Wild Plant Garden Perfectionism? Haiku

Perfectionism

in a wild plant garden is

an oxymoron.

Pawpaw Male and Female Difference: Haiku

Out with my paintbrush
finding pawpaw pollen. Once

you see gold, it clicks.

At the request of a #PawpawFanatic on Facebook, I followed up with a limerick:

Telling pawpaw gender is easy

if you look when it’s not breezy.

Glance at a bloom when it’s still.

You won’t get a thrill,

but the males will make you sneezy.

Bluetooth Hearing Ignoring Non-Communication: Haiku Lament

If you don’t listen,
and plug your ears, it becomes
hard to talk to you.

Why Should I Care Slumber: Free Verse

She wants more,
cracks open the door,
slowly shutting it
as he droans on,
drones on
and on
and when he asks
what she needs
“Nothing.”
“What do you want?”
“Nothing.
I was wondering who
you were talking to.”

And doesn’t that really ask
the penultimate question?
“Who am I talking to?
What am I talking to?
What am I talking to who about?”
Does it matter?
Why should I care?

As I slip into
the abyss
of Nyquil-induced slumber,
I can only hope my alarm
eventually wakes me up.

And then,
that I won’t need melatonin
to go back to sleep
again.

Writing, Worried: Free Verse

Is he pretentious,
talented,
whimsical,
or just exhausted
and silly?

At last,
he is writing,
worried about what others think.
He hasn’t done that
in a long time.
He hasn’t cared.

I’m Responsible Memory

A half a century ago
my character yelled:
“I’m responsible!”
on stage.

I’m not certain that,
back then,
I knew what the phrase meant:
“I’m responsible!”

Now, decades past,
I understand that,
at my core,
I’m responsible.

It’s silly to blame
anyone else
for anything bad
in my life,
because it’s all good,
as long as
I think it is
and want it to be.

I’m responsilbe
for that.

Just When I Thought I Wouldn’t Care

Just when I thought
I wouldn’t care,
folks who brought me here
can’t be left there.

There’s much I want
to go and do.
I imagine at one time
they did too.

But then I and you
came to be,
and they stayed and cared
for you and me.

Now it’s our turn to watch and tend;
As they did before, we’ll help to their end.

Individual Responsibility Environmentalism: Free Verse

I’m called tree hugger,
greener,
environmentalist,
eco-warrior.

I call myself
those names, too.
But when I see
red-faced screamers
demanding that
governments and nations
make accords,
do something,
force compliance,
I back away.

Giving government
more power
is not where I’ll waste
my waste-fighting
eco-warrior
energies.

Haven’t we learned
from Muir,
Thoreau,
Leopold,
and others?

They DID,
and they wrote
about what they DID.
Movements started
with the power of
DOING,
with the power
of words.

They introduced others
to the beauty
and wonder
and peace,
and joy
found in God’s Creations,
in Mother Nature.

They partnered
with God,
with Nature,
to help folks,
the common man and woman,
feel love for
and wonder at
all God’s creations.

Because how will I
partner with,
love,
and protect
a creation
I’ve never experienced?

This was prompted by an essay on individual responsibility in environmentalism.

My Christmas Gift: Give Peace Haiku

I must be always/
positive, and give peace on/
earth, good will to all.

— The backstory for this poem was my take on Longfellow’s poem “I heard the Bells”, and also a haiku inspired by a prose piece Kate Phillips wrote. You can read it here.

Longfellow Christmas Day Remake: Peace On Earth Poem and Video

I have few words

This Christmas Day.

There isn’t much

I want to say.

But I’ll pray more,

Knees on the floor,

For peace on Earth,

good will to all.

I thought now

That the rain has come,

To solve my gifting

Conundrum,

I’d wish you near,

Those I hold dear,

And peace on Earth,

Good will to all!

I miss you all!

Know in my soul,

I wish to speak

So you will know

My deepest hope

For all my folks

Is peace on earth

Good will to all.

And if I fail

To talk to you,

Please still believe

My heart is true!

My fervent prayer

Gives love to share

With peace on Earth

Good will to all.

Though I may not

Take sorrow away,

Know this: I ask God

For you every day

To bring to you

Christ’s joy that’s true,