no more
indian summer —
morning fog horn
#haiku
sleeping in
sleeping in —
our bed quakes with
the dreaming dog
#haiku
sunday open house
sunday open house
the resident cat
bolts over the fence
#haiku
high-tech office
high-tech office
in silicon valley —
ants crossing my desk
#haiku #siliconvalley
2:17 AM
2:17 AM
the dog sneaks back
onto the bed
Homage to Carlos “Haiku Elvis” Colon
Last night at the Pandemonium Press Day of the Dead reading, I finished my slot with some of Carlos “Haiku Elvis” Colon’s poetry as a memorial. Carlos passed away suddenly this past Sunday.
Here’s the video. The homage comes at the very end.
An Embarrassment of Riches
On July 16, 2016, I was scheduled to read at the annual Beast Crawl, a lit crawl event that spans three hours and dozens of venues in downtown Oakland. I was to read at the Bay Area Generations event alongside Clive Matson, a magnificent poet whom I’ve know for thirty years.
Sadly, my health prevented me from attending — an expected 4-day hospital stay for surgery turned in an 18-day, complications-fueled ordeal — and I had to bow out. A good friend of mine, and no slouch at writing himself, Vince Donovan, read my work for me.
Shortly afterward, I began receiving mysterious postcards in the mail. The graphic side all had a “Thank You” theme, and the different senders all composed haiku or positive messages on the back. I was mystified. Who were these people? How did they get my address?
I finally learned that Amos White, a friend and fellow haiku poet, had handed out these postcards at the Beast Crawl event, encouraging attendees to send me haiku.
How wonderful is that? The photo shows the first fourteen I received. A couple more have trickled in since, and I think more are still to come.
Amos, Vince, Clive… You guys are the best. This is friendship. This is community.
last week’s flowers
last week’s flowers —
half a dozen white petals
floating in my coffee
