Happy Valentine’s Day!
Sunday, February 14, 2021 by Wade Kwon
Video: “Amor Verdadero en Pueblo Textil
(True Love in Pueblo Textil)”
Happy Valentine’s Day, y’all! Two stories of falling in love …
Video: “StoryCorps: A Life, Complete”
The Birmingham channel: One wheel, four wheels, 18 wheels
Wednesday, February 10, 2021 by Wade Kwon
The Birmingham channel: It’s not even past
Wednesday, February 3, 2021 by Wade Kwon
The Birmingham channel: Once upon a pandemic
Thursday, January 28, 2021 by Wade Kwon
The Birmingham channel: Wheels up
Thursday, January 21, 2021 by Wade Kwon
The Birmingham channel: Holiday hangover
Wednesday, January 13, 2021 by Wade Kwon
The Birmingham channel: New year, new YouTube
Thursday, January 7, 2021 by Wade Kwon
Happy 2021!
Friday, January 1, 2021 by Wade Kwon
Photo: Formulanone (CC)
Happy New Year! Let’s hope 2021 is a whole lot better than this past crummy year.
The Birmingham channel: Never look back
Thursday, December 31, 2020 by Wade Kwon
Wade’s 101: Haiku retrospective 55
Monday, December 28, 2020 by Wade Kwon
- the joy of wearing stuff out
Each possession, bright
and sturdy, used and used and
used till broken down. - the very quiet foreign girls poetry group
Their broken English
made for elegant stanzas
of their existence. - having tea with the muse
Places are set for
two, she comes and goes (mostly
goes) as she pleases. - the wonder of autumn
Celebrate crunching
of the leaves, cooling of the
days, cups of cider. - something in the air
Health care’s finest are
sitting down to lunch while they’re
poisoning the room. - the wait for a vaccine
Racing for a cure,
taking all the shortcuts, most
of us won’t partake. - youtube and the alt-right
The endless stream wreaks
radicalization, from
recommendations. - the oldies
Those songs from that long
ago era when ancients
roamed the discotheques. - virtue wriggling
Don’t pretend Black Lives
Matter while treating your peers
and colleagues like dirt. - where to sit in a pandemic
The signs on every
other table say to stay
away. The rest? Fine! - to play ball
A pause from shooting
hoops, catching pop-ups, to fight
police violence. - dreaming of the harvest
Little seeds, big plans,
rows of hope and dirt-covered
jeans, come sun, come rain. - when crisis management needs crisis management
Forging safety for
a nation divided puts
us in more danger. - up-to-the-minute bad news
It’s never been more
fashionable to shoot the
messenger point blank. - a foreign policy built on human rights
Not to invade and
conquer, but to assist and
leave somewhat better. - one russian, one vote
Interference means
our picks don’t matter, our hopes
and voices poisoned. - play balls
Every sport all at
once, a smorgasbord and a
true fan’s worst nightmare. - it started today in 2005
I’ve written haiku
daily for 15 years and
don’t plan on stopping. - safety fatigue
Playing by the rules
sucks when everyone else does
whatever they want. - a library is more than just books
It’s readers, crafty
librarians, free-range kids
and random townsfolk. - the reading-is-contagious book club
The ladies, without
masks, piled into the living
room to gossip, gloat. - everything is coronavirus
Scratchy throat, a cough
(but only once in a while),
bleeding from the eyes. - ode to the post office
Sometimes surly, but
able to take my letter
for only four bits. - how people are voting
In person on time
or early, by mail or drop
box, hopeful, anxious. - halloween improvised
Bobbing for vaccines.
Trick or grab-and-go bagged treat.
Masks and nothing else. - web two-point-whoa
Doomscrolling on a
Wednesday night, watching all the
misery out there. - dujuan, far from home
Aboriginal
healer, just 10, struggled with
school and the system. - gasping for revenue
Every town scraping
by till we reopen it
all someday, some year. - ready to dream about bones
A pittie in his
PJs scampers to and fro,
comfy and happy. - ones, zeroes and solutions
We collect all this
data and ask it how we
should manage our lives. - witches and black cats, too
Carve a jack-o’-lan-
tern, put it in a mask. Hang
a skeleton. Same. - benched
A football team with
too many positives must
sit out the season. - a pandemic pickle
The restaurants are
too crowded and not crowded
enough to survive. - ruth bader ginsburg
She fought and fought and
fought for women to be all
treated equally. - death of a hard drive
Stop playing dead and
give me my files! Or else I’ll …
curl up on the floor. - why vote?
For democracy.
To choose our leaders. To stick
it to the Russians. - breonna taylor
In her apartment,
an innocent bystander
shot by cops six times. - reading as an immersion
I want to read with
my eyes, my ears, my fingers.
I want words to last. - our place in history
A corrupt regime
that we helped bring about while
resisting feebly. - he wouldn’t wear a mask
He wouldn’t wear a
mask, not to shop or browse, not
for him or for you. - little pupils, big caution
All day, they stayed in
the one classroom, but they were
together again. - life on venus
Microscopic cells
who enjoy a plush sauna
and full privacy. - trick or treatment
*doorbell* *temperature
check* *hand sanitizer* *tongs*
*drop candy* Repeat. - on-the-job inspiration
A posted sign: The
beatings will continue un-
til morale improves. - remote hazing
OMG what’s that
behind you?! Ha! Made you look.
(Please unmute yourself.) - vote early and often
The good people have
spoken early this year: They’ve
already voted. - every four years
The anxiety,
the held breath, the wait to see
victory or loss. - where were we?
Let’s get back to the
business of running and/or
ruining this land. - sean connery
A sub captain, a
spy and an Irish copper
walk into a bar … - tailgate in the driveway
Playing it safe by
grilling at home and saving
on the parking fees. - be kind to yourself
Treat yourself gently
as you would your best friend and
show yourself some love. - spare hurricane names
Unbreakable codes,
hieroglyphs, nail polish shades,
semaphores, Klingon. - it’s all uphill from here
A steady job, a
purpose in life … man, this dude
Sisyphus rocked it. - a national debt
When will we give them
the highest honor, keeping
them safe post-service? - a meme-based economy
Not by your wealth nor
the sweat of your brow but your
drolly captioned pics. - a tiktok economy
Dancing for likes, lip-
synching for views, being your
performative self. - the third wave
Restless for human
interaction, so tired
of hunkering down. - the heart of 2020
One crisis after
another and another
and another and … - a strange neighborhood
Walking past tidy
lawns and construction sites in
night’s semi-darkness. - the confrontation that wasn’t a confrontation
They demanded to
meet with her only to tell
her good job, sort of. - and a few misspelled words
Sending a text with
random punctuation % enh,
they’ll figure it out^ - cheers under a faltering light
They snuck glasses of
wine when parents weren’t watching
and drank to good times. - at least we still have power
Why does everything
break down after the checking
account is tapped out? - stylish strokes
Typographically
speaking, the best fonts convey
meaning in an “a.” - but would they let them drive?
Rule for astro-chimps:
They would not make the monkey
launch the dang rocket. - ultimate sins
Doctors: malpractice
suits, death. Priests: molesting kids.
Reporters: lying. - thankful for
The strength to survive
such an outrageous year while
faking sanity. - sweet sassy molassy
I hate when tweets end
with declarative bull. That’s
it. That’s the haiku. - pilgrims, indians and social distancing
Do not gather, but
give thanks for the good health that
makes it possible. - blackest friday
Jam the stores! This cruel
pandemic economy
needs sacrifices. - finding meaning in art if not the artist
The artist can be
an utter wanker, yet still
create works of art. - confessions of a trivia winner
Trust your gut. Keep an
eye on the competition.
Sometimes, take a guess. - waltzing autumnal
Twirl in the moonlight
surrounded by shadows deep
in the pumpkin patch. - gifts by the 23rd at the latest
The naughty list grew
so big this year that Santa
just needs a hatchback. - mr. privilege
Do what I want when
I want and let the rest of
the planet be damned. - old growth, new stump
A tree falls with help.
Men with their chainsaws carve it
into huge matchsticks. - cold snap
The house? Perfectly
comfortable 68.
Me? Shivering so. - madam vice president
Kamala, like a
breath of fresh air. Kamala,
let’s be inspired. - the roosting of our sins
Meeting up without
a mask. Flaunting our freedom.
Getting sick in droves. - about living in historical times
Has 2020
taught us anything? Are we
doomed to repeat it? - inclement no more
Snow comes and blankets
the roads, and antsy children
are stuck in Zoom school. - other casualties of the pandemic
Shopping local has
never been quicker since so
many stores have closed. - dark ages the sequel
Emerging from 4
years of smearing science and
setting up scapegoats. - autumn at ruffner
Up the mountain we
hiked. Down the mountain we sped.
All along we breathed. - stabilization
Her burden feels a
little lighter, her panic
starting to subside. - 2020 gonna 2020
On the first day of
Christmas, my true love gave to
me, COVID-19. - the slutty locksmith
Dirty locks, shiny
keys. Opening the doors to
pleasure and tool sheds. - symptoms and strategy
Can economy
recover without beating
virus? So far, no. - the other sickness
Unbelievable
stress, new anxiety, lone-
liness. Minds unwell. - where once were office parties
Log in and wear your
finest Christmas jammies while
sipping spiked eggnog. - the proud pittie in the back yard
Atop the stump, he
surveyed the land around him,
and it pleased him so. - the 99-year-old passive-aggressive samaritan
Her burdensome texts
let us know exactly how
she felt about strays. - pandemic baby boom
Welcome to all the
new Coronas and Faucis
into this masked world. - a new season, i guess
That bleak sky. Growing
madness in quarantine. The
grimness of winter. - for the loved ones we keep safe
One more Facetime. Some
cookies and sweaters in the
mail. Saving up hugs. - a wish list
Vaccines in every
stocking, relief checks for the
jobless, hope for all. - the constant of children’s joy
Let them sing with glee.
Let them dream of sugar plums.
Let them wake with gifts. - all for the birthday boy
An evening party
with a barnyard theme and odd
assortment of gifts. - the monocultural experience
Back to a world in
which we share hardships and small
wins, pathos and grit. - a girl and her horse
Once ornery, he
softened under her guidance,
riding proud as one. - forever … ’21
Let us renew our
commitment to a better
future for us all.
• • •
Read more Wade’s 101.
Read more poetry at Wade’s Daily Haiku.
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Merry Christmas!
Friday, December 25, 2020 by Wade Kwon
Video: Warm up by the virtual yule log.
Merry Christmas!
The Birmingham channel: O stay all ye faithful
Thursday, December 24, 2020 by Wade Kwon
The Birmingham channel: Four-dog night
Wednesday, December 16, 2020 by Wade Kwon
The Birmingham channel: Wheels of fortune
Thursday, December 10, 2020 by Wade Kwon
The Birmingham channel: A parade of the imagination
Wednesday, December 2, 2020 by Wade Kwon
A look at Birmingham in videos …
Panel of Birmingham activists at the 2019 Equity Summit in Columbia, S.C., with T. Marie King of Local Network Voices Birmingham, Wayne Coleman of the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute, and Shauntice Allen of the UAB School of Public Health. From Collaborative on Race.
More videos, after the jump …
Continued »
