Winter Haiku

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

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

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?

Durango Songwriters Expo Oct. 10 -12, 2002

I just came upon this article I wrote as a MusicDish open post  in 2002.

Durango Songwriters Expo Oct. 10 -12, 2002

Archived at http://musicdish.com/mag/?id=6811

 

Blog: Music Worth Buying

Two music writers and musicians video-blog about their favorite albums, in Music Worth Buying. In this episode, Rosanne Cash and me

Music Worth Buying, Episode 39

“Walk A Mile” music video

On a recent visit, my talented friend and music colleague Shauna Guidici urged me to create a video for my song, “Walk  A Mile.” I recently bought a Flip HD recorder and so I went out and about shooting B-roll. Then I gathered stills from the web and put it all together in iMovie.

It’s one of my favorite songs. The acoustic guitar is tuned to CADGBE and a capo is set at the 5th fret excluding the low string (C). That string acts as a drone for the tonic. It’s a mystery how this came to me. I was inspired by a little tune I heard in a TV commercial and wanted to recreate it. The only way I could come close was to capo in this fashion.

Enjoy!

Walk A Mile

What They Really Mean is…

When people say, “Bless you,” or, “Blessings,” I think they really mean to say, “May God bless you.”

Hold it right there — should I accept this bestowal? I’m disinclined to. Obviously, most people are not authorized to bestow blessings in the traditional sense. Have they considered I may not desire their blessings, or even believe in the big friendly spirit they claim to represent?

Then again maybe they are just saying, “I sympathize with that sneeze.”

When people say, “No problem,” I think they really mean to say, “You’re welcome,” the traditional rejoinder to “Thank you.” These days everyone is saying, “No problem,” as if they want you to know that helping you or serving you was a trivial act that cost them no effort.

Well, if that’s the case then I wonder why we should feel obligated to say “thank you” at all.

When people say, “Needless to say,” I think they are just showing off. They didn’t need to say it but they are demonstrating that they have complete command of the subject. Just so you know.

When people say, “I’m taking this to my grave,” I think they are a little mixed up. Strictly speaking they are taking nothing to the grave. Someone else loads up the coffin.

Finally, when people say “Like,” (as in, “That’s like, totally random”), I think they mean, “I want you to know I could care less about communicating anything apart from this homage to contemporary babble.”

‘Nuff said.