Meditation haiku

Meditation, it
tranquilizes the mind, no!
That's medication.

Poem: The Love of a Woman

The Love of a Woman

In the words of a great man, 

my father and Lord of the Eastern Marches, 

the love of a woman is the greatest thing

after that, all other things are a distant concern.

While I have never doubted this before, 

I admit a hesitation at the moment. 

It is a great concern here, in my bedroom as I have just awoken.

My eyes blink in the semi-darkness of dawn

But the knife to my throat brings me to full consciousness

She is here to kill me, but I can't help but love her.

She is wrapped in black silk, 

traditional garb of the Ismali assassins. 

Only her eyes are visible and what eyes they are! 

They are obsidian, black pupils on black irises. 

And the fierceness! Oh... it is like a tiger watching its prey.

I don't know what I have done to deserve that look, 

I knew, I would do it again every day of the rest of my life.

I imagine our life together and meeting her family. 

I wonder which parent has her eyes. 

I hope it is her mother, for two angels are better than one. 

I KNOW I will get along with her parents. 

I will make every effort.

If the assassin’s client pays extra,

To taunt and torment the victim, 

In the most blatant show of contempt 

the assassin remove their mask 

before striking the killing blow. 

A slow ritual, the assassin removes their mask 

as they hold the knife to your throat. 

I wait in anticipation, 

so hoping that the client has paid the maximum sum.

The fee is exorbitant. I have paid it before

Yes, my heart hammers heavily and I see 

she begins to unwind the silk strip, slowly, 

With utmost precision and control, anticlockwise, 

I always remain in sight. 

It comes away revealing what is sure to be a glorious face.

No... she's not really my type.

daily haiku, December 7th

at the library
taking out poetry books
looking for friend's names

daily haiku, Nov 5th and 6th

my brain is sludge
but writing takes
the sludge away

I yearn for touch
for fingers on skin
both mine and hers

NOTE: I have a huge urge to count syllables, even if I know haiku isn't about that... the thing is, when I finish a haiku and it's not 5-7-5, I feel like I can never use it in a haiku death match. So, I re-worded these two to 5-7-5

the fog in my brain
is cleared away with a bit
of writing magic

I yearn for fingers
on long stretches of smooth skin
my fingers and hers

"daily haiku" - Nov 2nd, 3rd, 4th

Started a new job on Monday, so have missed the haikus since then - it's been busy and tiring... Still, I want one per day, so will do that:

dear support phone role,
I don't want you any more,
sincerely, Travis

every first Wednesday
it's poetry in motion.
Spoken word, bitches!

Rap battles are great
mate, it's the bait and switch, the
letters on slate, word!

And since I missed out on a few, I'll add another one:

poetry collects
inside window and door frames
like empty spaces

Daily haiku, December 1st

pick a great comic
read it from the beginning
SMBC rocks!

bonus:
new job tomorrow
I start far too early. I'm
a 9AM guy.

daily haiku, Nov 30th

worldly possessions
lose importance as we age
and memory goes

daily haiku, Nov 29th

Word of the day: Manuka

Manuka honey
requires a special bee, but
the stings are the same

daily haiku, Nov 28th

facebook wastes my time
like nothing else ever has
except jerking off

daily haiku, 27th Nov

word of the day: exaggerate

what do men do with
fish size and with penis size?
we exaggerate

daily haiku, Nov 26th

Word of the day: serendipity

my discovery
of poetry was simply
serendipity

daily haiku, Nov 25th

string words together
into bits of poetry
and then start over

daily haiku, Nov 24th

My friend Ben, posted this haiku to facebook:

Welly's hungover
from its blindingly happy
end of year sun-binge

to which I replied:

the sunshine can cure
all of the year's maladies
and cause a few more

daily haiku, Nov 23rd

thousands of lovers,

all of your ancestors past

made you as you are

Well, isn't it silly that I duplicated yesterday's post? This must be remedied with this:

saintly fairies dance
upon the heads of pins where
they look like angels

Daily hiaku, Nov 22nd

thousands of lovers,
all of your ancestors past
made you as you are

daily haiku, Nov 21st

word of the day: trumpery

my daily haiku
is often simply
trumpery

daily haiku, Nov 20th

finally
the world is good again
job offer

NOTE: I'm departing from the 5-7-5 for a bit here. I like to do the 5-7-5 haikus as well, since I need to do that for any haiku death matches that come up and I like to keep in practice, but I can try and be a purist sometimes. :)

daily haiku, Nov 19th

word of the day: egress

your eyes are gorgeous
I'd love a conversation
but I egress

daily haiku, Nov 18th

Word of the day: capillary

I am a robot
my capillaries carry
only indifference

Haiku competition - results

On November 6th, I offered up a haiku contest. The winner is Rebecca Hawkes with the following haiku:

I spend my weekend
worrying about
what weekends are for

Honourable mention goes to Marie-Claude Plourde, who submitted an impressive pangrammatic, which uses all the letters of the English language in one haiku (harder than you might think):

 Just a box for bed
News---make spells, copy letters
Freezing, she quivers

Another honourable mention goes to Natasha Dennerstein, with the single best line from all submissions - the middle line of this haiku:

Honey please don’t stay;
you smell so of yesterday; 
I forget you well.

So, I will get in touch with Rebecca, and send her Stephen Fry’s “The Ode Less Travelled”. Congrats!

 All entries, roughly in the order they arrived:

Rick Morrow:
So, too, trees desire—
leaves unfold to ground in whispers.

Hernan Blejer:
Nanowrimo match
every eleventh month
till the mind grows too old.

dedicated to Cape Reinga:

Foam-burnt and sun-washed,
Above rock and sea
The tree slowly erodes.

Marie Claude Plourde
A winter wind blows
Seasons keep coming around
Scarcity of time

Just a box for bed
News---make spells, copy letters
Freezing, she quivers
(A pangrammatic haiku. - all letters of the English language)

Rebecca Hawkes:
your expectations
are most unreasonable
whatever they are

I spend my weekend
worrying about
what weekends are for

Thom Botterill:
Unowned ode traveled
The lone literary sea
Verdant words for me

Santa claus is com
Haiku is corrupting me
Ho ho ho

pork is bacon
but not all bacon is pork
say no to tofo fakeon 

Natasha Dennerstein:
Honey please don’t stay;
you smell so of yesterday; 
I forget you well.

Coconut nightclub;
smooth moves to Hawaiian grooves:
frangipanis fall.

Karen Leslie
Fry's chocolate was, 
in Moab's washpot recurring, 
bittersweet goodness.

Laurel Jane May
I killed a dog yesterday
But where were you then?
You cried as I saved your life