“All bad poetry springs from genuine feeling.” - Oscar Wilde
haikus
a Japanese poem of seventeen syllables, in three lines of five, seven, and five, traditionally evoking images of the natural world.
other styles of poetry
free verse, limerick, cinquain, acrostic
Poetry is where I began my writing journey. I still have my Hello Kitty notebook from 1986, and the first few entries are poems - I will save you from those first attempts.
These poems are some of my poetry practice. I like haikus, as well as freestyle poetry, and have been exploring the cinquain form.
I wanted to try my hand at NaHiWriMo - National Haiku Writing Month, which falls in February. It has been a fun challenge.
Haiku 1
Fingers cold as stone
Arctic wind creeps down my back
February chill
2-1-23
Haiku 2
Double yolk good luck?
We could use a bright rainbow
To shift our life tide.
2-2-23
Haiku 3
Grief washes up me.
I quell the torrent - not here!
When I'm alone, come.
2-3-23
Haiku 4
Moon mother reflects
The state of humanity.
How are we faring?
2-4-23
Haiku 5
A glittering sea
Holds dark secrets in its depths.
Haiku month is hard.
2-5-23
Haiku 6
Cheers, oh that theme song
Would make me melancholy.
But it's grown on me.
2-6-23
Haiku 13
The crazy 80s
When bullying was for laughs
Cheers does a great job.
2-13-23
Haiku 17
Emotions run high
Estrogen flowing throughout
Here's The Bachelor. 🌹
2-18-23
Haiku 21
Oh, little bonsai!
Thy leaves hath all fallen off.
Shakespeare - I am not.
2-21-23
Haiku 25
Sweetness on my tongue.
Am I a baker? Oh no.
Betty Crocker mix.
2-25-23
Birthday Haiku
Fifty is nifty.
But not if you're Nik. He thinks
Getting old is sad.
3-12-23
A small green tendril.
Spring is in its tiny root.
Hope in what's to come.
Feb 1, 24
Garnet droplets fall
Tumble and splash brightly from
The deep part of me.
Feb 5, 24
A dark blue expanse.
Pinpricks gleam into the void.
I feel very small.
Feb 9, 24
Haiku 8
Words I never said
Choke and clog, never to flow.
Now solidified.
2-8-23
Haiku 9
White noise is too loud.
Errant thoughts run through my head.
I will never sleep.
2-9-23
Haiku 10
The long shadows form
Later along the pavement.
Hi, Spring, is that you?
2-10-23
Haiku 14
A Valentine's Day
When I didn't do massage.
What would that be like?
2-14-23
Haiku 18
Fuchsia pink blossoms
A love memento to her
She would be two now.
2-18-23
Haiku 22
A baby was born
Seventy-six years ago
Happy birthday, Dad. 🎉
2-22-23
Haiku 26
Windy storm outside,
Steel gray clouds shroud
the mountains.
Winter favorite.
2-26-23
Heaven's gate opens
With a limoncello sky
And gray turtle clouds.
3-24-23
Gunmetal clouds pour
Icy pellets of stardust
Onto the humans.
Feb 2, 24
A yellow pain forms
In the root of the gum tree.
Drilling will commence.
Feb 6, 24
Pfeffernüsse mountain
Wish that I could take a bite.
Sweet treat will suffice.
Feb 10, 24
Haiku 7
Pregnant silences.
Assuming I think the worst.
Please understand me.
2-7-23
Haiku 11
An unlikely nest.
Birds chirp chirp above our heads.
In The Home Depot.
2-11-23
Haiku 15
Exhaustion crawls in
Like a cold hand from the grave.
Watch as it grabs me.
2-15-23
Haiku 19
Heart pangs start up from
A family's cruelty.
How can they not care?
2-19-23
Haiku 23
A fake Faberge
So delicate and pretty
When is this month done?
2-23-23
Haiku 27
The wet road is a
Black snake sliding through
green hills
Setting sun its prey.
2-27-23
The heat melts my skin.
Rivers of sweat run into
My waistband. Kill me.
7-16-23
Black slices of ice
Cut ribbons down the mountain
Fear feels like lava.
Feb 3, 24
A shadow above
The pines, covers the lakeshore.
The ship disappears.
Feb 7, 24
Radiating pain
That leaks for decades, causing
Decay and demise.
Feb 11, 24
Haiku 12
Insta "Romeo",
I'm not your pretty lady.
Toodle pip (goodbye).
2-12-23
Haiku 16
Dirt trailed in with me.
Soft earth on a concrete floor.
What an odd pairing.
2-17-23
Haiku 20
Raindrops pelt the street
Chasing people back inside.
Steaming up windows.
2-20-23
Haiku 24
Slush and snow? For real?
Why does it irritate me
To walk in this mess?
2-24-23
Haiku 28
Ode to Haiku Month
You have challenged and strengthened
My love of poems.
2-28-23
Sweat pebbles on me
Like droplets on a river.
Snow, where are you now?
7-16-23
A flood of panic
My flesh goes weak and trembly
And one knee is off.
Feb 4, 24
Ice white blinds the eyes
Burns my face bright
red. Is pain
Really worth the ski?
Feb 8, 24
Greed clutches inside
“That's mine not yours
so be gone.”
Doomed humanity.
Feb 12, 24
Blue white snowy ridge
Obscured from view while
snow falls
“We need the moisture.”
Feb 13, 24
Gold band encircles
A ring around my heart that
Feels fit to bursting.
Feb 14, 24
Cinnamon and clove,
White noise from the family,
Is holiday cheer.
Feb 15, 24
The white rime of ice
Coats the black branch,
like your frost
Shrouds your blackened heart.
12.28.24
Earlier collections
Dusk to Dawn
A splash of pink, a touch of orange
Mixed with deep purple and blue,
Lemon yellow all around-the sun is down.
Mother Nature has night cover the ground,
Sprinkling diamonds in the sky,
Placing the silver moon way up high.
The hours pass, and the yellow sun peeks out,
Melting the night away.
-LA
03.19.93
Winter is in the treetops.
It's in the honk of geese
And the laugh of the mallards.
It's in the turquoise & coral sunset
And the jingle jangle of dog collars.
Winter is in the bleached gray sky, the terracotta lawns & naked trees that look like milk chocolate sticks.
Winter is in the powdered sugar snow
Frosting the bank of the clear pond
Where a single orange flame cuts into the ice -
Faux warmth on a chilly night.
-LA
12.18.18