Haiku by Catbird

an old lion

2012-01-26T20:00:00.001-08:00

his once full mane

bedraggled, matted, thinning

yet his roar remains

broken teeth/ an old lion

2012-01-21T19:40:00.001-08:00

with broken teeth

an old lion tries to gnaw

a bone but cannot

2012-01-17T00:53:00.000-08:00

light from the Wolf Moon
on newly fallen snow
betrays a field mouse

breakfast

2012-01-11T15:48:00.000-08:00

this morning's breakfast
growing cold
the pain of loss

for Jordan, gone too soon and for his mom

2012-01-07T19:58:00.000-08:00

youth's bloom still on him
he leaves this life behind him
while a mother grieves

Winter

2011-12-25T14:28:00.001-08:00

slow falling snow
lightly dusts an empty field
with winter

Clear Lake -- miso soup

2011-12-01T20:27:00.001-08:00

clear lake enclosed
entirely within
a bowl of miso

curled, dry leaves

2011-11-13T20:36:00.000-08:00

crunch of curled, dry leaves
on a walkway that morning
after the time change

Mole Day (Oct. 23)

2011-10-24T06:59:00.000-07:00

his number measures
mass of everything
avocados, too

Many a middle school teacher has heard reference to an "Avocado's number."

2011-10-22T20:23:00.001-07:00

shooting stars leave trails
to destinations unknown
Godspeed, travelers

Mud dauber wasps

2011-10-19T08:08:00.001-07:00

little gray condos
under a window sill
wasps' pied-à-terre

Silver dollar moon

2011-10-13T05:30:00.001-07:00

Silver dollar moon
over a clear, still lake
fall evening

Her final journey

2011-10-08T18:48:00.000-07:00

she readies herself
for her final journey
with faith her compass

skipper butterfly, first flight

2011-10-06T05:28:00.000-07:00

its wings flutter
as it makes its first flight
flashes of bright blue

Florida executes Manuel Valle 28 Sept. 2011

2011-09-28T18:40:00.000-07:00

his gaunt, old body
strapped to a gurney waiting
for a lethal dose

Rosary

2011-09-26T23:20:00.000-07:00

Rosary held
by hands once smooth now gnarled
promises kept

skate key

2011-09-21T20:16:00.000-07:00

rusty skate key
found in a crowded attic
bruised knee memories

lost symphonies

2011-09-19T21:55:00.000-07:00

faded ticket stub
found in an old coat's pocket
lost symphonies

9/11 shadows

2011-09-11T20:08:00.000-07:00

Bright autumn morning
bluest of skies overhead
then two dark shadows

Tuesday morning, 9/11/2001

2011-09-09T19:00:00.000-07:00

Ordinary morning
bluest of skies, crisp, clear air
until the shadows

City Blackbirds

2011-09-07T21:34:00.000-07:00

umbrellas take flight
on a windy afternoon
so many blackbirds

Number 2 pencils

2011-08-26T06:07:00.001-07:00

Number 2 pencils
small hands hold them so tightly
while they bubble in

Hiroshima survivor

2011-08-06T21:54:00.001-07:00

burns cover her face
dirt, blood, and tears stain her dress
she holds a riceball

Murder of the Romanov Grand Duchesses

2011-07-20T04:24:00.000-07:00

that July morning
each clinging to each other
sisters to the end

El Greco's Penitent Magdalene

2011-07-13T10:03:00.000-07:00

her sorrowful eyes
remain fixed on her Master's
no words are needed

raindrop

2011-07-12T14:05:00.001-07:00

another raindrop
finds its way down my t-shirt
refreshing tingle

dairy illusion

2011-06-28T11:49:00.000-07:00

front and hindquarters
seemingly unattached
Dutch Belted cow

Pigs at a trough

2011-06-24T05:32:00.000-07:00

jowls to jowls they crowd
pigs along a feeding trough
glint of sharp knives

Castle under siege

2011-06-07T02:30:00.001-07:00

Castle under siege
by a determined foe
the rising tide

Commencement Day

2011-05-18T10:03:00.000-07:00

his rough hands hold hers
no words are said or needed
commencement day

for all the grandparents, parents, aunts and uncles whose smiles speak volumes
at graduation ceremonies throughout the land

Remembering Kent State, May 4 1970

2011-05-18T10:00:00.000-07:00

that spring day
the flowers have long faded
yet we remember

reflection on the mirror

2011-05-18T09:50:00.000-07:00

the mirror reflects
a face I know so well
dad's

Egret

2011-04-29T23:06:00.000-07:00

perched on a guardrail
of a busy highway
an egret preems

"Noli me Tangere" -- the first Easter

2011-04-24T10:14:00.000-07:00

Her tear-moistened eyes
look at his gentle face
no words are needed

Christ is Risen!

in memory of two heroes - Gagarin and Komarov

2011-04-13T20:17:00.000-07:00

life everlasting
uniting two brothers
Yuri and Vladimir

Gagarin's Flight

2011-04-13T18:45:00.000-07:00

Too young to know fear
he becomes impatient --
"let's go." -- Gagarin

Death steals a young life in Rio

2011-04-07T21:57:00.000-07:00

Her math assignment
only with few erasures
now stained with her blood

Teilhard de Chardin

2011-04-07T04:37:00.000-07:00

reaching for heaven
as both priest and scholar
Teilhard's convergence

Lost Umbrellas

2011-04-05T20:41:00.000-07:00

My lost umbrella
joins all the others misplaced
by careless owners

Sailboats

2011-03-27T13:25:00.000-07:00

Under a spring moon
sailboats riding at anchor
that early morning

Morning stillness

2011-03-22T17:46:00.001-07:00

Morning stillness
under a bright, spring moon
a small lake shimmers

first dawn of spring

2011-03-22T04:37:00.000-07:00

first dawn of spring
horizon blushes pink
I resume my walk

spring moon

2011-03-22T04:31:00.000-07:00

sheltering waters
reflect the spring moon
to the shore

pink bear cub rescued, Japan

2011-03-16T20:02:00.000-07:00

A pink bear cub ?
her cries attract rescuers
caution: she's hungry

a four month old baby girl was found by rescuers. When found, she looked just fine; cute as button in her pink bear cub pjs.

Salty tears

2011-03-13T14:00:00.000-07:00

salty tears return
to the sea
our tired, dry eyes

Awakenings

2011-03-13T13:31:00.000-07:00

flutter of butterflies
clang of temple bells
awakenings

Japan Quake

2011-03-11T18:24:00.000-08:00

the ground gives way
and sea rushes in
uninvited

bloody feathers

2011-03-11T18:19:00.000-08:00

bloody feathers
found in a small clump
owl's work

Vuelta al parque

2011-03-08T08:42:00.000-08:00

Parasols in hand
they take their walks
leisurely.

Winter's Grip

2011-03-06T13:56:00.000-08:00

no forcing spring from
winter's grip this time
sleet, cold rain, and snow

Bessie Smith

2011-03-04T08:12:00.000-08:00

I ain't good lookin'
-- so Bessie once said
angel child of blues

Spring flowers

2011-03-04T08:08:00.001-08:00

Early spring flowers
unaware
of their poetry

Urban spring

2011-03-04T08:01:00.000-08:00

Cracks on a sidewalk
hidden by trash, grass and weeds
urban spring

Passing of baseball royalty

2011-02-27T16:51:00.001-08:00

Of Brooklyn's peerage
the heart of the order
Duke Snider

Mare Crisium

2011-02-25T18:31:00.001-08:00

Fountain pen ink spill
not contained by a blotter
Mare Crisium

Christchurch, NZ

2011-02-24T06:35:00.000-08:00

Under the rubble
a pram's wheels, a torn blanket
nothing more

Bring a plate to Kiwis!

2011-02-23T18:40:00.000-08:00

Good on you, mates
the quake leaves you bloody
but unbowed

Rafters on the Florida Straits

2011-02-22T15:27:00.000-08:00

on old inner tubes
they cling -- barely
a wide, wide sea

Malcolm Little - Malcolm X - El Hajj Malik El Shabazz, American

2011-02-20T19:25:00.000-08:00

Salaam, Malcolm
your walk ended too soon
the road calls

from a past war (any war)

2011-02-20T09:57:00.000-08:00

Wet snow falls slowly
on a young deserter who
shivers and cries softly

One last tango

2011-02-07T21:30:00.000-08:00

Fragrance of mothballs
On a rusty black suit pressed
For one last tango

Denounce human trafficking especially that which preys on children

2011-02-06T20:33:00.000-08:00

Mascara can't hide
her eyes of a child
from circling hawks

too many nations still have failed to comply with the United Nations' Protocol to Prevent, Suppress, and Punish Trafficking in Persons. often the victims are children still in grade school.

Morning tea

2011-02-05T16:25:00.001-08:00

Roiling green froth
about to spill over
-- my morning tea

Solidarity with right over might -- God bless the people of Egypt

2011-02-03T19:43:00.000-08:00

Whips in hand they charge
-- lashing at the crowds
who hold their ground

A young victim at Moscow Airport

2011-01-28T19:44:00.000-08:00

she is done crying
now she slowly rocks herself
her wide open eyes

Evening toast

2011-01-28T19:40:00.000-08:00

Lengthening shadows
day gives up -- reluctantly
we toast the evening

Moscow airport bombing victim

2011-01-25T13:54:00.001-08:00

rivulets of red
running down her pale young face
she clutches a doll

Viva Vivaldi!

2011-01-24T21:15:00.000-08:00

two in honor of the "red priest", Anna Giro, and the wayward girls from Ospedale
della Pietà

a bit of springtime
cheers him in January
his thoughts of Anna

Risque Vivaldi
his girls with their mandolins
trouble the censors

in honor of Jan. 20, 1961 -- JFK's Inaugural

2011-01-14T21:04:00.000-08:00

An old poet reads
words held in his memory
that bright, cold noonday

spider's web

2011-01-12T21:08:00.000-08:00

a spider's new web
glistening with morning dew
and stuck in my hair

Blackbird rain

2011-01-04T11:06:00.000-08:00

New Year's sky darkens
five thousand blackbirds raining
on shocked onlookers

Urban nectar

2010-12-14T06:30:00.000-08:00

yellow jackets sip
from a half-empty soda
swarm of tiny burps

22 November 1963

2010-11-12T20:47:00.001-08:00

he turns one last time
to wave, flash his sailor's smile
that bright November

Armistice Day

2010-11-09T20:04:00.000-08:00

clock hands seemed to stick
that chilly autumn morning
on the Western Front

the 11th hour
the 11th month
the 11th day

November 11, 1918

return to Iwo To (Iwo Jima)

2010-10-25T21:02:00.000-07:00

On sulfur island
homeless ghosts amble slowly
on the cold gray sands

Japan returns the island to its original name, Iwo To but it is Iwo Jima to history-- and sacrifice.

roadside crosses

2010-10-25T21:01:00.000-07:00

white roadside crosses
where the road's swale meets Nature
memento mori

Catch of the Day

2010-09-27T13:22:00.000-07:00

glassy-eyed, gutted
catch of the day on shaved ice
at the fish market

Helmet toss

2010-09-20T13:39:00.000-07:00

Helmet flung away
a giant's toss in anger
misses its target

Wood grouse

2010-09-09T13:49:00.001-07:00

feathered autumn
standing its ground against all
so defiantly

Labor Day

2010-09-07T11:42:00.000-07:00

late summer breeze cools
a day too full of sunshine
at a crowded beach

Full Corn Moon

2010-09-07T11:41:00.000-07:00

Full Corn Moon
time to gather the harvest
before leaves fall

the new frosh

2010-08-31T16:58:00.001-07:00

his sunglasses hide
(he thinks) eyes misting over
she smiles - the new frosh

Perseid meteor showers

2010-08-23T19:11:00.000-07:00

bright streak, another
early morning meteors
"they're fireflies, hon!"

August morning

2010-08-06T13:16:00.001-07:00

too hot for miso!
he pushes it aside
that August morning

Remains of a morning

2010-08-06T13:11:00.000-07:00

his reading glasses
dusty but without a scratch
scholar's monument

the weight of Hiroshima

2010-08-06T13:09:00.000-07:00

what her hands carried
the weight of the world
in one small package

Hiroshima

2010-08-03T18:21:00.000-07:00

shadows on a wall
cast by empty black ruins
all that remain

roadside shrine

2010-07-27T13:41:00.000-07:00

wildflower bouquet
left on a country highway
the endless road

The Romanovs - July 17, 1918

2010-07-20T08:02:00.000-07:00

roused from her sleep
she must have groused at Olga
pillows sent flying

a bull

2010-07-08T07:42:00.001-07:00

a maddened bull
goaded by his tormentors
finally charges

Babi Yar

2010-07-05T23:40:00.000-07:00

Valley of Women
years cannot erase tears, blood
their pale bodies

2010-06-29T14:59:00.002-07:00

Don't cry, beloved
our unborn child is free from all our fears
God bless South Africa

Blood Diamonds

2010-06-29T14:59:00.001-07:00

Mines feed on miners
taking small bites or mouthfuls
blood diamonds

Manute Bol

2010-06-19T22:43:00.001-07:00

Manute: special blessing
his name, his destiny
a giant's passing

Sunshowers

2010-06-07T16:18:00.000-07:00

no bouquet to catch
she opens her umbrella
devil's wedding day

spring shower

2010-05-29T11:14:00.001-07:00

lazy raindrops
splash on my window sill
late spring shower

Wednesday birthday

2010-05-19T06:41:00.001-07:00

Wednesday birthday
can't quite fully celebrate
but I'll force myself

Texting

2010-05-19T06:32:00.000-07:00

she pushes her
lessons aside and texts
hyperactive thumbs

Miss USA

2010-05-18T10:16:00.001-07:00

Detroit's latest
with a classy chassis
sporty Rima Fakih

Silence

2010-05-12T19:51:00.001-07:00

no one will listen
nor try to understand
elective silence