|
|
|
These haiku appeared
in Frogpond, Wind
Chimes,
black bough, Modern Haiku, SF
Poetry Journal, Heron's Nest,
Brussels Sprout, Dragonfly,
and numerous anthology collections
including Only the Sea Keeps,
Haiku Compass, The Vast
Sky, and Taboo Haiku.
***
Four Seasons
(after Buson)
overtaken by wealth
first footsteps
in the snow
overtaken by wealth
this crumb pecking sparrow
overtaken by wealth
this gold field of dandelions
overtaken by wealth
leaves to burn
*
stepping
in the same stream twice
just as cold
*
river flowing too fast it’s name
escapes me
*
land of my birth…
airport flower vendor
sells baby’s breath
*
trespassing
I visit
my childhood home
*
April
the first kites
tied up in the woods
*
pretty visitor
bougainvillea blossoms
chase after her car
*
bowing down
to the hummingbird
one hibiscus after another
*
new to the islands
she sniffs
the hibiscus
*
brown door painted white
resident spider
revealed at last
*
old frog
the pond swallows it
without a sound
*
moonlighting surf
searching
for the perfect shell
*
about the catch the sun
deep sea net
baited with morning dew
*
cold with you
warm with me
same moon
*
no hitch
big moon on the rise
picks me up
*
heat lightning
the night
jumps silently
*
escorting
a dead dragonfly
100 undertakers
*
the waves
slowly splitting the rocks
splitting the waves
*
turning a corner
I break
for the full moon
*
well fed
my fat cat
sniffs garbage
*
making sure
nothing grows
the rock gardener
*
raking gravel
at sundown
I comb the shadows
*
one stone
at a time
brings the mountain down
*
on and off
off and on
mist and mountain
the couple next door
*
further and further
up the beach
storm wrecked hull
*
yellow bird
on a broomstick
the dust can wait
*
bunched up leaves
at the abandoned gate
nobody to let them in
*
island mists
another name disappears
from my tongue
*
stealing up
the rear window bars—
morning glory
Brooklyn
*
in the silence
between two crows
a bluejay
*
at the bus stop to the city
all the dandelions
plucked
*
fireflies!
why do we
whisper
*
listening
to a shell
the sea on hold
*
floating over the flaking
masonry walls…
butterfly shadows
*
too hot to move—
only butterflies chase
butterflies
*
near the cliff’s edge
he gives her a slight push
only kidding
*
dry brook
a choice
of stepping stones
*
island ferry
an empty beer bottle
rolls back and forth
*
on hold
staring at the sea
until I’m disconnected
*
no hitch
big moon on the rise
picks me up
*
at the flea market
looking at books
I gave away
*
topless beach
the coconuts
also beyond reach
*
it’s pink! it’s purple!
sunset inspires
more bickering
*
master rooster
your deciples
are hardboiled
*
no hop left
in the grasshopper
Autumn chill
*
tongue
on
tongue
no
place
for
words
*
blood spattered highway…the art of
war
*
Vietnam Wall
so polished so dark
the need to touch it
*
Vietnam Wall
cold in winter
cold in summer
*
dried anemone
in a diary
no when, no where, no why
*
in a busy year’s diary
one blank page
after another
*
unable to sing—
lip-synching
into the New Year
*
Sequence
against
bare branches
bare branches
not far
from the scarecrow
the snowman
past midnight New Year’s
the cat’s still hiding
under the couch
*
new boy in town
throwing snowballs
at his own snowman
*
cancer ward
too hot too cold too
bright
what else is there to do
*
in recovery…
bringing flowers
I never bought before
*
budding
from a dry branch
the Spring green
*
last night I was a bastard
this morning I’m a doll
what happened
*
tearing up
one letter to her
starting another
I hear the hesitant
cricket
*
holiday mail
her letter
opens me up
*
Sleepless: a sequence
with the moon
without it
sleepless
with a pill
without it
sleepless
with love
without love
sleepless
with her
without her
the long
long night
*
waking up
to no one beside me
waking up
*
Nocturne: a sequence
garden party—
the ants
in the punch
nibbling
on her earlobe
the perfume bitter
heat lightning
her tongue flicking
across his lips
she comes back
for her shoes
before sunrise
on hold
keeping the music
at a distance
married
to the same story
miles apart
*
Caribbean Kanji: a
sequence
missing the boat—
chasing the water’s edge
with the lone sandpiper
after night-long rain
the tall grass, too,
late rising
banging away at a nail
trying to stop
the hurricane
overwhelming
the evening news—
prime time cicada
so much easier
uprooting wild morning glories
at sundown
rainy season—
tuning the guitar
over and over
island Xmas—
whorehouse blasts
Silent Night
*
long after New Year’s
the old year
stuck tp the fridge
*
uptown IRT
too many heads
block the poetry
*
Hurricane, St. Thomas
roof gone—
Venus shines
into the flooded bedroom
last night’s illumination
a mess of wax
*
water damaged
paperback romances
falling apart
*
the New Year
the new you
old hat
*
getting all
the attention
the twisted branch
*
rock garden of Ryoanji
an old man
caresses the moss
*
more or less
full of himself
the humble poet
*
the only true
disciple of Basho…
croak croak
croak croak
croak
*
rain frogs
spreading misleading rumors
no rain tonight
no rain
*
no hitch in sight
a circling hawk
catches the wind
*
a thousand and one
petals fall
another seventeen syllables
*
autumn winds
grocery flyers
flying
*
Hokusai’s cricket
leaps into the next picture
& the next
& the next
*
nightwork
sweeping dust
beneath the Milky Way
*
sundown after rain
one dragonfly
still shining
*
Vigil: sequence
cut flowers
by her deathbed
also holding on
doctor calls
too late…
a nurse chucks the iris
deathbed stripped
did I say it
with flowers
empty vase
the dark
at the bottom
an empty mouth
the night
the night
a dead moth
so powdery
beneath the stars
*
Sequence
spring again
the cemetery
pays me a visit
so tight lipped
even after death
she tells me nothing
looking for my name
the cemetery map
leads to a dead end
*
Day Notes for
Bill Higginson
10/11/2008
six points
on the Richter scale
not a wrinkle on the sea
island mists
I watch another island
disappear
your handbook
at hand
I reach for it again
slamming into the window
the dazed bird
crouches
the things I wanted
to talk about
will have to wait
wife and daughter
sing to you, singing
Amazing Grace
through island mists
a glimpse
of the invisible
some 1,400 miles away
I stare at the e-mail
stunned
St Thomas, VI
*
Notes for a Tsunami
Out of nowhere the
wave
everywhere
Elephants knew cicadas
fell silent
dolphins headed for deep water
Afraid of the seas now
the young girl draws
a mountain to run to
Speechless since the
tsunami
the eleven year old
Sri Lankan school
he searches for friends
in the wreck
Out of thirty classmates
the lone survivor
Jaheer Najoor
Baby 81 nine couples
claim it
DNA chose one
Good news a rooster
will be sacrificed
to the gods
Cousin on vacation in
the Andamans
how did he clear the wave
Deep sea fishing
in and out of the net
the rogue waves
Clinging to her sago palm
five days at sea
"sharks all around -- I prayed"
Phone rings night and day
"ghosts on the other
end
trying to be rescued"
Body searcher prying
the dead man loose
apologizes "this may hurt"
Banda Ache fourteen
thousand in one grave
just a start
Sunny day searching
searching
talking to the debris
The missing
photos, flyers, posters
have you seen her have you seen him
Burning incense over Thailand
beach to calm the
spirits
the troubled spirits
*
|
|
|
|
|
|