Haiku III


by Dennis M. Hammes







SCRAWLMARK PUBLISHING

Moorhead, Minnesota

The FISHHOOK Group


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                         Haiku III
      
                     Copyright ©2000
              by FISHHOOK and Dennis M. Hammes
                    All rights reserved.
      
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       graphics, and attendant files), may be copied 
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              Scrawlmark Catalog #haiku3.html
                           ISBN:
                       LCC Cat. Nr.:
      
      
      
      
      
                   Scrawlmark Publishing
                  1016 South Third Street
               Moorhead, Minnesota 56560-3355


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                         for Janell
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
     To feel beauty is a better thing than to understand
 how we come to feel it.
                                     -- George Santayana
      

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            401
  
  three-foot maple tree
   one sparrow singing
    from it to me
  
  
            402
  
  Saturday
   and little clouds
    come out to play
  
  
            403
  
  what god can bless
   like one small box
    from UPS
  
  
            404
  
  black bra on the line
   oh
    wicked design
  
  
            405
  
  small black putz
   white rabbit mouse
    a triple lutz
  
  
            406
  
  cool maple city
   white popcorn clouds
    black window kitty
  
  
            407
  
  what withdrew
   if plastic keeps
    Casadesus
  
  
            408
  
  record bands
   Haebler's Chopin
    withered hands
  
  
            409
  
  soggy breeze
   empty screen
    lettered keys
  
  
            410
  
  one star woven
   in pink city clouds
    Beethoven
  
            411
  
  garden with crows
   sweat-hot tee-shirt
    poems in prose
  
  
            412
  
  yardful of crows
   skateboards in streets
    before snow blows
  
  
            413
  
  white diapers in rows
   red Saturday truck
    green yardful of crows
  
  
            414
  
  kitty on the stoop
   violets in the sidewalk
    salt in the bean soup
  
  
            415
  
  poetry group
   traffic arguments
    no salt for the soup
  
  
            416
  
  scout troop
   rolling tents
    the crows regroup
  
  
            417
  
  crows on the harrow
   the nodding dandelions
    emit a sparrow
  
  
            418
  
  what can convince
   eternal moon
    footprints
  
  
            419
  
  midnight wish
   one gray footprint
    lungfish
  
  
            420
  
  here is brain
   and here is Kitty
    after rain
  
            421
  
  your breasts will pardon
   my inattention --
    crows in the garden
  
  
            422
  
  one little yawn
   when you arrived
    dragonfly was gone
  
  
            423
  
  how does one
   even so-large dragonfly
    carry the sun
  
  
            424
  
  sunset, porch, cheetos
   burning dragonflies
    crisp mosquitoes
  
  
            425
  
  where is the fox
   oh big-eyed kitty
    in a box
  
  
            426
  
  long kitty
   beyond the screen
    only the city
  
  
            427
  
  yellow tureen
   lingering tomato
    parsley so green
  
  
            428
  
  see mallards playing
   "webbed feet for swimming
    or for sleighing"
  
  
            429
  
  still eye so bright
   orange-breasted statue
    explodes with flight
  
  
            430
  
  crabgrass, weeds
   long, tan stalks
    delphinium seeds
  
  
            431
  
  hot, gray, and it's
   starting to rain
    in my pits
  
  
            432
  
  a web to guide her
   pole transformer
    spider
  
  
            433
  
  kitty at the pane
   staring
    at the rain
  
  
            434
  
  who is tutor
   when I write
    for my computer
  
  
            435
  
  in this chopper
   I am also
    grasshopper
  
  
            436
  
  flag stuck to pole
   ripple chips
    glued to bowl
  
  
            437
  
  walk's end
   mottled moon
    only friend
  
  
            438
  
  definite moon
   silvers clouds
    too soon
  
  
            439
  
  what to give
   for a treehouse
    where hope might live
  
  
            440
  
  hut in a tree
   but what there is
    to see
  
  
            441
  
  from fans of ash
   red berries peek
    and still too brash
  
  
            442
  
  on my desk
   this black lump
    no pesk
  
  
            443
  
  with what begin
   Tchaikowsky D
    this violin
  
  
            444
  
  what fox
   black kitty
    in box
  
  
            445
  
  you carry the sky
   with even these wings
    blue dragonfly
  
  
            446
  
  do I
   want a sapphire
    blue dragonfly
  
  
            447
  
  whatcha spyin'
   o my library
    lion
  
  
            448
  
  poor Friskies goop
   here Kitty waits
    to lick my soup
  
  
            449
  
  craters dropped askanse
   if raindrops hit the moon
    would they grow ants
  
  
            450
  
  sparrow's seed
   my little flower
    please -- which is "weed"?
  
  
            451
  
  how gray the rain
   how green
    the grain
  
  
            452
  
  what tricks
   Monarchs play my alley
    and only six
  
  
            453
  
  Monarchs put cricks
   in my too-citied neck
    and only six
  
  
            454
  
  dead cat
   Lazarused by my voice
    imagine that
  
  
            455
  
  my mouth agape
   attacked by a wild
    grape
  
  
            456
  
  such a day
   even that flower
    flew away
  
  
            457
  
  you blab at random
   while even dragonflies
    are tandem
  
  
            458
  
  such a sheen
   even in shadow
    blackbird's green
  
  
            459
  
  red squirrel's bouquet
   explodes from bulging cheeks
    maple seeds today
  
  
            460
  
  blackbird cliques
   disparage my brown garden
    window kitty squeaks
  
  
            461
  
  siren blowing?
   are crows policing
    or police crowing?
  
  
            462
  
  first frosted night
   and yet this afternoon
    one bent orange kite
  
  
            463
  
  how drift like smoke
   in such a heavy color
    mourning cloak
  
  
            464
  
  busy squirrels
   who has put away
    all the girls
  
  
            465
  
  black cat
   in all the yellow leaves
    imagine that
  
  
            466
  
  am I that old
   or is this bicycle seat
    really that cold
  
  
            467
  
  my unraked yard
   one squirrel
    on guard
  
  
            468
  
  window fog
   begins the winter
    catalog
  
  
            469
  
  November doubts
   about the winter --
    iris sprouts
  
  
            470
  
  orange yawning gaps
   wink and settle
    into naps
  
  
            471
  
  Claire de Lune
   twin perigees or gods
    make all that moon
  
  
            472
  
  was not so bright
   in thirteen decades
    but still night
  
  
            473
  
  aliens -- got 'em
   earth is 260
    from the bottom
  
  
            474
  
  age: ability
   to see the world we want to --
    what "senility"?
  
  
            475
  
  earth whirls while sun stares
   man names motion "time," sits still
    all ages -- who cares?
  
  
            476
  
  slippers, cat, pinot,
   but hanging up is walking
    home in the snow
  
  
            477
  
  shaded river race
   my camera fails
    this heat, that space
  
  
            478
  
  this icicle felt
   atomic fire, those colors
    did not even melt
  
  
            479
  
  icicle and moon
   and they will take themselves down
    long before June
  
  
            480
  
  one finger of light
   this Christmas decoration
    does not wait for night
  
  
            481
  
  oyster stew
   one small gray photo
    my father too
  
  
            482
  
  long curl from this board
   but my father's dress
    was also a sword
  
  
            483
  
  musty gunny sack
   Dad used to carry oats
    I put it back
  
  
            484
  
  scattered snowsuits
   my father's records
    your children's boots
  
  
            485
  
  scars lived to see
   your daughter give my sword
    to enemy
  
  
            486
  
  why back so soon
   to pen and cigarette
    from the full moon
  
  
            487
  
  reeds tan and dry
   and one shiny
    brown dragonfly
  
  
            488
  
  though having the sky
   even the sun throws jewels
    blue dragonfly
  
  
            489
  
  lightning scrawling
   even the rain
    stops falling
  
  
            490
  
  why did I come back
   your friends in my living room
    two moons by the track
  
  
            491
  
  simply explained
   warm goodbye
    cold plane
  
  
            492
  
  warm chair still
   warm coffee
    cold chill
  
  
            493
  
  cold sill
   warm coffee
    warm chair still
  
  
            494
  
  warm tub
   and then
    how we rub
  
  
            495
  
  sparrow leader?
   took three weeks
    to find the feeder
  
  
            496
  
  almost September
   and look
    at the number
  
  
            497
  
  don't understand
   lose sword
    to save hand
  
  
            498
  
  have pen
   no sword
    since when
  
  
            499
  
  we three match
   all bets
    guggle to zatch
  
  
            500
  
  saved for five hundred
   what else but
    five hundred
  
  
            501
  
  browning page
   breast-hitting-palm
    smack
  
  
            502
  
  wounded butterfly
   back and forth across the page
    seventeen blobs dry
  
  
            503
  
  extra plate
   rain turns to sleet
    fire dies in the grate
  
  
            504
  
  gray predawn
   meadowlark announces
    you crossing my lawn
  
  
            505
  
  such a chore
   to find my shorts this morning
    lace on the floor
  
  
            506
  
  crisp cheese tostada
   Moorhead, Minnesota
    or Granada
  
  
            507
  
  Achilles, Hector
   biting the dust again from
    the Snack Inspector
  
  
            508
  
  Odysseus home
   so much to do
    before the poem
  
  
            509
  
  from the broken cane
   bragging crows swagger the town
    only wants a brain
  
  
            510
  
  such imprecision
   I'm on the field already
    Arjuna's Vision
  
  
            511
  
  rose exudes fluid
   proving vegetable love
    to bee and Druid
  
  
            512
  
  I pulled the great bow
   and still the children voted
    the way of the crow
  
  
            513
  
  some six peck and bull
   then a minute for each seed
    feeder still half full
  
  
            514
  
  this wolf at my door
   has a collar and a tag
    and wants even more
  
  
            515
  
  Great Bear
   dozing through the snow
    in My Chair
  
  
            516
  
  see Judge Rhenquist show
   a bit more gold braid each day
    time to pull the bow
  
  
            517
  
  flies swagger the house
   Kitty is a small black lump
    dreaming of a mouse
  
  
            518
  
  Indian giver
   five days' rain and the lilac
    scenting the river
  
  
            519
  
  yards and yards of words
   and only peanut butter
    in the baby turds
  
  
            520
  
  oh, yes, that is that
   children vote to get the bell
    and that there's no cat
  
  
            521
  
  three hundred years flat
   still wear the same satori
    not a bad frog splat
  
  
            522
  
  old moon
   and your yelp
    that we're doin'
  
  
            523
  
  two moons
   and we
    two spoons
  
  
            524
  
  tree tented white
   how could worms crawl
    to such a height
  
  
            525
  
  ask the wind
   which blossom
    it will spend
  
  
            526
  
  everything brown
   but here are cattails
    now I live in town
  
  
            527
  
  me
   wreath
    bee
  
  
            528
  
  October moon
   sound of
    cocoa spoon
  
  
            529
  
  school bell
   only makes
    crickets yell
  
  
            530
  
  fish in June
   cannot touch
    either moon
  
  
            531
  
  answers the sky
   by being all wing
    blue butterfly
  
  
            532
  
  two moons
   fish smack
    two moons
  
  
            533
  
  snow squeaks below
   a world of snow
    my legs though
  
  
            534
  
  half past three
   candle and pencil
    company
  
  
            535
  
  second hand creeps
   over an empty page
    even Kitty sleeps
  
  
            536
  
  sword rack
   only the poems
    come back
  
  
            537
  
  so much to do
   my eyes
    play with you
  
  
            538
  
  lilac today
   and the bell
    calls you away
  
  
            539
  
  old boards
   fresh curls
    three swords
  
  
            540
  
  sword
   bouquet of peonies
    accord
  
  
            541
  
  Kitty saw
   toys through the screen
    now tongue to paw
  
  
            542
  
  all this bog
    whose yelling left
     this little green frog
  
  
            543
  
  stone of deeds
   why do we
    stand in weeds
  
  
            544
  
  butterfly afield
   all the freedom of the sky
    -- windshield
  
  
            545
  
  July pours
   even the worms
    come indoors
  
  
            546
  
  winter so soon?
   north wind
    plum blossoms and moon
  
  
            547
  
  red, yellow and gall
   and having done
    leaves fall
  
  
            548
  
  tulip, leaping bass
   you in the leaves, then snow
    see the quick year pass
  
  
            549
  
  carpet of plum, moon,
   bass bellies, mushrooms, and snow
    all over so soon
  
  
            550
  
  meadowlark
   seven, seven, seven
    dark
  
  
            551
  
  meadowlark so far
   from sky-blue morning glories
    and how deep they are
  
  
            552
  
  luna and lace
   deeper sensation
    farther from grace
  
  
            553
  
  lace-cupped spouse
   rust on the sabre
    cricket in the house
  
  
            554
  
  peony shatters
   I sweep it up, then back to
    books in tatters
  
  
            555
  
  they light candles to
   a statue who cannot read
    now hard beans, too
  
  
            556
  
  h + w
   and which is
    seeing you
  
  
            557
  
  September sleep
   iris and poems
    will keep
  
  
            558
  
  red, yellow, and all
   October and October
    leaves still fall
  
  
            559
  
  old pond
   Basho-jump-in
    water-sound
  
  
            560
  
  old pond
   one-hand-
    clapping sound
  
  
            561
  
  old pond
   throwing-you-in
    water-sound
  
  
            562
  
  how lucky leaves are
   to be so red and fall --
    next year's calendar
  
  
            563
  
  your sandals
   on the porch
    two candles
  
  
            564
  
  sore feet
   my lawn
    windrows of wheat
  
  
            565
  
  what gall!
   nine years
    still a wall
  
  
            566
  
  nine years, oh, well
   rose to watch the moon
    wall fell
  
  
            567
  
  moonlight lingers
   without a moon
    white birch fingers
  
  
            568
  
  bicycle track
   only the wind
    holding me back
  
  
            569
  
  two bits my seat
   and stained glass
    to draw the heat
  
  
            570
  
  two bits in the box
   and all the day's glare and heat
    seeps into the rocks
  
  
            571
  
  these scrap boards
   above the lake
    the hordes
  
  
            572
  
  so far to see
   scrap lumber
    squirrels' company
  
  
            573
  
  some carpentry
   Norway's shade
    squirrels' company
  
  
            574
  
  and was it my loss
   lilac returned to the branch
    spring rain on the moss
  
  
            575
  
  and what did I lose
   when plums flew back to the branch
    spring rain does not choose
  
  
            576
  
  and what is the use
   the lost blossom has returned
    another excuse
  
  
            577
  
  old moon
   another lilac week
    has turned to June
  
  
            578
  
  who barks at a dog
   for barking at a finger
    moon and hollow log
  
  
            579
  
  full moon
   lilac week
    record's tune
  
  
            580
  
  born again stupid
   so I can
    believe in Cupid
  
  
            581
  
  this June
   even the birch
    bark at the moon
  
  
            582
  
  midnight loon
   weathercock crowing
    at the moon
  
  
            583
  
  old pond
   poet jumps in
    without a sound
  
  
            584
  
  same old math
   to any place
    one path
  
  
            585
  
  baby's "face"
   many paths
    one place
  
  
            586
  
  fire in grain
   water in fire
    fire in rain
  
  
            587
  
  one grain of wheat
   universe to drink
    world to eat
  
  
            588
  
  since when
   did Confucius
    know Zen
  
  
            589
  
  this is accord
   don't ask me
    ask your sword
  
  
            590
  
  baby gives pee
   cow gives milk
    water -- see
  
  
            591
  
  leaning the same gate
   what color the irises
    debate debate
  
  
            592
  
  judgment and law
   condemn the world
    crow caw
  
  
            593
  
  just sit
   grass grows
    covers it
  
  
            594
  
  do zazen
   or not enough ground
    to do zazen
  
  
            595
  
  master in the street
   use no words, use no silence
    just use your feet
  
  
            596
  
  sitting quietly there
   grass growing by itself
    sparrows in the hair
  
  
            597
  
  the old pine tree speaks
   the Lama's a baby
    the cricket squeaks
  
  
  
            598
  
  will learn faster
   what I hear, what I see
    will ask the Master
  
  
            599
  
  the water after
   the water before flowing
    down my rafter
  
  
            600
  
  sitting
   ants running
    worms shitting
  


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