unseen: Selected Haiku of George Swede 

(Brooks Books, 2000) 

 

 

• 
  
  by dagosan: 

street closed

for the Saturday Faire

the only sound is rain

 

                                           [Sept. 18, 2004]

evocative of the Old West or of nuevo L.A. Cuisine?  You decide. (thanks Prof. B) . . . .

sunflower

withered brown

beside green tomatoes

 

 

 

morningmoon

     plays hide-and-seek

         my sleepfilled eyes

 

 

by Pamela Miller Ness from  pink light, sleeping (1998)

 

• 
  
  by dagosan: 

unsummer day:

crisp morning

long, hot shower

                                          [Sept. 17, 2004]

 

Like Evan Schaeffer, I’ve been wondering how Ernie‘s coping with Ivan and hoping he’s

not in Da Nile, Da Mississippi, nor Da Gulf of Mexico.  Adjourneyed attorney?

 

Here’s a couple haiku from ex-lawyer Barry George to buoy Attorney Svenson’s spirits

 

 

His Honor’s glasses
clouding over…
adjourned for snow 

autumn sun–
the lawyer carries home
a pumpkin