HAIKU I
A ShareBook by
SCRAWLMARK PUBLISHING
Moorhead, Minnesota
The FISHHOOK Group
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Haiku I
Copyright 1970--(C)1980
by FISHHOOK and Dennis M. Hammes
All rights reserved.
No part of this book, whether text or graphics,
may be reproduced to hardcopy by any means
including mechanical, photocopy, electronic data
storage and retrieval whether analog or digital,
or electronic broadcast, without prior written
permission from the publisher.
This book, ONLY IN ITS ENTIRETY (all poems,
graphics, and attendant files), may be copied
for distribution or inspection via diskette,
modem, Bulletin Board Service, Online Service,
or InterNet, provided that no charge (beyond
that for materials and handling) is made for
such distribution.
Scrawlmark Catalog #DMHHAIK1.ZIP
ISBN:
LCC Cat. Nr.:
Scrawlmark Publishing
1016 South Third Street
Moorhead, Minnesota 56560-3355
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
for
the /kami/ of this place
/natsu-gusa ya
tsuwamono-domo ga
yume-no ato/
-- Basho
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
1
white limbs and giggles
shriek spring at streetside puddles
split by passing wheels
1.1
mumbling at curbstones
winter sneaks into gutters
dissolving in March
2
thoughts of you
butter dots
on the broth
3
snow pierces my eyes
/sensei/ sits on a drift
red sled
4
(Gershwin)
a mellow burble
rams silver through ebony
to clinch on B-flat
blue cat yowping
behind a rag piano
wallows out to sass
feet mired in rosin
desire reaches through steel C
seeking its escape
a magnum recoil
blows back from baritones to
shred through cheesecutter violins
orgasm of brass
tumbles spent from beaded breast
gasping on cool themes
5
mumbled up from sleep
small warmth and weight at my back
was only the cat
6
(Monteverdi)
medieval mind mulls
at /ave/'s of idea
receding through sound
7
wet wood at the hearth
a tiny jet of white fire
spits into the void
8
leavetaking
my ear is not fooled
by the grinning keyboard
i've lost a finger
9
half moon gold on the
rim of a lightly misted
lake large Tom Collins
10
silver against gray
my white-robed mainmast pointed
and banished the clouds
11
black branches bother
my windows but lighted logs
dispel the demons
12
stepping over dew
black cat sniffs shadowed woodpile
and yesterday's mouse
13
forever nimble
Mozart trips his way through my
plastic livingroom
14
weeds in my garden
but today a sailboat is
borrowing my beach
15
luck, silly human!
with two cups of coffee you
challenge the new sun
16
demanding pipestem
cut in on my waltzing mind
jealous brainstorm fled
17
too impatient to
wait for rockets, Beethoven
ignotes a keyboard
18
lucky airweight bug
with the wind of the blow you
escape crashing hands
19
sunset. come, let's slip
into a brandy and a
fresh bit of music
20
pen a point in space
set your mind's crosshairs on it
write a universe
21
king of orange and black
a monarch challenges the
dynasty of blue
22
tight spiral of conch
spreads silent a broad round flange
listens to the sand
23.1
precision reticle
three pointed cartridges
New! portable cross
23.2
crowned by a crosshair
gunpowder in a brass bed
kiss of a finger
24
acrobat pinetrees
hang heels-up from the shoreline
tear-coated sailboat!
25
what kind of stocking
is leaving black hairs behind
on warm white laundry
26
better that I hate
by broken washer alone
than that you help me
27
with this ring I share
your broken screens and patched roof
Rome was a loincloth
28
blackbird said orange clouds
I tied the lone pair of shoes
they were only gray
29
mist on the inlet
blue heron bill swaying black
sketching a new day
30
lollyhooting loon
rips through a ripple of thought
midnight commercial
31
convoy of ducklings
sterns semaphoring panic --
muskrat torpedo
32
white moths in the night
island of light in the mist
aerial circus
33
milling for airspace
around a streetlamp /bistro/
nocturnal barflies
34
morning thunderheads
Imperial Red Army
invade the skyline
35
redreaming my youth
furry flurry at my toe
nine ounce sabretooth
36
kids!
apple tree shorter than me
apple already
37
september morning
crashed by a raucous squirrel
stepped on his acorn . . .
38
september alarmclock
acorn bouncing down the roof
loon on the lake
39
bad-tempered robins
chatter about the blackbirds
over morning worms
40
you bring spring, robin --
/turdus migratorius/ --
with a name like that?
41
stupid rooster --
this mist is still but lilac
you Galileo
42
kingfisher watches
the pebbled river bottom --
powerline /sensei/
43
cold assaults my house --
I try to arrest winter
with a caulking gun
44
the whole gray power
of clouds can't crush the sunset --
radio tower
45
evening prayersong
I stretch my trembling fingers
to the bright fireplace
46
brown ground and sunlight
by poor feet peek at april
like ten tender worms
47
april airbrakes wish
pretty skirts on the sidewalk
would come for a ride
48
ambiguous april
weeping the death of winter
with a daffodil!
49
strolling hitchhikers
(vagabond referendum)
give may the 'thumbs up'
50
square gray showshovels
stand in rows on the white street --
the blizzard is dead
51
march was shot today
clutched the wound, fell in the snow --
red tulip
52
red foliage flirts
then shrinks from frosty fingers
october hotpants
53
ah, bright butterfly
you treat winter's brief cease-fire
like the Armistice
54
concrete cancer gorged
on nature's grass cookie jar --
mother smiles and waits
55
ice-white idea
in birch boughs on azure sky
then these driftwood words
56
I took too much time
to sharpen up my pencil
somebody else wrote
57
one tick of my thought
tries to bind time that watched a
butterfly flutter
58
by sap-seeping stumps
a sun-drying shrub
seems not thought out
59
so you have matched me
this grave grass greens all brass crowns
kittens get from mice
60
look -- to my gray house
return these purple swallows
each year unchanging
61
god -- love -- universe
this trinity : teach a hen
the three-minute egg
62
this heavy shovel --
snow slumps on a broad black limb
too tired to fall off
63
ten grand per annum?
twenty toes in the firelight?
ah -- plenty of wood
64
rose blooms in the east
but from a leaf suddenly
one whiff of glycerine
glycerine is a constituent of printer's ink,
and is also used to preserve sprays of leaves.
65
against night noises
lighted glass window only
reflects my wide eyes
66
tanks clank outside town --
in a room a mother takes
away the boys' foils
67
"Daddy, why..."
tonight I shall make the snow
grunt under my boots
68
so cold winters but
this snowonderful morning
a warm toilet seat
69
washington's needle
where fields of marble columns
even scarecrows lean
70
who would wind my watch?
long since it has quit running
and still I wear it
71
yesterday cried clouds
today bare breasts see the sun
and still the waves wash
72
morning bulrushes
on a silvered glass bayou
comb catfish and me
73
Mozart can't spin sound
for I can't trade round for round
ah -- firewood I found
74
why weepy, April?
the sun has every morning
lost its purple quilt
75
gray Washington rain --
against the Unknown's gray stone
stick these few petals
76
bright flame fleares over
John's quiet filibuster --
spent match arcs the air
77
has winter's drowning
roused this memorium --
of marbleshooters?
78
May -- and this small pup
that romps at my legs, licks me
is already late
79
three o'clock desklamp
and a lilac lies in the
shadow of my hand
80
April cellar-floods
the worms come crawling back from
winter card games too
81
time-clock's flag hovers
settles over yesterday --
mechanised vulture
82
April calendar
but leafless boughs of autumn
shadow this letter
83
the basement fuse blew
General Electric stooped
turned over a rock
84
maples maples red
but only a memory
of temperate birch
85
stars below our wings
Detroit winks at Atlanta
and the plane grumbles
86
tanks clank outside walls
where an infant's milk is all
drunk in one minute
87
only that you smiled
and dropped on my fallow
a lone cherry seed
88
a crying window
hides lawn half green half yellow
and the fireplace burps
89
if the professor
should see on my manuscript
these pinochle scores
90
without the black oaks
even the bits of yellow
leave birch only gray
91
weekend warriors
grip ancient weapons and charge
to their fishhouses
92
white mounds below --
lonely traffic light only
blinks at all the snow
93
maple red birch white
sparkle of two bayonets
in the moon's round eye
94
sleet spits on the door
each bit splits its leader
to become a shriek
95
frost-feathered footprints
stand silent by the window
beneath my white breath
96
for five butterflies
and ten tired toes such spring
in this buttercup
97
bedroom window crack
over a mound of spilled hair
is the brightest star
98
silence in the aisles
liquid light leaps from windows
so gray from outside
99
snow swirls chase the cat
clock clucks at coffee clutter
even the car growls
100
quilt-tucked court can't know
that sunrise-blinded white-haired
court lady weighs snow
101
by the dull green tree
tinsel-bright children grin and
rip careful wrappings
102
white bone in its teeth
snowplow beagles down the street
burying parked cars
103
tears still streak your face
when this lilac scent the earth
full apology
104
pen sleeps by the spoon
and in the alphabet soup
floats a haiku
105
toads chorus the moon
floating in the black slime
a white lily
106
chipmunk streaks concrete
those who walked my old sun porch
were not so skittish
107
a tap at the door
two clicks two words no need for
wine blooms red brandy
108
black cat purrs over
his share of rare fried liver
morning mail brought pay
109
goldfish burn the pond
nearby in the rock garden
old snapper snores sun
110
how white paint peels now
but in weed-tangled lilacs
newborn robins peep
111
food floats twice daily
but by chomping old goldfish
tetra's severed head
112
it even curtsies
to Handel on lawn speakers
pink crabapple tree
113
crabapple and plum --
such flirting in the garden
for the single moon
114
Vega : lyre star
lies in a crabapple bough
lady by Renoir
115
catnip mouse and more
wind whistles at the window
cat meows at the door
116
wind in the cornfield
Boy Scouts watch for a signal
wiggling scarecrows
117
full moon scrubs the snow
last leaf flutters from the oak
see the old year go
118
black boughs clutch the moon
beagle howls out the old year
I lift wine alone
119
shoreline dogfight sings
red tracers spit the sky from
helicopter wings
120
fans of black branches
burst out with swirls of orange smoke --
panicky sunrise
121
such soot on this snow
even if sweeping storms miss
spring will make it go
122
light to light awake
turning world has got the lake
poured into the sky
123
in the old bronze bell
a swallow feeds gaping mouths
while steel tolls these halls
124
this sideblown snowstorm --
Sherman's statue is charging
on and on and on
125
Japan's temple bells
all covered with butterflies --
New York's iron clanks
126
brown leaves by my door
and only the tulip's dew
to shave my stubble
127
dew-white willows wilt
lilies float the liquid lights
walleye breaks my line
128
from shower and shave
to the dew on these lilacs
that's why my wide eyes
129
ink-fresh catalog
and the curled white wood chip smell
share the wastebasket
130
guests took a rain check
today the bumblebees drone
scattering petals
131
rain crashed the party
dripping, we watch pink petals
patter in the grass
132
even tall steeples
are swaddled in sleeping silks
city's golden smog
133
July's fireworks fade
stars winking white and yellow
moved a bit from May
134
single weatherstrip
blocks all the shoreline beacons
unless I will stoop
135
radio static
crashes the weather report
cat sits in my lap
136
road through the lilacs
he leans on his shovel, sighs
with iguana eyes
137
such a small berry
from this big tiger-lily --
bright green chrysalis
138
and what have you done
with my only fishing grub
tiger swallowtail?
139
sulking, iguana?
because your flower flew off
or you're color blind?
140
big tiger-lily
from such a tiny seed pod
broken chrysalis
141
what is so special
that today you present me
eighty blooms, iris?
142
coffee hot, bread cut
south wind
rides the porch swing
143
the coffee is cold --
we stood on tiptoe to see
the peeping porch swing
144
what's that on your thumb?
sparrow, did I wait too long
sniffing at the plum?
145
only her black cat
waiting for the winter wind
to brush the swingseat
146
on the windowscreen
even the porchlight gargoyles
back at Hallow'een
147
wind plays bass chimney
for my winter concert
the fire wisecrackles
148
the first storm smashed them
but there on the eaves winter
gave back my wind chimes
149
on the smooth white lawn
the moon still watches me through
pink crabapple blooms
150
children squeal yellow
on azure cool : what color
will leaves be this fall?
151
guppy grubs in the
ten-gallon aquarium --
infinite pebbles
152
grass over shell holes
new trees green the flowing fog --
why does my heart grunt?
153
rain-rippled windows
blend graying green iris stalks
with reds and yellows
154
lake rolls its long legs
hurls from the lace-trimmed blanket
a bright blue crayfish
155
tanks clank on T.V.
while children watch each other
and the last cookie
156
bluejay's golden perch --
for minutes even he is
silent in the birch
157
magic box enshrined :
"Mister Dillon, wait fer me!"
schoolbooks left behind
158
gray November days
bright Dorian Orion
maybe Simon Says
159
over night's wet leaves
move the the hungry, staring moons
of the hunting cat
160
my hand's hard atoms
report cat solidity
forgetting spaces
161
cat's long appetite
on short legs from the far floor
has reached the table
162
squirrels hibernate
cat keeps the couch from flying
until the next plate
163
such big eyes you have
round behind your mother's ear
black crook-necked kitten
164
by the curving blade
winter left along the shore
mallards duck for food
165
star streaks past the club
winks out beside Procyon --
strike one, Orion!
166
swamp gas on the breeze
he throws ducks his picnic crumbs
belches beer and cheese
167
cement-gray head bent
he squints the red brick topcourse
and leaves his thumbprint
168
but just a parade --
on the flag a butterfly's
wings folded in shade
169
ice booms on the lake --
but in the chimney's whistle
listen to it clink
170
ear's ancient trouble --
discerning Dostoevsky
through children's babble
171
the winter country
where snow insulates the roofs
above closed shutters
172
the taste of tension :
red ink written in red light
the fourth dimension
173
sunset and the rose --
robin dozes on a branch
sight split by his nose
174
moon silvers a cloud --
the frogs must burst their bellies
from clapping aloud
175
this jacket is old
but winter is so certain
I welcome the cold
176
this jacket is old
but spring is very certain --
I welcome the cold
177
head nods, fire recedes
with no cat curled at the hearth
he sits up and reads
178
the night before spring :
over black script of rivers
geese go studying
179
when snow's all but won :
beaks shooting the northern stars
geese in echelon
180
birch by wheat windrows :
the whole gold of October
curls up in my nose
181
goose had a notion --
now under wide whistling wings
pacific ocean
182
pictures on the screen :
while they make the children laugh
hear the chimney keen
183
the family stares
meeting on this mothers' day :
youngest son's gray hairs
184
fireworks white flares
moon above them, moon below
these two are not theirs
185
roof stains the bedroll
but here is another
oyster in the bowl
186
dew gray on the grass
feet soft set, steps high, and yet
footprints where I pass
187
woodfire and chatter
watching the black bulk of ducks
stand on the water
188
clear reflected grin
in gloss black beyond the rough
here where ice is thin
189
empty winter night
barrelstove and Coleman lamp
fill the room with light
190
ring around the moon
sudden ice lashes the sash
ring of cups and spoon
191
how did the acorn
call catkins from midnight ice
sudden as popcorn?
192
broom to wall to broom
spider tries straw and straw and --
nose in the crab blooms!
193
all the world to choose
and October plays
in /my/ nose!
194
gossip his days or sell
my saber sings he lived
and very well
195
solstice : to have known
that when with memories
I was alone
196
lilacs, owl, and moon
and she is drinking Gallo
all alone
197
biscuits, beans, and malt --
that she'll not make them sing
is not my fault
198
friend : who begs me sing
to damn another's eyes
that saw this thing?
199
granite steeple :
hush, listen to the hail hush
on grain and people
200
cricket, say this thing :
does singling stumble?
or does stumbling sing?
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-