Lakota Medicine arrows - wisdom from four directions

Medicine arrows
a quiver holds only four
I take careful aim

winter coats, mittens
in the back of my closet
ah! -- Florida!

cranberry sauce
tart, sweet -- spilled on my jacket
red badge of courage

a pigeon flies through
under a covered walkway
escaping a hawk

(they marched -- Barbara Tuchman wrote -- to bands and cheering, waving crowds... that was in the endless summer days of August, 1914.)

their shattered bodies
piled upon each other
all parades end

gray goose glides
just above me as I pause
to tie my shoestrings

Seven gables crown
that gray abandoned house
I walk by briskly

on the time change

Do we fall behind?
No, time simply moves forward
-- with or without us

the punter warms up
as fans begin to leave
he waits for the snap

baptized by fire
Blackrobe Jean Breboef, martyr
ora pro nobis

Diwali's bright lights
of so many colors
shine on all

first encounter
on a quiet, sunny beach
Columbus Day

Prized Obama
humbled by Nobel's pick
has still much to do

at the UN
they beat their tongues and jawbone
loud clang of anvils

the honored dead--
in life they were less so
markers for slaves' tombs

fall's already here--
I know, I looked it up
no one told the sun

gray morning sky
gray oystermen as well
a rocky beach

a young woman at the beach

she plants her crutches
firmly in the wet sand
-- her smiling face

Fair winds, Senator Kennedy

an old sailor
prepares for one last voyage
never to return

Silverfish

good taste or taste good
silverfish swallow poems
without regard

dangling sex acts// of Limax maximus// are far from sluggish

(the Great Slug's 'love life' is quite acrobatic.)

Gregor Samsa
awakens as a bug
or does he?

August afternoon
a sparrow lands on a ledge
and burns its feet

flicking off flies
an old, blind cow resists
just a bit longer

Web-based, its design
supports an architecture
that catches flies

Windies win toss
but could not stop Bangla bats
this afternoon

on an inner tube
the tea-colored river
is a vast sea

Adam's lament

You sent her to me
She handed me the apple
What was I to do?

Don't let the door close
as you step down, Buzz
we don't have a key!

Anastasia

Anastasia --
a princess died, a soul lives
"Resurrection"

Row upon row
their brown eyes follow the Sun
field of sunflowers

Tranquility Base, 1969

With his "one small step"
we all take a giant leap
Tranquility base

broken China
Hu heads home from G8
to pick the shards

her tiny fingers --
grasp mine for the first time
a preemie's handshake

prayers at Gettysburg - third day

Each side invokes Him
in prayer that morning
for many their last

Little Round Top
a thin blue line holds
brave men of Maine

small sounds from a nest
bring a smile to my face
a fresh start

sandcastle besieged
by a determined foe
hard rain on a beach

part sunblock, part sea
scent of a summer lover
as she dries herself

a poverty sijo

Slices of stale bread//bologna that mustn't be looked at too closely//
She makes sandwiches for her children//
who will eat them hungrily//
Cheating roaches of their crumbs

elevator's stuck
-- they gaze at each other
fortune favors bold

bluer than I deserved
how the light danced in your eyes
fond memories

with both feet he jumps
full-square on the puddle- splash
mom's new white dress

your green eyes light up
a lovely summer's evening
memories of home

Corpus Christi rains --
falling anywhere but here
too dry for planting

"let justice be done"
even if a few snore
jury pool waiting

brown eyes fixed on me
following my every move
sunflowers in bloom

bird's song
restores the world each morning
each day, the Lord's

birdsongs waken me
dawn's light is still rosy
hit 'snooze' - without guilt

her shadow lingers
memories too
of our last kiss

Lyrids skyshow// longtail comets to streak// fireworks for Earth Day

a caterpillar spins
a cocoon of wet, raw silk
spring home improvement

lobster love
she takes careful aim - fires
"number one" at him

nasty pincers
-- didn't even know I had them
earwigs so misunderstood

hazy daybreak
a squirrel stops, bobs, skitters
breakfast stop

Marilyn Chambers
- how will we remember her
Ivory or porn?

L'Aquila quake strike
for some the present
becomes eternity

Moon's reflection/on your full belly/ Sea of Fecundity

Paper boat floats
on a still pond
Sea-that-we-know

waves crash on the shore
sending white spray, foam over walls
sandcastles breached

caterpillar's fruit
with every bite I take
I risk finding half

for Anne Bronte

Waves crash
raising billows of foam
roar of thunder overhead

dented cans - half price
some without labels
I reach for hidden treasures

Train haiku

reaching for Nirvana
on a speeding train
mindfulness on the Metro

*I write this haiku to mark the occasion of seeing a passenger on Miami's Metrorail southbound, 8:24 am, June 26, 2003. An Asian man seated across from me was in a full lotus position at prayer as the train sped through several stations.

Spring

Spring's sprung --
bringing a bounce in my walk
watch out ladies

Catbird

A pale moon shining
on her growing belly
Sea of fecundity

Catbird

http://haikubycatbird.blogspot.com/

Dawn

blushing sky above
below all quiet and damp
another morning comes