NEIGHBORHOOD HAWK

January warm ~
kite string, mudprints, and earthworms
frozen to sidewalk


three fat winter rain
drops-ops-ops fall from black branch ~
sidewalk eucharist


cold sky, mouse in hedge,
small hawk sits still in bare tree ~
we hurry on by


dog's howl chases train
whistle out kitchen window
and up street ~ again


small hawk in bare tree
waits for us to pass ~ if not
that mouse, the next one


posted by Su at Wednesday, February 13, 2002

THREE MOONS, ONE DEAD FISH ~ 4 haiku

moonlight falling through
old glass silvers our bed ~ one
hesitates to breath


moon's hand-me-down light
falls in tatters and in swirls
upon bare floorboards


moonlight flows and swirls
across patched and painted wall ~
time, trapped in old glass


vegetarian
neighborhood ~ dead fish under
oak tree, four days now


posted by Su at Tuesday, January 29, 2002

WELL-DISGUISED BUDDHAS ~ 4 haiku

Bald Fat slumps, dozing,
on rain-wet steps til van comes ~
birds swoop morning bugs


Z. sits ~ full lotus,
slow breath, gaze inward, lips drawn ~
fomenting discord


my grumbly belly
passes the whisper along ~
after zazen, tea


Trash Day Eve ~ We place
bags tagged just so in hopes that,
come morning, they're gone.


posted by Su at Tuesday, January 22, 2002

THAT WINTER ~ 4 haiku

fog wafting on snow ~
cold shadows rise into air
to breathe once and whirl

--Also published in: Haiku Harvest, Spring 02 issue. http://www.denisgarrison.com/haiku/


Cold like a creature
swallows, digesting slowly ~
White, pure sun watches


frozen in full sun
winter's white light in ice eyes ~
late bus that winter

winter's weightless sun
drained of heat, breath without life
"is" minus "to be"



ED-KU ~ 2 lo-ku

untruce truce untruce
israel-palestine ump
killed by bomb, rules lost


Chinese firecrackers!
New! Totally Nuclear!
(For pol. use only)

-- I wrote these two for John Cho's very fun EDITORIAL HAIKU site: http://pemtropics.mit.edu/~jcho/editorial/ehp.html


SPAM-KU ~ 2 lo-ku

Tofu World collides
with SPAMalaxy; explodes:
Gamma rays observed.


Vegan's secret whim
results in SPAMtaneous
human combustion.

John Cho also has a site with THOUSANDS of haiku about SPAM: http://pemtropics.mit.edu/~jcho/spam/

posted by Su at Tuesday, January 15, 2002

BLACK ICE ~ 3 haiku

air so jammed with snow
no space for sound to move ~ no
cry of boy nor geese


morning fresh black ice ~
keen still beauty whetted by
chance of cracking bones


icy brick walk, night ~
hope to avoid shattering
exquisite stillness

--Also published in: Haiku Harvest, Spring 02 issue. http://www.denisgarrison.com/haiku/



NEIGHBORHOOD ~ 4 haiku

Abbey bells ring each
quarter hour ~ Old Crank checks his
vest watch, frowns at sky.


snowflake fluttering
in spider web as grey clouds
lumber across Sun

--Also published in: Haiku Harvest, Spring 02 http://www.denisgarrison.com/haiku/


bike lock coiled on post
rusts, icy ~ maybe crow will
topple it, steal key


baby hummingbird
resides in lover's red beard
happy solution


posted by Su at Thursday, January 10, 2002

ASPHALT ~ 3 haiku

too cold to snow or
breathe ~ one ice patch, one footprint
frozen into it


hunched in dumpster tree
fluffed puffed up fat, hawk's got his
winter thermals on


even garbage truck
is hushed and sweet arriving ~
morning of first snow


posted by Su at Monday, December 31, 2001

MOVING TO 623 S. WASHINGTON ~ 3 haiku

empty house ~ no pulse
dust hanging, no gravity ~
waits to breathe our breath


lover's already
up cracking eggs, striking match
rekindling the sun


birdsong in fragile
hush of winter morning, dark ~
glass beads on the snow

Also published in: Haiku Harvest, Spring 02 http://www.denisgarrison.com/haiku/

posted by Su at Monday, December 31, 2001

WINTER BUTTERFLY ~ 2 haiku

train yard's crisp brown weeds
wary boy walks white-knuckled
trailed by butterfly


yellow butterfly
~escaped from train man's daydream~
flits on frosty rail



posted by Su at Saturday, December 22, 2001

ZZN ~ 2 haiku (zazen: seated, themeless meditation)

breathing dim world in
dissolving into stillness
except foot, which sleeps


breathing sweet smoke in
breathing ash self out in out
pyramid of bones




posted by Su at Saturday, December 22, 2001

T-T-TUU ~ 4 haiku

spring water burble
in stone cold sky ~ five hundred
sandhill cranes coming

--Also published in: http://www.tinywords.com/ Feb.2, '02


just west of graveyard,
donut holes 10 cents ~ above,
sandhill cranes, hundreds


thick mist sip sip sips
into unknown's rotting grave
living earth ~ sweet worms


bright t-t-tuu burst
then silence still, darkness still
december birdsong



XXX XMAS ~ 3 haiku

xmas lights pinball
insert $ per second of
perfect holiday


Square's xmas twinkle
Mars Bar sign red blue red blue
two plugs, same outlet


xmas lights glitter
in child eyes ~ in adult heart,
longing for darkness



posted by Su at Friday, December 14, 2001

ZN ~ 4 haiku

outside zendo door
rain . . . war in rusty newsbox
inhale . . . box . . . rain . . . crow


stone tower, rusty
autumn dawn ~ old clock ticks . . . this
moment . . . this moment


teardrops in zendo
one perfect salt world rises
falls ~ then another


teardrop in zendo
smoky with incense, curdled
must change recipe



posted by Su at Friday, December 07, 2001

DESK CLERK KU ~ 3 haiku

sunlight coming through
wavy old glass flows ~ space, time ~
on floor, face of guest


fall sun filtered through
windy branches, warped old glass
streaming pure shadow


reflection on screen
ghost of yesterday's sky haunts
revenue/admin


posted by Su at Friday, December 07, 2001

SWEET ROLL CRUMBS ~ 5 haiku

late november sun
strikes eye of cafe sparrow
begging sweet roll crumbs


red shoes in blue sky
hung on power line ~ funny!
leastwise, crow thinks so


students at bus stop
peering into dusk ~ faces
aglow with old light


november ~ walking
in noon sun ~ long evening
shadows lead the way


table sparrow's eye
glints with late november sun
close of perfect day


posted by Su at Thursday, December 06, 2001

LOST CRANE ~ 5 haiku

autumn morning sky
bruised by strikes from rusty sword
of old clock tower


between my window
and clear sight of courthouse clock
seven golden leaves


old stone clock tower
in autumn dawn ~ tween bong and
gong, crow rattles wings


strangers (once-friends) nod
leaves rattle in empty street
crane, lost, flies through moon


three pumpkins on porch
eyes glinty, breath slimey, heads
empty ~ gossiping


posted by Su at Thursday, December 06, 2001

17 SYLLABLES ~ 4 lowku

haiku chemistry
seventeen syllables swell
in brain to book length


post-up infant wired
to heartbeat, air tube--wide sheet,
palm-size boy . . . Touch him!


"Park closes at dusk"
Middle-age lovers break law,
ride ducks after dark


three-leaf itch red-vein
itchy inside-out itch itch
devil-sap itchy


posted by Su at Thursday, December 06, 2001

BLUE SKY MOON ~ 3 haiku

blue blue blue blue sky
waiting for crow to pass through
to restart space/time


sliver moon in blue sky
crow doesn't get stuck on it
the way soft mind does


childishly blue sky
hung with just one sliver moon
where's crow when needed?


posted by Su at Wednesday, December 05, 2001

NEIGHBORHOOD SING TING ~ four haiku

coyote pauses
at 6th and Grant ~ caution light
blinking, heavy dawn


nearly dawn sky ~ hawk
snatches mouse from gutter "eee!"
into (now) dawn sky


small man high in gray
autumn sky ~ snipping dead wires
free from pole, which sways


unexpected sun
strikes cold november wind chimes
neighborhoods sing ting



SKY KU ~ astro-haiku

Sol, every day,
spins the whole shebang alive
no reason given


Ivory Saturn
floating in perfect darkness
stillness in the lens


shadow of Io
crossing Jupiter's white face
far blue eye watching


Black Draco slithers
nearer, snake eyes glowering
"Stars! It's only stars!"


Delphinus ~ six stars
insisting on leaping, a
fish. Oh very well.


Eros ~ chunk of rock
good for throwing at cow if
cow tries to jump moon


Stephen's Quintet ~ five
galactic wiggles, cosmic
sperm squiggles of light


observes Jupiter
plotting belts, spots, moons ~ dreams to
build a cabin there


M1 universe
far hymns and screams, waterfalls ~
light speck in eye. blink.



posted by Su at Wednesday, December 05, 2001

PARING KNIFE ~ four haiku

wild pears by train tracks
forsaken place, savage fruit
Paring knife! Sugar!


autumn gravity
gunmetal sky caves in ~ no
living thing beneath


headache headache comes
from some old old place ~ like light
does, like darkness does


clears throat, glances left
shifts plate slightly south, clears throat
shifts knife north ~ earthquake




posted by Su at Tuesday, December 04, 2001

ALL THINGS EXISTING ~ four haiku

new lover fixes
porch light ~ I rebreak it, now
always on, for him


my lover builds a
fire, weaving sticks and wind, then
climbs in, calls it home


transvestite - bitten
red lips, grimy ankles - squints,
sewing in sunshine


come in along with
to for out here beside me
All things existing


posted by Su at Tuesday, December 04, 2001

BLUE SKY MOON ~ 3 haiku


blue blue blue blue sky
waiting for crow to pass through
to restart space/time


sliver moon in blue sky
crow doesn't get stuck on it
the way soft mind does


childishly blue sky
hung with just one sliver moon
where's crow when needed?




posted by Su at Monday, December 03, 2001

posted by Su at Monday, December 03, 2001