Fear is what you see
in the shadows when there is
nothing there to see.

~DB Monteith

The mystery of
missing cats at breakfast, solved
by scattered feathers.

~David M

sometimes it feels futile
to want to become anything
other than my father

Another former
student is now a teacher.
I feel old. And proud.

It felt like a crime
at the time. Under the sheets,
reading by flashlight.

David M

I'll share with you the haiku that inspired my "Illusion" haiku as soon as I can find the author to give credit. In the meantime, I'm fascinated by how small changes can make a big difference. Examples:

Illusion may have
walked in with me, but will she
be the first to leave.

Illusion may have
walked in with me; will she be
again first to leave

Not really sure which of those I like best.

Illusion may have
walked in with me, but she will
be the first to leave.

~DM

Spiders, you can stay.
Fleas and roaches, you cannot.
We all have our lines.

~DM

Alone in a dark
house, watching the neighbors' lights
blink out around me.

~DM

Conquering the world
no longer satisfying.
I close my laptop.

A glimpse of their life
ahead in their answers to
"Sunrise or sunset?"

Colorful flowers
artfully dying over
the already dead.

I appreciate the feedback on the previous haiku. I must admit I was happy with them and have since been pushing myself to create more that I was equally proud of. Apparently that's not how my creativity works though. :-) For the sake of continuing to write rather than waiting for the perfect lines to come, I post these.

Museum piece, mine.
Under glass, out of reach, my
creativity.

Sink of a thousand
knobs. Labeled in a strange tongue.
Creativity!

What's it take, LA,
for us to become SA?
~San Antonio

You say I keep you
at arm's length. I say, "I wish
I had shorter arms".

To Do

Sometimes the endless
To Do list gives me purpose.
Sometimes it doesn't.

inscription

"I love you" written
inside the book of poems
at the used book store.

reflection

Briefly, the object
smashing the mirror was as
close as it appeared.

bird's eye view

Says the bird to the
new car, old tire swing or you,
"I poop where I want!"

choice

a long drive, but i
spend minutes more in the car
until the song's end

email

The email comes in,
but it can't be sent, so here
I say, "Hi, Amy!"

Ask yourself this: Why
is braille on the keys at the
drive thru atm?

a temporary
tattoo tells of summer fun -
pale stripes on dark skin.

A train whistle blows.
Our dog howls a loud reply.
Too bad it's midnight.

~DMonteith

why

I can't say that I started a haiku blog with a clear and definite purpose. In addition to some original haiku and some haiku by others, I'll try to give you some history of haiku. In the process, maybe the reason haiku appeals to me will be revealed to both of us.
Here are a few quotes from the book "The Haiku Handbook" that seem relevant:

"The primary purpose of reading and writing haiku is sharing moments of our lives that have moved us, pieces of experience and perception that we offer or receive as gifts." (Higginson, pg. v)

"When we compose a haiku we are saying, 'It is hard to tell you how I am feeling. Perhaps if I share with you the event that made me aware of these feelings, you will have similar feelings of your own.'" (Higginson, pg. 3)


I'm not sure I agree with the part about attempting to engender similar feelings, but I do like aspects of both of those sentiments.
Higginson with Penny Harter, William. The Haiku Handbook. New York: Kodansha International Ltd., 1989.

box

The box holding trash
bags becomes the first piece of
trash in the last bag.

~DMonteith

Magnetic Haiku

So we have a multitude of magnetic words on our fridge, which occasionally get rearranged into small poems. Seeing them made me wonder if there was an electronic version floating around out there somewhere. Sure enough, on the Magnetic Poetry site, there's an option for you to use one of their kits to create a work of your own. Here's mine:

Two more from Issa

We have two dogs and two cats. They spend very little time inside, but it's just enough that they took the blame for what we thought was a flea problem. Turns out the offending insect was a mosquito or three instead of flea or twelve. Which brings me to two more of my favorites from Issa, translation by Robert Hass from the site Hass on haiku.

For you fleas too
the nights must be long,
they must be lonely.

Issa

Mosquito at my ear--
does it think
I'm deaf?

Issa

Origami

These are inspired by an article I read in the latest Discover magazine. Apparently, people who do origami are called origamists.

Origamist: fold,
fold, fold, fold, fold, fold, fold, fold,
fold: giant lizard.

Young boy: fold, fold, fold,
fold, fold, fold, fold, fold, fold, fold,
fold: paper airplane.

"My plane fires missiles."
"My lizard breathes fire and stomps."
Godzilla is born.

~DBMonteith

which do you prefer?

Moon in the morning,
for you and me both, the night
was not long enough.

OR

Moon in the morning,
the night, for you and me both,
was not long enough.

Not sure I like the last line of either, but i'm curious about which middle line strikes your fancy.

karaoke

We've been playing Karaoke Revolution as a family for the past week or so and it's reminded me of one of my favorite haiku by a Japanese master, Issa. This a translation by Robert Hass. This and more of Issa's poetry can be found at: http://www.english.uiuc.edu/maps/poets/g_l/haas/haiku.htm


Even with insects,
some can sing,
some can't.

~Issa

Haiku on Day Two

If I were a nut
I'd say, "There's meat in this shell,
vegetarians."

~DMonteith
June 13, 2006

Creative Outlet

Inspired by the documentary Gigantic, and my best friend, Jeff Hebert, I've decided to start this Creative Outlet. I'll see how it goes. Haiku writing comes to mind. You've just read my first.