"Phoenix"

as final embers
darken and float softly on
haiku still remains

2009.04.30

Well, that's it. The end of the month. We did it. I must say that I greatly enjoyed the challenge and the journey. It makes me want to write more and I will. I do need to take a break for a little bit and regroup.

Evidently, Goat has a new assignment for me. I am waiting for that one with baited breath. Bring it.

Haikus are awesome. Simple to learn, harder to master. A rollicking good time.
 

"Pas De Deux"

frantic flight pivots
seeks gold nectar like next breath
inhale the joining

~

silk petals beckon
scent hints of richer desires
quaff deep elixir

2009.04.29


A pair of his and hers haikus. A simple story of a simple hummingbird and that which sustains him.

I am always intoxicated by my wife and often find myself at ease just by being in her presence.

"Goat"

weathered stump topples
under frequent firm skull blows
unearths fertile art

2009.04.28


This one is for my dear friend/mentor, Goat. She is often pushing, prodding, challenging, encouraging me in my artistic endeavors. If it wasn't for her, I would still be languishing in the shadows. She had helped me find something to say through image and word.

(Un)fortunately, now that I know what resides within me, I am responsible to keep turning over the soil so that the ideas can see the light of day. A burden that can be "easy" and a yoke that, even though it is "light", I reluctantly shoulder begrudgingly more often than not.

I guess I come back to the fact that "I am an artist because there is nothing else to be."

Through suppression, I can play it safe and stay in the gray places and not feel. Or I can take the narrow road and explore towards beauty.

Art both invigorates me and frustrates me to no end. In it I can see my strengths, giftings, and my calling. I can also see my weaknesses, poverty, and struggles.

The paradox of true purpose....

The more you know, the less you really know.

So, thanks Goat for the assignments and the head butts. If this is payback for the "literary journal" suggestion, are we even yet?

"Beetles"

while mandibles chew
sinew, scrape bones clean, does talk
turn towards weather?

2009.04.27


I saw the robin from the window this morning, (yeah, I need to deal with that soon), and my thoughts turned to carrion and the bugs that remove the dead stuff from our lives so that we are not buried under avalanches of the stuff.

So I am imagining a sort of nonchalant mealtime conversation breaking out and whether talk eventually ends up on the weather or not like so often our little chats do. Maybe books, philosophy, or politics? Possibly economics or sports? Perhaps a little watercooler banter discussing the latest pop culture "zeitgeisty" thing?

Morbid and strange. A little weird for morning thoughts perhaps.

I think it's the Zyrtec talking....

"Pharmaceutical Fog"

mist tonnage descends
tendrils lap knife's edge, sucks strength
marrow yields to gray.

2009.04.27


Yeah, I know. I missed yesterday. That's because the aforementioned "zombie fog" did a number on me all weekend. After I posted Saturday's haiku, 3/4 of the fog lifted about an hour later. I then proceeded to stay up way too long. Sunday was a sleepy day. I conked out on the couch with my hand on my Moleskine journal with intentions of writing yesterday's haiku.

Antihistamines. Even "non-drowsy" ones like Zyrtec kind of dull my senses and make me tire easily at the end of the day.

Onward and bedward.
 

"Erosion"

cold truth flows on stone
seek the crack, freeze and expand
Spirit reveals more.

2009.03.31


Took an antihistamine today to start the annual battle against spring allergy season. So I am zombified today. Here is one from the reserve pile.

Introspection. Revelation wanted through initiation or unveiled through conviction.

"Sixty-four Seasons"

two oil drops tango
water floor spiral mingle
colors swirl as one.

2009.04.23


16 years. 64 seasons. 192 months. 5840 days. 140,160 hours. 8,409,600 minutes. 504,576,000 seconds.

half a billion heartbeats as one.

happy anniversary to the better half of my life.

"Stand"

swollen rage shoves, yells
white froth sucks back, licks stone thigh
bulwark presses back.

2009.04.22

There is a park where I sometimes take my lunch to eat. There is recent pedestrian bridge that is built on top of old concrete piers from an original railroad trestle. This is one of the piers that didn't get used in the recent construction -- captured in a quick 10 minute sketch.

"Green Adam"

apple tossed on heap
cursed, yet shirk not holy task
Stewards of Eden.

2009.04.22

Happy Earth Day.

We all have a job to do. Every little bit helps....

"Temples, Strip Malls, and Factories"

upon firm sand platform
build foam architecture lives
erased in next wave.

2009.04.21

We are just passing through. Our transitory nature is but a breath in eternity...

"Wish"

pinpoints cosmic time
dew gathered on black velvet
receive whispered hopes.

2009.04.20


Hey look, a haiku...

With an hour to spare.

"Spoken"

pods cast upon wind
greater than atomic angels
will bear fruit or thorn.

2009.04.19

Verbs, adverbs, adjectives, nouns, and pronouns make for a potent arsenal. How cavalier we can be.  We can make things beautiful or ugly. Bring order or chaos. Healing or death.

"Quail"

proud strong "ca-CAW-ca"
lone guard rebukes night and calls,
"dawn! and all is well."

2009.03.31

I don't know what it is, but i find myself writing about birds a lot. This happened a couple of weeks ago when I woke up before my alarm went off. I could tell it was still dark out. But I could hear a quail outside issuing its cry. It was the cry that usually the guard quail who perches on top of something tall sings.

That's all I got today.

Although, my wife said I should do a haiku based on the boys' soccer games today.

running through spring air
sunburn on my nose and arms
soccer, soccer GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLL!!!!!!

We did almost just make every line having to do with "soccer" and "ball"....

"Finis"

sanguine vapor sigh
last smoke wisp departs embers
exhale cleaves the veil.

2009.04.17

Thirteenth Station - Jesus Dies on the Cross

See Also Haiku 27 and Haiku 32

On May 18, 1980, I had taken a nap after lunch in the afternoon. When I awoke around 4 pm, it was pitch black outside. It was completely disorienting and freaky to say the least because this should not have been happening. What was going on?

It was the infamous eruption of Mt. Saint Helens which was proceeding to blanket the state in ash after killing dozens of people who were nearby the mountain when it exploded. We had watched the smaller eruptions on the news in the weeks prior. We were interested, but we still went on with our days. The huge volcanic cloud had blotted out the sun, nightfall had come early that day. In the days following, we had to adjust our lives in the aftermath. Stay home from work and school. Begin a careful cleanup of ash from our houses and yards. Wear masks when we ventured forth outdoors.

A similar darkness fell the afternoon Jesus died. Other things happened too. Earthquakes and tombs opening. The veil separating the Holy of Holies from the broken world was torn in two -- something no one in anyone's lifetime would ever see.

I wonder how many "woke up from a nap" to find things completely different. The centurion at Golgotha caught a clue. I wonder if any of the priests or Temple personnel put two and two together? Creation groaned and shuddered when the Son of Man gave up His spirit. How many others finally connected all of the dots?

Landmark events have a way of shaping how we view the world and how we view ourselves. How many in the cast of the finale were changed and stayed changed long after the ash had washed away?

BTW, haiku 32 was my first attempt and a hasty one at that. I thought that today's was completely original, but I plagarized myself for a portion...Today's is better I think.

I already did Station 14 so I am done with the Passion.

Now what?...

"Mother's Day"

excavate her heart
bestow to new loam bosom
under mournful rain.

2009.04.16

Twelfth Station - Jesus Speaks to His Mother and the Disciple John

Again, if I read this account with a sort of cursory effort -- looking for content or the gist -- I get hit with that funny feeling again in that this conversation seems out of place given the current setting. But as I begin to get immersed in the scene, with the sounds of taunts, shouts, grieving and wailing, the smells of sweat. blood, filth, and death, and the grit and detritus of capital punishment, the fact that the conversation occurs is amazing. I don't think it was as straightforward as it is written. However, it is a beautiful moment of making sure that His mother is taken care of by one of His most trusted friends. Presence of mind. Focused on His Father's Mission. Ever mindful of  "honoring His Father and mother" - one of the "Big Ten". Even though He knew this was not the end and that He was coming back, Jesus still made sure things were taken care of in the moment.

"Breaking and Entering"

liminal figure
hung between daylight and dark
dispel one last fear

2009.04.14

Eleventh Station - Jesus Promises His Kingdom to the Good Thief

In reading the story again today. the fact that a conversation ensues between Jesus and the two criminals strikes me as kind of funny. Not "ha-ha" kind of funny, but the strange, interesting kind. My usual reading is devoid of the emotion, the physical pain, the labored breathing, the anguish, and the fear that can be found nestled in the words that they speak to each other. The criminals are both responding out of their pain and fear. Like caged animals, their instincts are telling them fight or flight. One attacks the character of Jesus, doubting Him. The other flees into who He is. Jesus still has the presence of mind to be about His Father's business.

Paradise is available at any moment...
 

"Things that Make You Go Hmmmm"

plows push frozen kind
blocks later, liquid cleans street
magic Spokane spring.

2009.04.14

After leaving my house this morning with its 5 inches of snow, I passed a pair of snow plows plowing the street. Then a couple of miles later, I saw a tanker truck washing a sidewalk. where there was no snow. Only the vestiges of previous applications of traction countermeasures. At least the morning commute was interesting to say the least.

Tomorrow we'll hopefully continue with haikus of substance....

"Sobs"

sky tears splash road stones
tree denies rain, dries unused
looming drought hungers.

2009.04.13

Ninth Station - Jesus Meets the Women of Jerusalem

Further evidence that the Man of Sorrows is not interested or fueled by the lamentations of others. His sustenance is otherworldly. He has the presence of mind to deflect the concern of the women and to direct it back to them - telling them to be concerned about the world after He is gone. I can picture a cacophonous dichotomy developing as a sort of battle of the sexes develops. While the throng of women are weeping and sobbing, the rest of the crowd, which I am assuming is predominantly male, is screaming and shouting for blood. I don't believe the entire mob is that sexist, but you can imagine how the drama is playing out and begin to hear all the voices of the chorus.

Tenth Station - Jesus is Crucified: Haiku 26

"Jesus & the Giant Peach"

first fruit's taste bursts forth
juice traces chin like comma
death begets new life.

2009.03.10

during a recent sermon series on the essentials of the Christian faith found in the Nicene Creed, the topic was discussing the resurrection of Jesus. one of the key points was that because of Christ's resurrection, one of the first fruits of that was our own resurrection as a product of our own salvation. another idea that struck me was that Jesus' resurrection was a victory over death. one that we can share and partake in. for us, death does not end our life's story with a period. rather, it now ends with a comma. a pause before a conjunction which links to the next clause of our life. a better phrase. a beautiful run-on sentence that is our life in the next world.

you know when you take a big bite of a fresh peach in the summer and it erupts with a liquid beauty?

yeah, it's like that....

Christ the Lord is Risen today,
Hallelujah!
(if you know the hymn, it's now in your brain)

He is risen indeed....

See also haiku 31.

"Joseph of Arimathea"

still Rabbi descends
soul husk, a weighty burden
family tomb - his gift.

2008.07.11

Fourteenth Station - Jesus is Placed in the Tomb (Scriptural Way of the Cross)
Thirteenth Station - Jesus is Taken Down from the Cross (Original Stations of the Cross)

Imagine a wealthy, well-connected member of the Sanhedrin taking great personal risk to his life and reputation by asking the Roman overseer for the body of a rabbi who had just been put to death for claiming to be God. That's Joseph of Arimathea. He made a great sacrifice of every aspect of his life. It is obvious that he had some sort of encounter with Jesus which provoked the change. When was it? Was it when Jesus stood before the Sanhedrin and he knew that His answers to their questions were truth and not blasphemy? Did he watch Jesus' march to Golgotha and saw that He was truly different? After seeing the sky grow black, feeling the earth shake, and hearing that the veil had been ripped in two, did he realize that Jesus was who He said He was?

Whatever the case, Joseph's life was profoundly different now and he was going to do something about it. The gift of the family tomb is an extravagant gift to give to someone that you barely know in order to give them a proper burial. At this point, Joseph does not know how the story ends. The tomb is given and done. Now he has to come up with Plan B for a family tomb. That's if the family and his friends will even associate with him.

I can't help but think that at some point after the Resurrection, after they see Jesus face to face, and after He ascends to heaven and they begin to get on with their new lives as Followers of the Way, Joseph would somehow get a fresh jolt of amazing gratitude and excitement because he had his tomb back. Not many can say that that has ever happened to them. What a beautiful "re-gifting".

This was a haiku that I started last summer and was getting stuck with what I was trying to say. I revisited it a few weeks ago and finished it out.