haiku
I love the challenge of expressing an idea or emotion in just 17 syllables. Here are some of my favorites (a few of which appear in my books, Well on Your Way and Well in the Lead).
origami spirits
We fold our souls like
paper boxes. Hidden, till
rain soaked, they unfurl.
whatever works
I fight my battles
with armor of pure Golden
Oreos. Foolproof.
outside my window
Menacing Mount Should
obscures the sacred blooms of
the Garden of Is.
a bitter sweet
Regrets, melted in
like warm caramel,
refuse to unbind.
elizabeth's attitudes
(a series of haiku)
Money. The root of
nothing. A lush blossom of
possibility.
Power. Soul’s raw force.
Sparks of light, guided by grace.
Truth, galvanized.
Praise. Lacking for most.
Lovely, but not always love.
Best reserved for God?
Rivals. Sure path to
ruining a perfectly
good game.
All work and no play
makes an ego-driven mind
jump for joy. Gotcha.
then and now
Technicolor world
once swam in sepia. Now
songs spring from whispers.
square peg
Familiar. Presumed
to constrict. Must hide, play small.
Soul shrinks. Heart gets squished.
the cusp
The sun nods early,
as Boreas taunts the swift
November air. Soon.
fall
Hydrangea blooms, brown
and brittle, clinging to stems,
dancing with each gust.
if i weren't afraid
Shortcomings and shame
sharing every shimm’ring stage.
Shadow serenade.
no-good nurse
Mom has a new knee,
and I have a new patient.
Percocet for two? ;)
fierce
Inner critic roars,
Why did you...?! Why didn’t you...?!
This time, I roar back.
off to school
(a tanka)
Little bags of cheese,
Shredded of course, with Goldfish,
And salami, sliced.
Three-year-old hands grip a Toy
Story lunch box. So grown up.
off to college
Even his bed? Gone?
Tricky thing, this letting go.
Shattering success.
preserved
There was a camera.
Wasn’t there always? How else
To enshrine her faults?
hollow
Vacant guitar case,
Left while blowing out of town.
Emptiness spills out.
grandma
Red, sticky sugar.
Hung for love of hummingbirds,
Shared for love of me.
the best gift
A four-foot mansion.
Corduroy. Macrame. Shag.
Grandpa's skills amaze.
playing with fire
The flames of his pain—
Fear, loneliness—devour
My boundaries. Again.
heart
A mother’s children,
Held like petals by a stem,
Once released, float free.
confidence
Confidence. I am
completely certain that I
can keep a secret. :)
think (a free-form haiku)
Rumination:
The Curiosity
family's black sheep.
infected?
As the worm spreads, each
device—every viral bit—
blasts: YOU. ARE. ENOUGH.
all in our heads (a tanka)
The Beast's imposing
castle—through forced perspective
only—looms above
Fantasyland, as beliefs
dressed as truths e'er deceive us.