ㅁ The ocean was big; it hurled big waves at the rocks, but the sea-mist hung.
– a pseudo-haiku.
Category: My Poetry & Fiction
Caveat: Poem #2306 “Our relations with ourselves”
ㅁ "Pathological optimism" was the pithy phrase he applied to characterize himself. My father wasn't wrong. It has vast problems. But at the least it avoids hating things.
– a nonnet.
Caveat: Poem #2305 “A true story of abandonment”
ㅁ A man came, and knocked. He told a story: "God left me." We could not help him.
– a pseudo-haiku.
Caveat: Poem #2304 “Fade out”
ㅁ Perhaps it is inevitable, the narcissism of old age: our world becomes more opaque and senses betray us; we retreat inward, stories repeat, all the world becomes flat.
– a nonnet.
Caveat: Poem #2303 “A great expanse”
ㅁ Things I miss about Los Angeles include the smell before the dawn, tacos within a short walk, the whooshing sound of cars, Spanish overheard, broken sidewalks, mad traffic, oak trees, dirt.
– a nonnet.
Caveat: Poem #2302 “In the light”
ㅁ My father sleeps with all the lights on. I wonder how it affects dreams. Will my dreams attenuate, during my visit here? It's intentional. Lights on... now sleep. But still, I prefer dark.
– a nonnet.
Caveat: Poem #2301 “A barrier”
ㅁ The fence presented haphazard rails: janky intentionality, more a symbol of a fence than anything useful... and still it said "fence" where you see it and can feel the path's closed.
– a nonnet.
Caveat: Poem #2300 “Undriven”
ㅁ four-thirty, pre-dawn... city streets: just as empty as Alaska's roads
– a pseudo-haiku.
Caveat: Poem #2299 “The procession”
ㅁ there was slow traffic cars creeping like sad hippos along the I-10
– a pseudo-haiku.
Caveat: Poem #2298 “The signifying regime”
ㅁ The city gave reassurances, anonymous but palpable; the population did things, pursued goals and knew signs, all without guidance, all on their own, inventing, living, real.
– a nonnet.
Caveat: Poem #2297 “An ode to The Angels”
ㅁ
The One Thirty-four
embraced me, like a lover,
replayed old commutes;
the gray skyline hung
against an orangish wall
defined by the air;
I went to Burbank
and tasted the sidewalk there,
consumed memories;
I miss my home here:
the city's tight solitudes
enveloping all.
– four pseudo-haiku as stanzas in a poem.
Caveat: Poem #2296 “Y una dona de chocolate”
ㅁ The city's pleasures: dawn walk to the donut shop, un cafe grande.
– a pseudo-haiku.
Caveat: Poem #2295 “Out east of I-5”
ㅁ An orange moon rose, above Bakersfield's dim lights, while I drove, southbound.
– a pseudo-haiku.
Caveat: Poem #2294 “A breath”
ㅁ the world, like a lung expands impulsively out and then shrinks again
– a pseudo-haiku.
Caveat: Poem #2293 “Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose”
ㅁ We left behind rain, traveled some eight hundred miles, and arrived in rain.
– a pseudo-haiku.
Caveat: Poem #2292 “Salutations in passing”
ㅁ We waved at the sea. And the sea waved back at us... with surging whitecaps.
– a pseudo-haiku.
Caveat: Poem #2291 “A moment of reflection”
ㅁ Some snow fell last night. You can see moonlight reflect. It might change to rain.
– a pseudo-haiku.
Caveat: Poem #2290 “Not quite darkness”
ㅁ The moonlight shone in, illuminating the floor. I left the lights off.
– a pseudo-haiku.
Caveat: Poem #2289 “Apocalypse”
ㅁ the wind cleared the sky dried the mud along the road chilled my monologue
– a pseudo-haiku.
Caveat: Poem #2288 “A denizen of the sky”
ㅁ the moon was all white climbing up the eastern sky plotting its glowing
– a pseudo-haiku.
Caveat: Poem #2287 “Struggle”
ㅁ I sat down in the cold snow, getting wet, trying to get that round 'O', the wheel, on the hub; too low.
– an englyn penfyr.
Caveat: Poem #2286 “Two against one”
ㅁ the mud grasped at me and made dark alliances with grim gravity
– a pseudo-haiku.
Caveat: Poem #2285 “Waiting for the parade”
ㅁ The ravens lined up along the road there in town, hoping for a show.
– a pseudo-haiku.
Caveat: Poem #2284 “Sixty-sixth stanza”
ㅁ Not-A-Wolf tested the ground with his feet: icy, and gaining a layer of sleet. Nevertheless, he decided to move. Soldiers were coming. He'd something to prove.
– a quatrain in dactylic tetrameter. Not-A-Wolf is Kiamon’s great-great-great-great-grandfather.
Caveat: Poem #2283 “The moonlit sea”
ㅁ The moon was big and oddly shaped: three-quarters full, a lump. It hung out over islands, there: the mountain just a bump.
– a quatrain in ballad meter.
Caveat: Poem #2282 “Winter’s first attempt”
ㅁ yesterday morning there were some remnants of snow scattered here and there
– a pseudo-haiku.
Caveat: Poem #2281 “Tea set”
ㅁ I have this tea set - an old-style Korean one. I don't much use it.
– a pseudo-haiku.
Caveat: Poem #2280 “Viaje nocturno”
ㅁ estoy trasnochado... una fiebre débil me acosaba
– un seudo-haiku.
Caveat: Poem #2279 “Post vaccination”
ㅁ I got a bit sick, lay there feeling feverish, drank lots of liquids.
– a pseudo-haiku.
Caveat: Poem #2278 “Gifts from the sky-gods”
ㅁ the mud appears outside my door it's crafted from above I recognize its provenance the clouds are showing love
– a quatrain in ballad meter.
Caveat: Poem #2276 “Pilgrimage”
ㅁ The winter comes here in slow steps with each step made of wet. The only thing that moves in steps: each night is colder yet.
– a quatrain in ballad meter.
Caveat: Poem #2275 “The thrown stone skipping across water”
ㅁ some nights I sleep through while others I skip across a stone over dreams
– a pseudo-haiku.
Caveat: Poem #2274 “And then I woke up”
ㅁ confused tableaux disjointed narratives surreal settings strange dreams unlikely transitions random characters old memories strange dreams korean prison alaskan school mexican church strange dreams it's happened there appeared made abstract giraffe came said some things captured me turned yellow past events present anxieties future hopes strange dreams
– a quennet.