Sway To This

Spring Haiku 2011 – Part 2

swaytothis — Sat, 16 Jul 2011 18:38:27 +0000

a single egg fell
from the nest in the pine tree
doves in grey mourning
4/17/11

sometimes when I ride
i want to close my eyes and
let the horse rein me
4/19/11

having a kitten
means going through bandaids
like a house afire
4/20/11

on May twenty-first
at precisely twelve a.m.
rapturous moonrise

as the clouds were limned
just before the moon came up
i heard coyotes
5/21/11

Spring Haiku – 2011

swaytothis — Fri, 08 Apr 2011 11:56:39 +0000

4/8/11

now my sunrise year
of gray to crimson beauty
has come full circle

april to april
spring to spring, sunrise sunset
i’m the book between

4/3/11

remember april?
birth, death, anniversaries
unforgettable

house finches scolding
heavy cat kneading my arm
red deer in sunrise

3/29/11

the itinerant
doves of mourning have returned
for summer love songs

3/28/11

the lake is fierce
whipped tourquoise and aubergine
brave gulls time their dives

3/26/11

damn snow obscuring
stealthy black frozen puddle
ouch – i have fallen
…
hobbled by mishap
suddenly i see grey wings
northern harrier

3/25/11

sunrise slides northward
each day a bit farther left
Democratic sun

3/22/11

caked, stained tails and manes
the old grey mare turns to brown
mud season is here
…
they open the locks
far far north of here and the
lake level rises
…
vernal equinox
i feel a gut twinge, a cramp
like a teenaged girl

…
supermoon rises
in a cold clear sky
due east: proud blushed perigee

3/9/11

all careful plans have
larger forces at work, like
weather predictions
..
ladybug plays dead
good strategy, good for you
and good luck with that
..
cardinal treetop
bluejays in the apple trees
no bobolinks, yet

3/8/11

sugary branches
ice fog: what chilling god would
create such a thing?

2/28/11

february gasps
trees are figured in the rain
resolving details

April Fool : Music Video

swaytothis — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 13:50:42 +0000

My song, “April Fool” (from CD ‘Tell The Wind,’ produced by Rich DePaolo) with my own photos* and video –

*the CD cover image is by James Nelson (Getty Images).

Perfect Blue : Music Video

swaytothis — Tue, 29 Mar 2011 13:15:12 +0000

My song, “Perfect Blue,” (from CD ‘Tell The Wind,’ produced by Rich DePaolo) with my photos:

Jury Selection Haiku

swaytothis — Tue, 22 Mar 2011 13:18:35 +0000

I was called for jury duty in my county’s Supreme Court. Like most people, I saw this as an annoyance, an imposition and interruption of my own affairs, a selfish but justifiable sentiment. I forgot to bring a novel to fill the boring empty hours of selection, so I wrote some haiku.
…

jury duty call
a case of mental hygiene
clean, i am biased

no, i’m impartial
where my own bias occurs
cut from colored cloth

i feel dutiful
responsible, capable
also recluctant

marble leather stone
eagles brass rosettes bunting
words: in god we trust

if i am asked to
swear, “so help me god,” will i
be telling the truth?

so much waiting time
should have brought a book to read
crime and punishment?

church pews in the court
i guess justice is just like that
uncomfortable

what is he thinking
the accused sex offender
sports scores? what’s for lunch?

waiting for the judge
a juror parts her long hair
weaves a skinny braid

the court attendant
relaxes, along with us
reading the paper

all rise – we all rise
be seated – everyone sits
here come the judgement

some are duly sworn
i am not among them, i
am unselected

why disappointed?
partiality revealed
sets me free, or not

new winter haikus

swaytothis — Tue, 15 Feb 2011 13:55:30 +0000

More winter haikus on topics of love, travel, weather and the seduction of spring.

2/15/11
I betray winter
by beginning an affair
with a younger spring

1/16/11
kiss of winter dawn
leaves a rime on my chapped lips
empty calories

1/5/11
nineteen ninety-one
flashback to the new year’s eve
he didn’t kiss me

12/28/10
Irate woman rants
gate agent blamed for all problems
a day in the life

12/26/10
The wind knocks palm fronds
against the roof, mocking sleep
impossible rest

Song: When The Horses Start Singing

swaytothis — Wed, 22 Dec 2010 13:39:07 +0000

A deep winter song, for the longest night, the coldest night, when your breath opaques the air and the snow squeaks under your boots.

Video: When The Horses Start Singing

Onthe coldest night of the year
Everything stops
No spin to the earth
No turn of the season
Words have no meaning

Black sky arcs overhead
Silent as snow
Sublime, absolute
We are mute with conviction
Then the horses start singing

We are waiting for the reset of time
We are waiting for this moment to arrive
We are waiting for it all to synchronize

We are waiting for the reset of time
We are waiting for this moment to arrive
We are waiting

On the coldest night of the year
when all the words fail
Breath falls like diamonds
Language is silenced
When the horses start singing
We listen

Winter Haiku

swaytothis — Wed, 22 Dec 2010 13:22:05 +0000

The lake is freezing
seagulls float on mini bergs
crows stalk the shoreline

A half-grown cat’s tail
switches at the falling snow
winter under glass

Starlings tweak berries
from the tree’s winter fingers
oh, to fly as one

Here, invisible:
an eclipse eclipsed by clouds
better luck next time

Riding the Haiku Train

swaytothis — Mon, 06 Dec 2010 13:25:47 +0000

Travel writer and fellow Freevillian, Rachel Dickinson, inspired me to explore the Haiku form with her Daily Haiku posts on Facebook. I think she cross posts them from a WordPress blog called The Daily Haiku. I was immediately hooked.

Here a few of the haiku I have written in the past few weeks, in reverse chronological order, starting with today:

–
Dec. 6

crows wheel in the wind
blowing snow drifts round the house
hot cat in my lap

–
Dec 5

a sound of crying
dominoes in migration
snow geese have returned

–
Nov. 25

menu: crock pot hen
baby peas and bread stuffing
cranberries, of course

Took dinner to the
old folk’s home and watched TV
she gave me a gift

–
Nov 23

mysterious sky
my changing weather outlook
winter advances

–
Nov 19, 2010

yes i♥friday
full of promises like an
unfaithful lover

Weekend mini series
Lust, shopping, TV, laundry
Sing Monday Monday

spider web catches
a snowflake and is revealed
otherwise unseen

–
Nov. 2 2010

I’m nervous today
about the voting results
sugar binge predicted

–
October 31

rain and snow obscure
the mountain in the distance
northern harrier

Song: What I Am

swaytothis — Sun, 05 Dec 2010 16:08:28 +0000

Here is a song written recently, featuring water in 2 forms:

What I Am

I am a city of millions and millions of thoughts
Each one a snowflake ina storm of wars won and lost
Streets and boulevards, tunnels, alleys and towers
Neighborhoods, boroughs, parishes, heroes and cowards

Here is the church of thinking
Here is the temple of drinking
Here is the grotto of loving
Like Venice, I’m sinking
into the sea

I am an ocean foundering drowning in wishes
Pooled ’round a melody I offer anemone kisses
Undersea mountains, canyons, shipwrecks, harpoons
Icebergs and gillnets, hurricanes, dead calm and whirlpools

Here is the current of yearning
Here is the rip tide of turning
Here is the soft sand of landing
And oil rigs burning
All this is me

I am a phantom, a photograph, magnetic forces
A tracing of arteries, flock of birds, herd of wild horses
X-rays and gamma rays shot ’round a circular pattern
Throwing off photons, probing the essence of atoms

Here is the first explosion
Setting the universe in motion
Here is the very last lesson
To answer the question:
what will I be?