Monday, February 25, 2008

GLEAM OF GODS

When will this mortal coil
Of human earthly toil
D
E
S
C
E
N
D
Into the deep, dark soil?

Sunday, February 24, 2008

sAnTa MaRiA HAIKU


HeAvEnLy FLoWeRs
Santa Maria posa
MoNArCh BuTTeRfLy

Thursday, February 21, 2008

oN tHe BeAcH HAIKU


oN tHe BeAcH sOmE FoLk

StRoLL oN tHe WhiTe SuRf AnD tHe

sKy'S hAtChEd An EgG yOLk

Wednesday, February 20, 2008

THE BEAR THE ANT AND THE SEAL


The black bear
Likes to stare
Anywhere there
Are strawberries
And blackberries.

The red male ant
Is wont to pant at
Every
Cute female ant.

A seal
Likes to eat
Big, big feet
For
A meal.

Tuesday, February 19, 2008

REFLECTIONS #1 & #2

REFLECTIONS #1

When I hold this glass up to my face

And behold its age and its disgrace

In myself and the human race

I wonder when my life will end

And ponder how much I’ve sinned as

I drink my coffee

And conceive these words

In joyless glee.




REFLECTIONS #2

I hold a mirror to my face

And stare at age and its disgrace

In myself and the human race.

I wonder when my life will end.

I ponder just how much I've sinned.

I drink my coffee

And write down these words

Without felicity.

Monday, February 18, 2008

ImPaStO HAIKU


pOiNtiLiSt PiCtUrE

SeUrAt It'S NoT bUt It'S fAiR

ImPrEsSiOniSm

Sunday, February 17, 2008

Opiliones


Daddy-Long Legs aren't
Spiders nor biters
And their long-legged walk
Over there and here
Doesn't race the clock
Or show any fear.
With
Willowy
Stringy
Skinny
Limbs
Daddy
Long
Legs
Move

Their
Long
And
Lanky
Shins.



They seem to be everywhere: climbing over raspberry bushes and woodpiles, loping along woodland paths, or resting on cabin walls. With each trip outdoors we are likely to encounter these creatures that resemble split peas supported on eight long stilts. The gangly, fast-moving creatures are instantly recognized as daddy long-legs.
Although they resemble spiders, daddy long-legs, more correctly called harvestmen, are neither spiders nor insects. Taxonomically, they are arthropods, in the same class as spiders, Arachnida, but in a different order, Phalangida. Anatomically daddy long-legs differ from spiders because their three body segments -- head, thorax and abdomen, are joined as one compact body segment. Spiders have two body segments -- the head and thorax are joined as the cephalothorax, and the abdomen is the second body segment. Insects, which are taxonomically in the class Insecta, have three distinct body segments.
Let daddy long-legs crawl onto your hand. It won't bite and you probably won't even feel it unless its second pair of legs is gently touching and exploring your hand. Take a closer look. The tiny black dot on top of its body is a raised knob or tubercle with two minute black eyes peering out. The body supports six pairs of appendages, the chelicerae, pedipalps and four pairs of legs. The chelicerae or jaws, and the short leg-like pedipalps are used for sensing, capturing and holding food until it is eaten.
The daddy long-legs' most impressive feature is its four pairs of long slender legs, which may be up to 30 times as long as its body. Each leg has seven segments and curves out at the tip. If the daddy long-legs is in danger of being caught, it can break off a portion of its legs and then escape while the detached legs continue to quiver in front of a confounded predator. Daddy long-legs can grow new legs to replace the broken ones.
That’s not to diminish the value of those magnificent legs. They are so important that daddy long-legs spends considerable time fastidiously cleaning them. Each leg is gingerly held in its jaws and nibbled to clean the leg as it is carefully pulled through the chelicerae.
[http://www.wnrmag.com/stories/2000/jun00/daddy.htm]



Saturday, February 16, 2008

fRoStEd MoUnTaiN tOpS HAIKU


tHe FrAnKLiN mOuNtAiNs
SnOwY cOvErEd ALmOnD mOuNdS
fRoStEd MoUnTaiN tOpS


Wednesday, February 13, 2008

On Lice And Bears

Getting lice
In your hair
Isn't nice
Or quite fair---
But neither
Is scaring
A sleeping bear
Out of its safe
And velvet lair.

fLaMiNg TrEe PeTaLs HAIKU


fLaMiNg TrEe PeTaLs
dYiNg ReD LeAvEs So ALiVe
NoT aLL LeAvEs aRe BroWn

Sunday, February 10, 2008

RiVeR oF LiFe HAIKU


tHe RiVeR oF LiFe
CoUrSeS tHrOuGh TaLL tReEs Of StRiFe
InTo ThE sEa'S aRmS

Thursday, February 07, 2008

Lenten Poems #1 & #2


MiStY cAsCaDe WiTh
aNgEL aPpAriTiOnS gReEt
ThE FiRsT dAy Of LeNt

MiStY aNgELs StAnD
iN A wAtErFaLL aNd GrEeT
tHe FiRsT dAy Of LeNt

Sunday, February 03, 2008

sYnApTiC hEaDs HAIKU


LiKe HuMaN NeUrOnS
TrEeS bRaNcH oUt sYnApTiC hEaDs
BeNeAtH tHe WhiTe SkY

Saturday, February 02, 2008

TIME



I didn't sleep

I didn't snore

Inside

A house replete

With many feet

Spread out across

The living room floor.

I stayed inside a

Bathroom that was as

Yellow as the sun

And wrote poems ‘til

I thought I was done.

When the sleepy supine sleepers all awoke

Here is what to Jim the Space Cowboy I spoke:

"Jim", I said, "What time is it?"

He waved his hand

And asked me to follow him.

Jim the Space Cowboy took me to

The fridge and opened its white door;

Then he opened the freezer door

And took out an alarm clock that

He held in his hand.

Jim said:

“There is no time.

Time is frozen.”