Wade’s 101: Haiku retrospective 47
By Wade Kwon[Share on Twitter]
- the south shall fall again
Why start a second
civil war when we never
finished the first one? - sun strokes
It is too hot to
work, to hike, to drive, to sleep,
to dine, to endure. - less fun phone games
How long will 7
percent battery last? How
bad is the screen cracked? - gusts of nothing
They may huff and puff
and blow your house down, but they
still can’t get to you. - they plot, fear not
Homophones and a
gang of unslanted rhymes hatched
their grand rhyming scheme. - nature’s disown
The drowning frog does
not ask why, but curses the
scorpion to death. - bands and brands
Jefferson Airplane,
Jefferson Starship, Starship,
and next version, Tar. - peanut gallery 2.0
Wander into the
comments online and find the
worst, best among us. - blessed are the pedestrians
The savior is on
his way, requests you park in
designated lots. - another word for
When the poem runs
just one syllable too long:
Thank you, thesaurus. - the problem auteur
Singular vision
coupled with outdated views
on equality. - hyporationality
Logic and reason
aren’t the right weapons in a
modern tête-à -tête. - festival foe
Lightning struck without
hitting anything, sending
fans to seek shelter. - my drone army
My drone army brings
pizza, spies on neighbors, fights
sparrows, drops flyers. - the empty conveyances
Buses run a few
routes, an hour behind and
sometimes broken down. - the current
Sedated patient
receives small jolt to shock her
out of depression. - paparazzi safari
Always shoot giraffes
in portrait mode because it
makes them look slimmer. - bless your countings
Humility can
be one of the greatest traits
hidden inside us. - blinded by the humidity
Escaping the ice
cold interior to a
foggy glasses world. - partial to cloudy
I’ve fallen in love
with the sky and her wondrous
ever-changing moods. - how much flair for a mcbot
The kiosk never
said hi or made eye contact,
just took meal orders. - gustatory grid
He took his dining
seriously, charting strengths,
specialties and price. - the acquisition
A have not having
is a blessing in the form
of pure gratitude. - too many apples, too many days
Take vitamins A
through Z with a dose of in-
essential oil. - murphy’s tribe
The baseball legend
reveled in his family,
always at home plate. - as seen onscreen
Documentaries
revel in small details that
happen to be true. - off to never never land
Nightmare fuel is made
of spiders, shadows and loud
noises from nowhere. - renal field trip
She gave away a
spare kidney to save a sick
stranger from demise. - and ice cream and curtains
Sometimes, summer is
about hiding inside with
AC and cold drank. - infinitesimal progress
The very first step
is always the hardest and
often not taken. - shortcomings of a scribe
The writer looks on
with disdain, not at others’
success, but his flops. - chokesperson
Meeting the press turned
into a PR nightmare
with no way to flee. - the untidy wind
A gentle breeze came
by to shuffle my papers
without permission. - bury me with the following books …
It’s less of a neat
reading list at this point and
more like a burden. - pep alley
We should line the streets
and mercilessly taunt kids
going back to school. - a shovelful of sugar
A stubborn psyche
can be conquered with sweets as
outright bribery. - meanwhile out west
A fire the size
of a city razes the
green world it touches. - barley containable
The only thing we
have to fear is gluten and
gluten foods … itself. - fifty years in a blink
The real surprise for
the birthday boy was that he
lived to that milestone. - the magic porch
Pens, notebooks and wine
fuel all-night songwriting on
real love and heartbreak. - and salad for dessert
Some potatoes, some
meat, a few glasses of wine.
bites of cheese and bread. - the plastic sea
We weave a giant
tapestry of discarded
bottles and torn bits. - sad songs in major keys
Spitting out words to
an upbeat melody with
a pasted-on smile. - spite club
When two assholes fight,
do we want one to win or
both to brawl to death? - mother aretha
The Queen of Soul calls
us home with her transcendent
voice and bold spirit. - popsicle race
To drink the frozen
fruity slab before the sun
demolishes it. - the first first day of school
Eyes bright with wonder,
backpack along for the ride,
the journey begins. - the last first day of school
Hesitation as
she hits the hallways of her
youth for one last time. - before another trip around the sun
Her special day runs
from breakfast in bed to a
night out on the town. - the broke barometer
The romance of deep
poverty sours before
the gallon of milk. - salty and delicious
? When the tears from their
eyes causes lots of sighs, that’s
white fragility … ? - unscheduled bacteria
But really, when is
a good time to get sick? Take
two breaths and rest up. - the interviewer’s credo
Carefully watch and
listen. Pause to draw them out.
Ask strong follow-ups. - an uncivil age
What is etiquette
when we take private moments
and share them online? - what passes for a society page these days
The only point of
a new restaurant is to
be seen at its launch. - several americas
Many sides to an
issue, mostly wrong, but voiced
with indignation. - dumb dump
A contagion of
stupid infects through toes and
slides up to the brain. - this just isn’t in
The headlines blare all
day long in a nonstop flood
of true awfulness. - dance the day away
Huckster hops around
with spinning sign and shouts of
chipper enticement. - to new moms
Before you know it,
he’ll zip into all kinds of
unsanctioned mischief. - demolish the character building
If I could do it
all over again, I’d
skip the lousy parts. - trickle-up economics
We toil fiercely
to line their coffers while we
can’t afford coffins. - joystick jockeys
The players wielded
their controllers like daggers
ready to slay forth. - newfound restraint
Nothing more satis-
fying than checking things off
of your to-don’t list. - they serve at the displeasure of the president
The loyalists staged
a coup of sorts, less bloody
and more financial. - provocation
The artist creates.
The public boos. The artist
works. The public boos. - the new customer service
Please hold, our bot will
be with you in just a few
moments to fail you. - the negligent wordsmith
Can poetry be
a collection of random
words together? Tin. - the front-of-house clique
They might get you a
menu, or they might just stay
in their knot of cool. - we once were allies
They stood by us on
our darkest day. We dropped them
to embrace evil. - an outbreak of hurricanes
Two to the east, one
to the south, another to
the west. Batten down. - a hurricane rhyme scheme
All forces at once.
A beautiful eerie calm.
All forces again. - the wordsmith
Putting care into
each line, each syllable till
each verse flows with ease. - the thousand-dollar soul stealer
I need a smartphone
with all the best features to
take countless selfies. - the disappearing drug store
Part-corporate drug
dealer, part-vending machine,
our lost five and dime. - the stoic’s guide to mourning
My cat died and I
ran over my right foot with
my lawnmower. Ow. - the art of comedy
Make ’em laugh, make ’em
think. Or make ’em squirm. Or just
make ’em pay up front. - ‘failed to comply’
The cop came to the
wrong apartment, gunned down the
tenant, life goes on. - reading, writing, revenge
She lined up the sight,
breathed in, squeezed the trigger. The
student/shooter … dead. - relatively amusing
The summer has come
and gone again like a fun,
beloved uncle. - information diet
I gorge on gossip
and tabloids with no room left
for current events. - the day the phone screen died
How many years’ bad
luck for smashing a little
black mirror to bits? - all summer in a fall
The autumn heat scorched
schoolkids and pumpkin patches
on a parched landscape. - aural retentive
The books talk to me
in a soft whisper, putting
musings into words. - undiagnosed hyperopia
Compassion is just
looking out beyond one’s nose
tip to some others. - early morning dim
The hum of the lone
Keurig promises a hot
cuppa for one soul. - green public enemy no. 1
Not big corporate
polluters. Not fossil fuel
cars. A drinking straw. - such spirit through the year
Revelers care now:
How many days till Christmas?
Screw bats and Pilgrims. - the resting roman
Fading white sheet with
delicate string and even
dowels all bunched up. - darkened hallways of commerce
The last of the mall
walkers rounded the corner
where stores once sold junk. - worth its weight in data
Snooping sites collect
our lives bit by bit, all for
the sake of commerce. - a bot ‘wrote’ this poem
quickly, ferryboat
recedes, coldhearted fleshy
scrawny knives snoring - how to watch many shows during peak tv
Picture in picture
in picture in picture in
picture in picture. - the game of monopoly
Limiting choices
and limiting freedom through
consolidation. - how to spend football saturday
The stores are empty.
The streets are full of empty.
The parks are empty. - hypochondriac’s progress
A tickle in the
throat becomes a cough, an ache,
a fever, a death. - i wanna rock and roll all night and part of every day
Even when we mis-
hear lyrics, they still have a
meaning so special. - tmi syndrome
An occasional
coughing fit, bleeding from
the eyes, mild hunger. - ziff! bam! veto!
“The West Wing” but in
comic book form, soon to be
a film and streamer. - the daily reminder
To exercise. To
pray. To look around. To be
nicer. To hang on. - the end times
We ran out of each
and every flavor of ice
cream except fat free.
• • •
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Sunday, October 14, 2018, 12:06 am
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