Haibun Poems

Nor a lovely form, nor a relevant content, nor sophisticated writing technique. Goosebumps, a cool wave along the spine, a flash of pleasure and the pleasure's aftertaste - a strange feeling akin to a guilty conscience of the handworker who,...Read More

The day was warm for November, almost seventy degrees. The cat unrolled her length 
to glean the most sunlight possible.  An opossum came up to drink the cat’s water, but the
cat was wise, not uttering a sound, understanding opossums...Read More

They know everything, viewing unsuspecting beings, as they pass beneath, they whisper their secrets upon the air.  Leaf-songs no human can interpret, ride the winds like a bird, winging its way across azure skies.

bird 
on a branch 
rustling leaves

Owls...Read More

In a gorgeous meadow chock full of butterflies and daylilies there lived a 
sassy happy beautiful dragonfly.  She was loved by the tulips, roses, and coneflowers. The monarchs revered her, seeing the joy she brought to the meadow. ...Read More

It was sudden, as they say in dime novels, but it was really sudden: having fallen asleep in this world, we woke up in another, and there wasn’t a place in the world for us. It wasn’t a matter of...Read More

How thankful can one woman really be? Is there a limit to how deep gratitude flows- a way to measure how much love I hold in my heart for my family? Forty-years of Thanksgiving meals shared next to the ones...Read More

What's the hurry
Can you sit for a minute
Let's talk
I know you 
Are very busy
Have a lot of responsibilities
And don't have much time

But I wanted to tell you
I love you
Need you
And I am proud of you

I'll be here waiting
The next time
You...Read More

You can open your eyes now, darling. Surpise! I bought it two days ago. This is a living room. There will be nursery. There's no furniture in a here yet, except that vase on the floor. Please, put this beautiful...Read More

The Buddhists say: "If you used a raft to cross the river, there is no need to drag it along further". Oh, my good old dictionary! You're my raft in the great water of English language. Alas, we'll always be...Read More

If I were Hansel, you would be my Gretel. If I were Jaime, you would be my Cersei. If I were your brother, you would be my beloved sister. “You have stolen my heart, my sister, my bride; you have...Read More

I once tried to spend the night in a tree.

Back in the late 1960s, my older sister, a nurse, found a job for me as a nurse's aide at a Sydney hospital.  I hated it there, so one evening...Read More

Every year from spring through fall, if you peered between the cattails you could see the swans in the center of the pond, head to head, their love peering back. On the pond's edges, from the tops of lily pads,...Read More

Reading Shakespeare, I used to smoke Ophelia’s garland for a better understanding: crow-flowers, nettles, daisies and long purples that liberal shepherds give a grosser name, but our cold maids do dead men's fingers call them. Fingers caused hypnogogic hallucinations, daisies...Read More

The long guns trained upon my fragile refuge,
yet still to find forgiveness in contrite cadence' known.
Will you discover the dream has died-
in defiance of a love so giving...
to find the day's child-like grasp,
of world and wonder worth living.
...Read More

A blue as a local mailbox and a long-awaited as a letter, weather is finally fine and I can go for a walk. At this time of year the beach of Biscarrosse looks like the phone call I had with...Read More

Dedicated to my Friend, Andrea Dietrich


A blessing meant to materialize is how I define Andrea’s role in my life.  Andrea is a bright light of warmth that I began to seek more and more as our personalities seamlessly bonded...Read More

My mind wears a secret alleyway, where thoughts lead to a threshold turning my dreams into memories; I tuck them away for safekeeping. Clandestine voices sow seeds of reveries that sweep into silent stars at dusk. Concealed and wrapped up...Read More

A steady, pulsating rhythm of tree frogs, crickets and other creatures of the eventide floods my senses as I gaze above into a nightsky filled with a billion diamonds glittering in celestial harmony while a blue corn moon dominates the...Read More

A dime for a lie, a lie for what is his; his father endows him, a bouquet of lies. It carries no promises nor paradise dreams, distorted smiles, and cries of scream. A bloody caress by a muddled stream. The...Read More

PASSING THE BUCK

As to Cain eating the apple, he then blames Eve, Eve in turn blames the Serpent. God blames the Serpent, then which the Serpent slivers off putting all the blame on God.

Don't you try blame me,
in image of...Read More

BODY COUNT - THE OLD TESTAMENT 

God’s score 2.038.344 (without counting the women and children)
Satan’s score 10

Follow if you please,
with a ignorance so blind. 
Your murderous God.

Indiana Shaw . . ....Read More

WHY ALLAH IS GOD 

The word Ilah (Illah) means god, any old god; Allah is the one and only and for him there is no other name, but Allah. If we take the Bible and the book of Genesis of...Read More

Your natural verve infused everyone who came into your sphere with a zest for life; you coloured peoples’ lives with vivid hues. Your untimely parting of this mortal coil has left a chasm of immeasurable sorrow. We yearn for that...Read More

A vagabond "gypsy" performs the "perfect illusion" her garb of ever changing "fashion" this conscious lady of reinvention. 
she says, she was "born this way", could it be "vanity"....O' how she holds the perfect "poker face"...unaware of her next move...Read More

Angels Danced

Precious child you were born blue with an apgar score of
only two, not breathing. Your mommy struggled long to 
give you life with great difficulty in a brow birth which
led to a C section. After two days of torturous...Read More

Read wonderful haibun poetry on the following sub-topics: autobiography, diary, essay, prose, story and more. Read a definition and example (where appropriate).