Category Archives: Writing about Feelings

Washing Hands Lament

There once was a man
who didn’t wash his hands
then touched everything in the kitchen.

When I remind him again
after he’d touched his glands,
I always felt I was bitchin’.

(That is to say,
not in a good way,
I’d rather eat rotten chicken.)

What should I do?
What should I say?
I continually remind him
day after day.

He just shrugs and stares.
He clearly doesn’t care.
Maybe not caring’s the trick
(At least ’til I get sick.)

You’d think what we’d seen
during Covid-19
would change his hand washing
without all my bossing.

What should I do?
I haven’t a clue.
And now I’ll go puke
’cause I’ve got the flu.

What’s It Like To Be Kind? Haiku

What’s it like to be
that kind and caring person?
She’ll never wonder.

Backstory: A Facebook post about a friend talked about how she was being kind and caring. As I was reading about what she’d done, this poem came to mind. I wondered what it would be like to be kind and caring, and realized that was probably something she never had to think about. She just IS that way. “Kindness begins with me.”

What if Nature, the woods and trees miss us as much as we miss them?

What If The Trees Miss Us? Haiku

What if the trees deep/
in the woods miss us as much/
as we’re missing them?

Back Story:
The other day I was walking through the woods at Spirit Tree Farms, and I felt like I should spend some time at the base of The Old Woman of the Woods, “our” pre-Civil War giant oak tree. As I was feeling her bark, connecting with her, I felt a deep melancholy, a sense of longing, a sense of missing her. I wondered why I’d stayed away from connecting with her, and Nature, and God’s creations, for so long.

Suddenly, I was away that the feeling was mutual. It was almost as if she whispered “Hello, Boy. Welcome back. I’ve missed you. I’ve been lonely for you.”

I’d never thought of that concept before, that maybe the trees miss us! That thought inspired this haiku.

Morning Tense Bringing: Haiku Lament

When shouting and rage,
not birdsong, start your day, you’ll
feel tense ’til you change.

Backstory: This morning I got up early to enjoy the sunrise and the birdsong greeting the day. Suddenly, from another part of the house, I heard a video or news report. The audio was full of commentators shreaking and yelling. I felt myself tense up immediately, and even when the broadcast was shut off, I still felt tense and resentful the rest of the morning.