scattered thoughts 2

this is no more a war than there is a war between mice and men

this is no more poetry than the insects I swat

nothing precludes anything else

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOaOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
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Eclipse

I am glad you asked
me to speak
things you already know...

three dots at the end of my lines...

do not make me a poet
when I parse lines I
pay no attention to the ana
tomy of words
but to what shape they may take
in my mind...

what is this shape
who is the lady next door
who screams my name from the fire-escape-
night-after-night...

what book of answers...
what a story...


what an ellipse...
(pic is from the NASA gallery... a moon of Jupiter... I think they said it was Europa...)

.
sometimes you have to write your letter backwards
and explain all the things you knew
to your stuffed animals

because it's not their fault

the peppermint knobs
the decks of cards

the patter of bamboo on the window-
-sill as it should be

in a house of timber
jacks
and dominoes



and the more you hold of that rationale
the more you speak for that small part in us that is

willing us to be better
.

=========================

axiom part 2 (or a continuation of axiom part 1)

=========================





you can make up statistics to prove anything




33.8% of all voters know that




but my friend, it's
not the boat that truly turns

(or even the captain)





it's the tide



and what's in a movement of water that is standing still

and what's in words that makes me want to speak out

and say that it's

not the tide that should change


but the captain?

a feather

falling..................................................................

f.....
l...
o.
..a
...t
....i
n..
g.....


.................................................faintly

remembrance.............................

.................................seagulls

expressiveness...............................

............................elusive

impossible.......................................................

...........................................sensation

c
........u
...............r
...................l
.................i
.............n
.......g



..h..e..s..i..t..a..t..e..s..k..n..e..a..d..i..n..g..a..i..r..

a feather falls

=======================================

am watching closely... a feather falls only for you

d
iam
ondia
mondiam
diamondiam
ondiamon
diamon
daim
on
d
b,,,,
l,,,,,,,
a,,,,,,,,,
d,,,,
e,

o
,f

,,,g
,,,,,r
,,,,,,,a
,,,s
,s

b
,,,,e
,,,,,n
d
s,,


================================================

She balanced a diamond on a blade of grass,
She made everything sparkle and shine.

Tom Waites, Bottom of the World

And I'm lost
And I'm lost
I'm lost at the bottom of the world
I'm handcuffed to the bishop and the barbershop liar
I'm lost at the bottom of the world.

Well God's green hair is where I slept last
He balanced a diamond on a blade of grass
Now I woke me up with a cardinal bird
And when I wanna talk
He hangs on every word

And I'm lost
And I'm lost
I'm lost at the bottom of the world
I'm handcuffed to the bishop and the barbershop liar
I'm lost at the bottom of the world

Renga

the back of the house
standing stone still, listening
hearing bamboo grow

Silently reaching
for a new day of brightness

*thanks to the walking man for the assist on these last two lines

================================================

a curious crow
digging the ground in search of
the last year's walnut

*thanks also to Human Being for this next haiku in the chain

=========================================================


dandelion on the lawn
always looks up at the sun

*two more from me

================================================

I watch you watching
little bugs, making their way
thoughtful stillness breathes

*a haiku from Harlequin

=============================================

Exchanging vision seeing
watchers in breathless exchange

*a couplet from the walking man

==============================================

silently watching
for a new day of brightness
Trembling bleeding hearts

*this segment from my friend Enemy of the Republic

======================

she loves these rare short-lived sparks...
which burn brighter than the sun...

*two more lines from teacher Crow

=====================

watering moisture
in brightness of rising light
burns darkness away

*another from the walking man

===================================

I haven't written haiku in a while and I forgot just how refreshing it is. Thanks to Christopher over at the Northern Wall for reminding me of how brilliant this form is, and for making me get out Lew Turco's Book of Forms. Turco says that the haiku is considered part of a tradition called renga, which in its early incarnations involved two or more authors, kind of a call and answer poem. The first three lines set the subject while the next two "amplify, gloss, or comment on the first triplet."

I'm wondering what you'd write for the last two lines? Or for the triplet after that, or the couplet after that?

.

Don't give in

Poison against poison
cleans the blood
(revitalizes the soul)
if a curse is on you
(a curse of death).
Quick application is the only cure
(welcome to the new world order)
(feel the power).
Ask, why does no one care about me?
Ask, how do I know?
You sleep so still with such a solemn brow
Still too young and small,
still so asleep.
The last four of the six rules of politics:
lie, cheat, steal, deceive
and the others...
I'll let you know.

Sleep for now.

Cilice

Yup... the old factory has been closed down for years now.
Seems like no one needs their shirts in this country any more.

When they shut down the homeless scavenged the building for scrap metal
and some squatters moved in.

But the government was quick to evict them,
having designs to convert the factory to produce bullet proof vests.