A brand new year...seventeen syllables at a time.

Sunday, January 31, 2010

Clint

What possible lure
could A Fistful of Dollars
hold for a tabby?

mah medicine

"coff coff," says Wyatt,
"I'm sick, give me my med'cine,
I need medicine."

in rainbow hues
wound in skeins and hung from hooks
yarn fills the garage

a healthy nephew
in need of attention, says,
"gimme my med'cine"

Saturday, January 30, 2010

snow


thru my window
I watch as "2 to 3 inches"
becomes eight or so

standing in the snow
without a break all day
trees must have cold toes

powdered sugar falls
from the sky, coating the world
like fresh made french toast

Friday, January 29, 2010

out



the open door sings
to me its song of escape
to anywhere else

Thursday, January 28, 2010

TGIT

In addition to
a vacuum, nature abhors
newsletter deadlines

The siren call of
the hula hoop lures the cat
from off the sofa

rippling clouds
creep in, behind them cold air
threatening more snow

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

dirty laundry

one, two, three, four, five
six loads of laundry, at least
two more loads to go


orion dances
to the singing of wild geese
at my mother's house

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

black and white

Watching black and white
movie on tv, scanning
black and white photos

Archeology:
photos found in a hat box
black and white mem'ries

Black and white cat
captured in monochrome grip
in a grey kitchen

Who were these people?
so young, suspended in time
and in silver gel

Washed of their color
memories stored in a hatbox
lost in a closet

Monday, January 25, 2010

Monday, Monday

Gah. It is so true
that nothing can out-Monday
actual Mondays.

Causticly swollen,
the slow, bloated creek grumbles
like a full stomach

Opening the door
greeted by a barnyard smell
the composter works

Sunday, January 24, 2010

Sunday

Spinach, brussel spouts,
and moldy turnips all get
second life as soil

I just want to play
with the penciled-in mustache
of the film's villain

two cups of top soil
sawdust, baking soda and
dead produce from fridge.

Pit-a-pat-patpat,
the rain taps upon the pane
with a sulky splat.

Saturday, January 23, 2010

odds and ends

A blurred jumpy ghost—
quick shadow, tawny vixen—
a lazy homeward fox.

Appetite killer,
nightmare maker: mass graves from
earthquake in Haiti

Three weeks of haiku,
a cupla lost syllables,
but I'm still writing.

In clear plastic bags,
thirteen cameras hang loose at
ten dollars a piece.

Bette Davis on
PBS makes me think of
and miss Aunt Sally

Friday, January 22, 2010

Friday

To quote Bugs Bunny,
"I just washed my hair,and can't
do a thing with it."

What gives Verizon?
I pay you to provide me
service, not excuse.

A grey chain of cloud
hangs overhead, bejeweled
with diamond raindrops.

Lost in a corner
my torch and hacksaw beckon:
time to make something.

Thursday, January 21, 2010

deer crossing

flick flick flick flick flick
white tails bounce across the road
and into the creek

Wintry mix pinging
against air conditioning
sings a chilly song.

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Wednesday

Tiny hands playing
random notes on a keyboard,
an otter duet

A candy coating
of crisp ice on my windscreen
opens the morning.

Opening gambit:
"Are you British? You look it."
That takes me way back.

Unexpectedly,
I'm not driving to Balmer
with Mom tomorrow.

Happy Birthday, Edgar



After sixty years,
no more roses and cognac.
End of the "Toaster?"

Monday, January 18, 2010

apologies to groucho



Outside of the cat,
a book's my best friend. Inside,
it's too dark to read.

...

Finally warm enough
to escape the apartment
and walk in the park.

Sunday, January 17, 2010

rainy Sunday


Maybe pneumonia
or maybe not. Either way,
antibiotics.


Outside, grey and rain;
curled up with me on the couch,
a grey cat, inside.

Saturday, January 16, 2010

Saturday, mea culpa


AKA Farewell Jillisa


Perhaps redundant,
another mad poet heads
for Ireland now.

And now a departure, in celebration of Jillisa's departure, for mature audiences only:

Off to Ireland for all of the craic
Jillisa may never come back
Oh those glib Irishmen
are so skilled with the pen
and fond of fair maidens in black.

Oh, Kilkenny's a literary town,
where scholars and poets abound.
With their noses in books
is how scholars will fooks
and they might even buy the next round.

Friday, January 15, 2010

the office


as if a hornet,
i am attempting to build
a nest of paper

Thursday, January 14, 2010

Thursday

Hedonistically
I consume mussels in cream
and good company.

My nose plays tricks.
I could positively swear
I smell fresh doughnuts.

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

thirteen



Has it been two weeks
or four? I can't remember
the last time I shaved.

No, seriously.
The Christmas decorations
need to go away.

Seven on Richter,
but on the scale of sadness,
goes to eleven

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Twelfth

Christmas is over
the tiny silver forest
returns to its box.

Moving old files
would be alot easier
with the right cable.

Madly purring cat
perched beside me on sofa
tries to chew modem.

Zombie porn, biscuits,
jazz, blues, and Marc Bolan make
good conversation.

Monday, January 11, 2010

Still Cold

Robotic counting:
are there enough syllables
to make this haiku?

Meeting-rich Monday,
trying not to pull faces
at improper times.

Never one for ice,
I finally get a cold drink
leaving glass on floor.

Hello, my name is
Mimi and I write haiku.
Rather awkwardly

My hands ache with cold.
Broke out the fingerless gloves
to fight off the chill.

Sunday, January 10, 2010

Sunday

Mom's coming over.
Maybe the smell of baking
will cover the mess.

The bread still tastes good,
even if it didn't rise.
It's just a bit dense.

Why do normal folk
turn into crazed psychopaths
in parking garages?

Saturday, January 9, 2010

Saturday morning

Craving hot coffee
but with Mayorga gone,sigh,
tea will have to do.

Make a cuppa tea,
remember to turn off flame
before slurping chai.

Friday, January 8, 2010

Technical difficulties

The old laptop's toast.
The new one's yet to arrive.
Radio silence?

Snow—but less of it.

Microscopic text
in Pennsylvania Dutch
what a bizarre dream.

Ah revenge is sweet
flaming shots for birthday girl
at the pirate bar...

Candy floss, fairy dust
couldn't be any sweeter
than fluffy white snow

Monochromatic,
the park's an illustration
in a tale by Grimm

Thursday, January 7, 2010

misc.

Anticipation
an-ti-cee-pay-ay-ay-shun
is making me wait.

Day Seven

After a whole week
I haven't given up yet
on this haiku thing.

Is it Thursday? It
must be. I never could get
the hang of Thursdays.

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

mid-week

I need to relax,
get silly, and have more fun
a-writin' haiku.

Facebook chat at noon
leaves me feeling more worried
and not a whit less.

Parking lot ice bergs:
how big are they if the bulk's
below road surface?

Sweet tones of Groucho—
Lydia the Tattoed Lady—
echo in my brain.

Tuesday, January 5, 2010

Tuesday






The joy of youtube,
new discoveries every day
help delay deadlines.

Churned, yet frozen,
the creek surface resembles
sugary maple fudge.

If not for road salt,
I'd be driving the red car
even in bitter cold.

Thirty years ago
an album was released, and
London's still burning.

Cowbell, super eight—
my friends are outdoing me
writing fun haiku.

A plastic toy scoots
across the window ledge and
shouts, "Exterminate!"

Monday, January 4, 2010

Back to work

Work happy hour
worried about what I'll say
after glass of wine.

Scratching at my neck
"inspected by 19" sez
the irritant.

"Your mailbox is full."
Have more irritating words
ever existed?

Sunday, January 3, 2010

Wind!

Out, trees exercise
enthusiastically;
inside, I shiver.

With strong wind gusting
up to forty miles per hour
even I say "brrr."

Still out of it—
supper will never be done
if it's not turned on.

Saturday, January 2, 2010

Day Two


To a blank mind
comes parthenogenesis.
A poem is born.

The fierce predator
drags his kill across the floor—
poor, mangled waffle.

Cough syrup chokes with
a cloying sweet,lingering,
dry opiate taste.

Friday, January 1, 2010

New Year's Day

Two days of coughing;
expelling the old, bad year
with each wracking breath.

I can't feel my feet.
The twenty-one pound grey cat
is curled up on them.