Autumn (haiku)

Autumn

fall foliage falls
dancing around and around

party dresses swirl

© ACG

Autumn Morning (tanka)

Autumn Morning

cold morning tickles
wakening sleepy muscles
invigorating
now pulsing and pumping blood
as the outstretched road beckons

© ACG
22 September 2007

Time

"Time! Who's got the Time?" said the White Rabbit;
Now I scurry, looking for long-lost Time . . .

© ACG
05 September 2007

Love

Love's bittersweet flavor never complete

Lest two hearts entwined as one ever beat.

© ACG

26 August 2007

Sunrise (haiku)

Sunrise

stealthily rising
Apollo’s secret agent
golden Aurora

© ACG
18 August 2007

"Summer Storms" tanka

Summer Storms

ominously still
like an old person’s wheezing
the world holds its breath
then with an explosive crash
expells wind, rain, and thunder

© ACG
18 August 2007

A Poet's Heart

A Poet’s Heart

In gray winter, they march to battle
as thunder beats and drums roll;
so does a poet’s heart keep time.

© ACG
18 August 2007

"Relationship" katuata

Relationship

tumultuous storms
hurling vessels far off course
navigational turmoil

progress seems stopped
sea-spray hides the horizon
will smooth sailing e’re be ours?

© ACG

12 August 2007

Romantic Date

Romantic Date

Laughter rings with rolling dice and red wine,

'Ere friendship evolves as our hearts entwine.

© ACG

09 August 2007

~ for Cris

"Honey" haiku

Honey

spun gold softly falls
sometimes hiding blue-gray eyes
treasure of the gods

© ACG
02 August 2007
for Aly, my honey-haired girl

"Summer Sounds" tanka

Summer Sounds

resonating free
blasts resounding through the air
summer marching band
exploding with energy
God’s feet are tapping along

© ACG
02 August 2007
for John, clarinetist extraordinaire!

Memories

Memories

Long nights,
longer days;
remembering youth’s vigor.

Jello echoes cocktail moments;
shuffling feet now a poor mimic
of the Charleston’s swing;
hospital murmurings suffocate
the echo of jazzy nightclub music.

Sparkling eyes still dancing inside.

© ACG
02 August 2007

Summertime Rain (tanka)

Summertime Rain

leaves turn inside out
as dark clouds roll and winds whip
temperature drops
a July day feels like Fall
summer rain soaking the earth

© ACG

20 July 2007

Accomplishments Measured

long hours working
her latchkey children waiting
secondhand clothes wearing thin

disdain of others
but they never saw bruises
is her achievement enough?

~ for all the children who live in safety
because their mothers survived Domestic Abuse.
May Society one day see their heroism,
instead of their poverty.

© ACG
20 July 2007

"Beauty" Couplet

Beauty

Strolling past blossoms on a garden path,
her beauty evokes Nature's jealous wrath.

© ACG
18 July 2007

"Shadows" tanka

Shadows

like gray-clad clouds roll

relentlessly approaching

all shelter denied

no cavalry advances ~

alone, as shadows descend

© ACG

01 July 2007

"Summer" haiku

Summer

sweltering onward
waves of humid air conquer ~
victorious march!

© ACG
01 July 2007

Untitled (katuata)

Untitled

hearts pumping boldly

blood runs on the battlefields

prayers rise on the homefront

patriotic songs

marching bands and flying flags

is our Independence free?

© ACG

27 June 2007

Fireworks (couplet)

Fireworks

pyrotechnic exhibit soaring high;
deafening explosions delayed; Science rules.

© ACG
01 July 2007

Spring Loaded

(dedicated to my son, Johnny)

They say April Showers Bring May Flowers;
April’s rain brought Johnny to me,
Spring Loaded.

They say Three Time’s A Charm;

Two times: hospital, tubes, and wires ~
Third time will bring ~ what?

~ Aly’s smile comforts my heart,

and there is, as always, only us ~

They say 13 Is An Unlucky Number;
April Thirteenth dawned in silence.
Third time, came Johnny.

Alone, they say God Is Always With You;

But I could not see Him ~
as a husband’s lies became a father’s rejection.

~ and then only hours old, more tubes and wires,

whisked away for a day ~

They say Marry In Haste Repent At Leisure;

Deus meus, ex toto corde poenitet ~
Strangely another blessing.

They say You’re Better Off Without Him;

And his leaving is my Absolution ~
But Penance may be eternal.

~ they are golden-haired little sweethearts,

baby treasures ~

They say Like Two Peas In A Pod;

Little face mirrors his sister's,
His eyes ever follow her.

They say Snips And Snails And Puppy Dog Tails;

But he is Sugar And Spice And Everything Nice.
Simply made, all smiles and love.

~ boundless energy, with winning ways,

our 3rd Musketeer ~

They say The Eyes Are The Window To The Soul;

Those blue eyes expose eternity ~
He's just wide open.

Always happy Walking On Sunshine;
On The Sunny Side Of The Street,
Joyful is his world.

~ his heartbeat is Hap-py, Hap-py, Hap-py,
Spring Loaded ~

They say Don’t Look A Gift Horse In The Mouth;
I did not, but just two months old,
Another hospital, tubes, and wires.

They say All’s Well That Ends Well;

And sometimes it does,
But that small blue face cut my soul.

~ fear burrows in deeply,
lying dormant all these years ~

They say A Child Shall Lead;

Not yet two, he tells me he’s happy God said Okay.
I ask, About What?

(We don’t go to church. How does he know about God?)

He tells me he was sitting with God

When God asked him Who Shall Be Your Mommy?
he pointed to me and said That One.

~ he was not yet two,
so I believe in You ~

They say Into Each Life Some Rain Must Fall;

Our storm loomed fourteen years ~
O that hap-py hap-py heartbeat.

Thumping too-fast too-fast;
Too many times for too many years ~
There will be yet another hospital, tubes, and wires.

Not yet two, he told me You said Okay.
You gave him to me
~ Spring Loaded ~

Don’t renege.

© ACG
23 June 2007