[untitled]

Ball pumped, shinguards on

New cleats will wear brown and green

Snow's gone, soccer's now.

Daffodils

Yellow pops at tips 

of green stalks in a green sea, 

unphased by late snow.

Chickadee Is First (Gogyohka but a titled one)

An empty feeder

is a lonely place it's true.

Eager beaks await

the man who fills with new seed.

Chips and chirps and calls

explode from the trees and ground. 

He's finally done!

But Chickadees come back first.

They will always come back first.

A Phish Tale (comparing syllabic vs phonemic counts in English versions of Japanese poem forms)

Disclaimer: I am not an expert in this or poetry in general. I just ponder and play a lot.

I was reading some of Enta Kasakabe's book on the Gogyohka 5-Line poetry form that he defined in 1983.  He, like others before him, was describing the difference between Japanese sound units, used in forms like Haiku and Tanka, and Engling syllables. That got me wondering if English Phonemes would be a closer match. I thought I'd give it a try. Phonemic counting instead of syllables is more difficult but shorter which is both good and bad I guess. Here is a Haiku done both ways.

Phonemic  

The phish

hook's set

No cash

The phonemic breakdown is as follows.

Th/e ph/i/sh

h/oo/k/'s s/e/t

N/o c/a/sh

Syllabic  

The phish took the bait

The scammer's hook has been set

No cash left for phish.

The syllabic breakdown is as follows.

The/ phish/ took/ the/ bait/

The/ scam/mer's/ hook/ has/ been/ set/

No/ cash/ left/ for/ phish/.

Tacos, Tacos

to the tune of Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star

Tacos, Tacos, hot and crisp.

How I want you on my lips

Crunched by teeth passed over gums

Look out stomach here they come

Tacos, tacos, hot and crisp.

How I want you on my lips.

A Deep Read of the Wind

Initially published on Hello Poetry in 2012. Reposted and slightly warmed over here in 2023.

When the warm summer breeze
blows from sea to sand
and gently caresses your face
while you stand on the dunes
its breath overflowing
with the scent of the ocean
do you simply enjoy its caress?
or
Do you ponder the individual molecules?
The atoms?
The updrafts?
The sun's rays?
The spin of the earth on its axis?
Where the wind came from?
Where it is going?

Or do you, like I
simply close your eyes
breathe deeply
and enjoy the moment?

River Flows

Published initially on Hello Poetry in 2012. Slightly edited in 2023.

A river runs as rivers run
Just where it wants to go
You can build a dam
Canal or trench
But you cannot stop the flow

And if divert it you succeed
by cutting route through stone
there will remain a trace
of where it's been

and the truth of course be known

Tree Song

Small

Swim

Hop, Hop

See the tree

Sticky toes help climb

Once up high, time to sing all night.

Eek

No legs

A forked tongue smells

Lives in woods, deserts, and seas

They come from eggs laid by their mother

Scare me

Written in 3 minutes, I know it shows, to explain Cinquain to two 2nd Grade boys in my class. Being 2nd Grade boys I felt that a reptile would be a good subject.

Cardinal

The Cardinal bird is quite showy

It really stands out when it's snowy

Though the female's not red

There's a touch on her head

It's really a sight when it's blowy

Chickadee

You are not large

you're kind of small

for a hawk you'd be no meal at all

perhaps that's why

when feeder's filled

you're the first

back where the seed has spilled

before the Jay

before the sparrow

before woodpecker

with beak long and narrow

among the birds

you stand quite tall

as it appears

you've no fear at all.

20 1st Ave

I am 20 1st Avenue
Just as I am also St. Albans Drive
Old Stamford Road
Whitney Avenue
and a little Albermarle

But 20 1st Avenue is where I learned
How to make snow forts, big ones
and pillow forts that filled a living room

It's where I saw that if you plant a little tree
and hang around long enough
that you will have a great big tree
that drops black walnuts
So that you can caution your kids kids
that the walnuts can turn your skin black if you're not careful

It's where I learned what a Woolworths was
and that they sold plastic army men
with mortars, radios and M16s
by the bag for a dollar
nobody wanted the mortar or radio guy

Its where I learned what a honest to God toy store was
and because of that,
who Mr. Potato Head was.

It's where I learned about nuts
still in shells
and how to open them
with a crank nutcracker
or a little hammer
and how to get the meat out
with a lobster pick.

But most of all I learned
what a grandma was
that old people could be great fun
that they knew cool stuff
that they might allow you to do things your parents wouldn't
and that they could keep secrets
then finally
that they weren't forever
but their shadows in your life
were.