Wade’s 101: Haiku retrospective 50
By Wade Kwon- short play date
The pit scampered in
and made a beeline for the
comfortable couch. - three kinds of memory
Long-term fact storage.
Planning future strategy.
(I forgot the third.) - to swerve man
It is not enough
to feign disdain; let us dig
deep and feign action. - aging eyeballs
The letters became
blurrier and blurrier
till he switched contacts. - the asians you see on tv
Nerd, tech guy, awkward
loner, kung fu guy, but not
the love interest. - you never know how you’ll be judged
Height, weight, hairstyle, wealth,
credit score, car, breath, teeth, shoe
size, grammar, aura. - milky ways
Many dimensions,
but they’re all based on shades of
white, eggshell, ecru … - true hunger
Never being full
on water, ketchup soup and
ketchup sandwiches. - fair-feathered fiend
I kept an owl
to scare the mice and hoot hoot
around the house house. - yellow snow
Filing nails to a
fine powder, keratin falls
in a flesh blizzard. - murder none
Shoot whoever you
want, but be wealthy enough
to purchase justice. - huddled around the phone
The video plays.
We’re unable to stifle
ruptures of laughter. - disinterest rates
So many movies
to skip, so many people
to fully avoid. - even thieves need to recharge
The burglar stopped to
pet the cats and hunt through the
refrigerator. - colbert notion
The scrap of paper
spoke truth: “At every moment,
we are volunteers.“ - the worth of a woman
A living, breathing
birthing chamber who cannot
be trusted at all. - a candidate for every whim
Tall ones and short ones,
loud ones and quiet ones, lots
of ones in between. - looking at a bunch of objects in a museum
Art is a fancy
way of saying globs of paint
or hunks of boulder. - the newness wears off
Once the shine is gone,
what’s left but a decaying
mass of molecules? - a bargain at any price
Instant access to
all the world’s markets and yet
still so hard to choose. - clickwait
The newspaper found
out that women exist and
have strong opinions. - books on shiny platters
The narrator droned
on and on for another
35 CDs. - foamy devices
One of my hobbies
is to replace dead leaky
batteries too late. - a shell a day
Troves and troves of beach
treasures, piled in a bucket
to make necklaces. - beyond the tombstones
Their legacy is
freedom. Freedom to challenge
the powers that be. - the hottest on record
Sunny skies, sizzling
temps, a meltdown like no one
can ever reckon. - what little we can do
What little we can
do is more than all the words
that have been uttered. - an extra pair of glasses
Tiny type defies
bleary eyes, requires a
modest adjustment. - sniffing around
New territory,
new things to smell for canine
visitor off leash. - clear eyes
To be aware is
to go mad, to get mad, to
see the world as is. - loon on nineteenth street
He whipped his shirt off
and juggled water bottles
while spouting nonsense. - everything is history
We are caught looking
backwards as our lives spin out
in dubious ways. - phantoms of the night
On streets and sidewalks
they roam invisibly to
oncoming traffic. - my tenth grade english teacher’s rule
The plot is the least
important element in
any good novel. - great acceptations
To change the world, you
must first accept that nothing
is acceptable. - downpour on the rocks
At long last, the rain
soaks the parched earth badly
in need of a stiff drink. - hole moods
They stood in line a
block deep for a free doughnut
to brighten the day. - stupid smart
We are curious
creatures but also rigid
unlearned morons. - the long lost viking
Alone, he neither
pillaged nor plundered, content
to go reckoning. - life-or-death distinction
This verse ends not in
a graveyard but a field where
bodies are buried. - steps to dictatorship
Own the media.
Consolidate all power.
Don’t show force — use it. - equal under the skin
I can manage my
body. Why can’t women have
that autonomy? - the beach is alive
The ground undulates
beneath my burnt feet, lapped by
wave after sly wave. - the 5,000th haiku
I stand, not at the
summit, but at the small ridge
of a long ascent. - the small of it all
Baby dog? Puppy.
Baby kangaroo? Joey.
Baby man? Baby. - a mighty fall
Chainsaws carve up the
remains of a giant oak
into stubby logs. - sandwiches of times past
That perfect reuben
haunts my foodie dreams as I
starve with ham-on-why. - doorstep detente
Zealous dog wants to
meet the UPS driver
so very badly. - not quiet quiet
The chirping bugs, the
hum of the AC, the soft
rustle of the wind. - darkened windows, bad vibes
She wouldn’t enter
the strange cantina even
though her boyfriend would. - the #metoo era
Same old rapists, just
more visible, defiant
and traumatizing. - beepless for a while
The unmoored feeling
of discovering your phone
is nowhere nearby. - southern state of mind
Can’t be captured in
lame sweet tea homilies and
down home duncery. - invisible harmony
We see the pattern,
and it cannot be unseen.
From chaos, order. - a domestic dispute
Nothing to see here.
No frightened children, no wife
in overwrought tears. - the bills
The bills brought nothing
but continued frustration
at the bleeding purse. - summers past
Days unbound by mere
routine, freedom to explore,
to suck the marrow. - dystopian blues
No hope, no justice,
but at least our matching rags
look somewhat snazzy. - ebola offensive
Thousands infected
but only half survive the
pernicious outbreak. - our darkest thoughts
Running off the road.
Leaving a family behind.
Drinking to blackout. - christmas through the year
The wreath hangs on to
the door, greeting guests with an
unseasonal cheer. - low property taxes, unfriendly neighbors
We’ll build the house of
our dreams in Minecraft land, a
pixel paradise. - america the pitiful
Stop bombing countries.
Stop mass incarceration.
Stop blaming others. - fahrenheit 452
They took away our
books, not with a flamethrower
but with a click. Poof! - two old guys at the coffee shop
A busy morning
of arguing politics,
belief and football. - canine conundrum
It would be nice to
own a dog, but what if he’s
cleverer than me? - pizza design
A careful placement
of pepperoni, a dash
of sauce, piles of cheese. - cake obsession
I dream of cool eggs,
precise flour, some unstiff
butter, set to mix. - almost time for vacation
Look out the window.
Picture yourself on the beach.
Watch the clock not move. - smog snog
Nothing scares city
folk more than the prospect of
abundant fresh air. - ask the guru
How much life is the
right amount of life to be
lived and encountered? - songwriter’s rule
A perfect rhyme can
make you a liar in the
lyrics. Scrawl for truth. - the forced smile
An unnatural
raising of the mouth’s heavy
corners on demand. - refuge for the refugees
Lady Liberty
shoos away the tired, the
poor for worthy souls. - persistent advertising
The billboard chased me
down the street, blocking out the
sun, hawking its wares. - the divide
His psyche vs.
my psyche. Her truths vs.
their truths. Disconnect. - the balladeer
He strummed the guitar
with precision on even
the most minor chords. - out the windshield into the world
Gazing upon the
wondrous breadth of creation
from the driver’s seat. - we are the aliens
Two explorers land
on the desolate moonscape
to plant footprints, flag. - book exchange
She grabbed a paper-
back from the outdoor box and
left worn hardcovers. - half-staff
A salute to the
fallen, a brief reminder
of a sacrifice. - the verdant blanket
A soft carpet of
green teeming with cities of
ants marching to work. - smoke break
A seven-minute
grasp at the outside world while
the work continues. - a bar of your own
Cooler with the right
brews, TV with the ball game,
jukebox with the hits. - the merger
His couch, her bookshelves,
the rest to be stored in this
corporate takeover. - here we go gathering nuts in july
The skittering on
the roof by grey trespassers
sounds like a stampede. - the new girl
Old hands eyed the new
girl with a mixture of dulled
lust and mild disdain. - another skipped dinner
Home so late and straight
to bed, the belly rumbling,
the psyche sleepy. - dead on her feet
Her strangled tootsies
supported (barely) a tired
aching falling frame. - ambient symphony
Conversations and
cross talk blend into soothing
flowing melodies. - shhhhhhhh
The library is
especially noisy with
loud kids and adults. - if we just breathe
We do it without
thinking, yet we think we can
do it mindfully. - the stream
Everyone wants to
know what to watch next from the
tsunami of shows. - a consumerist plot
The budget goes out
the window when it comes to
impulsive buying. - there goes hair
The photo revealed
a balding head atop a
denying body. - the last days of summer
Back to school soon, but
still time to run free, goof off
and catch fireflies. - the modern traveler
Always connected,
always needing a charge and
sick of airport food. - millennial morass
Can’t catch a damn break.
Mired in debt. Stuck renting.
So misunderstood. - a beautiful day in the subway car
They serenaded
dear Mr. Rogers on the
line running uptown. - mature subject matter
You were once a child,
how easily you forget
your smaller stature. - improv lines
A robber hides out.
Yes, and he loses his loot.
Yes, and he finds love.
• • •
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