Friday, July 19, 2013
Haiku Friday: In the Basement/Attic
Until I moved to Texas, I loved basements, those repositories of the true souls of a family. There's such beauty in detritus, the things we can't bring ourselves to discard, but don't know quite what to do with.
Then, in Texas, no one had a basement. There, it was the attic that served this function.
So, pick your poison-- attic or basement. I think you know where I am going here. I will go first:
His best painting sits
Beneath some others, skates, wine,
Much lov'd silt of life.
Ok, now it is your turn-- it doesn't have to be about your basement, necessarily. Have fun! Make it more or less 5 syllables/7 syllables/5 syllables, and let it rip!
Comments:
<< Home
Campbell, it's the soil:
clay, limestone ... rock-hard to dig!
Always wanted one.
Attics are stifling
hot, and I don't like ladders.
Lose-lose, in my mind.
clay, limestone ... rock-hard to dig!
Always wanted one.
Attics are stifling
hot, and I don't like ladders.
Lose-lose, in my mind.
Boogieman lives down there,
Moldy laundry,empty boxes,
Broken Christmas toys.
Friendly foes long to
Observe my frailty which lies
Beneath this rubble.
I stand in stairwell,
Menacing Chinese Warrior
Of Clay...guarding tomb.
But do they know,it
Is so very easy,to
Lose your way here?...Snared.
Moldy laundry,empty boxes,
Broken Christmas toys.
Friendly foes long to
Observe my frailty which lies
Beneath this rubble.
I stand in stairwell,
Menacing Chinese Warrior
Of Clay...guarding tomb.
But do they know,it
Is so very easy,to
Lose your way here?...Snared.
# posted by 
: 10:21 AM
: 10:21 AM
Pa,drunk already,
Roared,"Get elderberry wine!"
So,we took oil lamp
Lit,down stairs,holding
Hands. Only three and four.Sis
Tripped.Lamp shattered,and
We flew up the stairs.
Scared and crying,we faced Pa.
Put out fire still drunk.
Roared,"Get elderberry wine!"
So,we took oil lamp
Lit,down stairs,holding
Hands. Only three and four.Sis
Tripped.Lamp shattered,and
We flew up the stairs.
Scared and crying,we faced Pa.
Put out fire still drunk.
# posted by : 10:37 AM
: 10:37 AM
My dead daughter lives
In the attic.She shawls herself
Silkpearl wedding dress.
It was mine in 1982.
She eats meringues of cobwebs,
Drinks melted icicles.
At least I know where
She is and sometimes I come
To see ephemeral,
Her small body like a
Moth,light on photographs
Where she isn't.
In the attic.She shawls herself
Silkpearl wedding dress.
It was mine in 1982.
She eats meringues of cobwebs,
Drinks melted icicles.
At least I know where
She is and sometimes I come
To see ephemeral,
Her small body like a
Moth,light on photographs
Where she isn't.
# posted by : 10:46 AM
: 10:46 AM
Sal and I sat on
The green fringed couch in cellar
L'il bro crouched nearby.
Key coital moment
He ran screaming upstairs.Wow!
Naked Sal ran too.
It was the best of
Times;it was the worst
Of times.'Sixty-nine!
The green fringed couch in cellar
L'il bro crouched nearby.
Key coital moment
He ran screaming upstairs.Wow!
Naked Sal ran too.
It was the best of
Times;it was the worst
Of times.'Sixty-nine!
# posted by : 12:54 PM
: 12:54 PM
Listen Osler--Geoff sucks!
Check out line eight,Dink!
Two syllables too short,which
Describes your parts well.
Check out line eight,Dink!
Two syllables too short,which
Describes your parts well.
# posted by : 12:59 PM
: 12:59 PM
Me, too--
Geoff and Sally are brilliant!
Found in my basement:
Mouse poop, feral cats, crickets
No wonder I'm scared!
Geoff and Sally are brilliant!
Found in my basement:
Mouse poop, feral cats, crickets
No wonder I'm scared!
# posted by : 7:36 PM
: 7:36 PM
Cement gripped our brains
Putty-fingered,bloatkittens,
Runny-eyed,staggered
Into gunny sacks
Held by determined mother
Who walked to weir-box. Plop.
The boys lived down there.
Depression held court,wore a
Clammy cold crown.
We lived there until
Our house was built.In a body
With out a head.We
Malingered. Once the
House was built,we moved up. Grew
Tails.Salamanders.
Putty-fingered,bloatkittens,
Runny-eyed,staggered
Into gunny sacks
Held by determined mother
Who walked to weir-box. Plop.
The boys lived down there.
Depression held court,wore a
Clammy cold crown.
We lived there until
Our house was built.In a body
With out a head.We
Malingered. Once the
House was built,we moved up. Grew
Tails.Salamanders.
'Sitting the boys a
Voice came maniacal from
Night's Recesses below
Laughing.The girls,,teens
Looked at one another from
Throat to tum, gizzards
Leaping.Raced to boys'
Room,huffing bureau block door,
Out window to ditch
On bellies to car
Littlest drove to neighbor's.
Turns out they had a
Gunsight trained on our
House.We saw dictionary
On kitchen table!
Much later bachelor
Neighbor confessed. I can still
Taste my flameanger.
Voice came maniacal from
Night's Recesses below
Laughing.The girls,,teens
Looked at one another from
Throat to tum, gizzards
Leaping.Raced to boys'
Room,huffing bureau block door,
Out window to ditch
On bellies to car
Littlest drove to neighbor's.
Turns out they had a
Gunsight trained on our
House.We saw dictionary
On kitchen table!
Much later bachelor
Neighbor confessed. I can still
Taste my flameanger.
Downstairs, sweet refuge.
Big screen, pool table, bar, friends
Best thing -- no parents.
Big screen, pool table, bar, friends
Best thing -- no parents.
# posted by : 10:29 PM
: 10:29 PM
Basements aren't very useful in a tornado unless specially reinforced. We all had cellars/storm shelters. Used to store food, hide from storms. Had to check for rattlers, even tho we kept bull snakes in there to eat mice and rattlers, just like in the barn.
We had a hired hand (briefly!) who proudly told my grandfather he'd killed all those g-d snakes in the barn. My grandfather and father had caught bull snakes and put them in there to keep the rattlers and mice down. I'm surprised that they just fired him! The barn cats did a good job with the mice, too.
Lee
We had a hired hand (briefly!) who proudly told my grandfather he'd killed all those g-d snakes in the barn. My grandfather and father had caught bull snakes and put them in there to keep the rattlers and mice down. I'm surprised that they just fired him! The barn cats did a good job with the mice, too.
Lee
# posted by : 1:35 PM
: 1:35 PM
Merely an old chair,
or a pair of golden bears,
that no one cares for.
A rug or a bug or
or an old collection of tugs,
that everyone cares for.
Intentionally
or unintentionally
saved, they gather dust.
Till she passes on.
Then. They are taken away.
To sell or to trash.
or a pair of golden bears,
that no one cares for.
A rug or a bug or
or an old collection of tugs,
that everyone cares for.
Intentionally
or unintentionally
saved, they gather dust.
Till she passes on.
Then. They are taken away.
To sell or to trash.
Good Gravy, David! That is wonderful! I really liked the unexpected rhymes and repetition of phrases...the word "merely" at the beginning,which is a clue. I want those golden bears...I want to hold them...but mostly I want the "Her".The "She..." which no one can own or ought to trash.
Post a Comment
<< Home
