marlene mountain (TN, USA) & Michelle V. Alkerton (Lohnes) (ON, Canada)

 

linked haiku         5/7/1999-5/17/1999

 

'around a tree'  

 

  rescuer: baby curled around a tree her little face in the mud

         grass stained knees weeding done for today

   company coming no idea how a clean-up begins in such crone digs

         the antique store closes door chimes echo behind me

  in a wrinkled shirt with a couple of buttons the new bamboo

         waffle cone drips from double scoop of chocolate swirl

 

         gold candy wrapper tangled amid the hotel's dirty sheets

   the thousands on borders who live in tents if 'lucky'

        last log on the bonfire sharing ghost stories and a tin cup

   kids with several mothers fathers grandparents and halves

         each segment of grapefruit topped with sugar and puckered lips

   her voice harsher as she cuts back on prozac

         walk in bitter wind his football shoulders blocking me

   run-down both my squeaky pickup and its owner

         the middle stair always announces comings and goings

   just that a fleeting idea for a painting series

         monarch butterfly brief quiver over unplayed piano keys

   transplanted may apple semi-guilt

 

   what i wanted yesterday all i can find in today's rummagings

         folding his baby clothes packed box for the needy

   every detail exploited for ratings 'wounded student update'

         final report card summer begins with sigh of relief

   indifference to an editor's yes/no the poem already written

         after the ink dries fresh frame of mind

   the pond rain-clean a warm-bodied timidity keeps me on edge

         fourth grade outing empty juice box filled with polywogs

   hey 'potatoe' guy do your family values thing in a spelling bee

         pressed between pages with zap and zebu a red maple leaf

   i forget this is the information age forget to search the web

         mid sentence to realize beginning is lost

 

         rusty hinges brown streaks flow down the door jamb

   old story dumb dumber dumbest running the world

         distorting history with humour artist rendition in caricature

   nature just nature vs competition as -ologies preach

         east coast rocks tar forms the jagged profile of an elder

   the heat clothes huddled on the washer drying

 

 

©1999 by marlene mountain & Michelle V. Alkerton (Lohnes)