haiku of nobody

2012-01-31T08:43:00.014+10:00

Hullo boys and girls. I always say this but... good week, last week! Lots of excellent efforts from lots of different directions. In the end I settled on one direction and made a theme. Kind of. And yes, it made picking five easier.

This week's pic is courtesy of P who posted it in amongst her marvellous travel pix (from here to here). Don't ask me what this pic means because I don't know. All I know is that it's fraught, which in haiku terms means it can be whatever you want it to be.

And no need for any introspection - that's my lot.

Anyway, write us three lines and ➘ stick 'em in the comments.

2012-01-11T10:56:00.006+10:00

mass destructive art
hallowed, sterile wings of kings
a world upside down

---

masters of war feign
disavowing the profane
whilst praising death art

---

the art of death
glorious, 'awesome', thoughtless
the death of art

---

no it's not misplaced
war machines and marbled halls
perfect harmony

---

an airborne siren
lands with a silvery crash
the debonair wreck

2011-12-18T20:54:00.007+10:00

high above our heads
on a tinselled sepulchre
a pentacle burns

---

Molotov christmas tree
Fires of revolutions
burning bright

---

in a festive mode
the giant dalek have come
to exterminate!

---

petrol and balsam
paper cardboard and tinsel
makes the brightest tree

---

Christmas is over,
And while the wife is out, I'll
burn this fucking tree!

2011-12-13T05:30:00.006+10:00

with neat roads
the city is well planned
with much greenery

-

The earth is now square
No blossoms for festival
The Borg does not care

---

man in reduction
technique is thy god program
look for the harness

-

God laughed when they tried
to put "creative" inside
a small metal box

---

Innocent circuts
data bank analysis
the Beast is born

-

trails, buses, mother
conquering the world out there
here laying souls bare

2011-12-05T05:41:00.004+10:00

rooted in dark earth
vision will clear for closed eyes
bring forth this flower

---

Contemplatively
dreaming of riches to come
when they call me buddha

---

Skara from Stargate
Abydos to ascension
Returns to fig tree

---

Bomjon meditates
Will he enlighten us all
When he goes over?

---

why don't you all try
meditating instead of
watching me do it?

2011-11-26T04:42:00.003+10:00

in the good old days
chicken were as big as men
and smoking was cool

---

so all right yous guys
no more chicken road jokes
Bugsy and me say

---

Everything depends
on a banded, white chicken
standing next to me

---

Chicken licken
roll your own
smokin kid KFC

---

Spring of sixty nine
I started to smoke because
Zappa looked so cool.

*eighteen* sixty nine
real boys rolled their own wads and
knew how to speak hen

2011-11-15T19:57:00.010+10:00

forgetting the song
our colours flee from the sun
with summers passing

---

walking east my love
we endeavor to arrive
on islands of joy

---

white sand on dry skin
moist lips hint of salty seas
chit, chat and sunset

---

With Adam and Eve
On the Hawkesbury River
Original fun

---

Allegorical footprints
Escape all meaning and verse
timeless and tranquil

2011-11-05T06:12:00.010+10:00

latin at gunpoint
o magnum mysterium
dona nobis pacem

---

very celibate nuns
blow off steam with pump-action
ex-carpenter cries

---

hunting with god's girls
brought home a wounded devil
rest and smoke cigars

---

there on yonder field
is a deliciously naked man
first come first serve

---

no room for dispute
this dogma will be enforced
by shotgun wedding

2011-10-30T04:30:00.005+10:00

stand and deliver
your money or your life
maybe your wife?

---

small alien head
two big weapons for beating
he looks familiar

---

Her name was Bertha.
Dressed in hides, smeared with bear grease.
He could not resist.

---

i always harden
when my feet touch the sweet earth
sewing my oats

---

foggy hangover
saint patrick spotted a snake
he don't drink no more

2011-10-22T10:40:00.004+10:00

a paper tiger
scary except for the grin
of a Cheshire Cat

---

a jackal stare-down
lost my human proportion
hesitant retreat

---

your face is eclipsed
shadow bands reveal the joy
this message of love

---

asian eyes perplex
the silly grimace cutely
stumps haiku dojo

---

a killer's face
that I made in a mirror
it's the real me, grrr!

2011-10-18T07:21:00.006+10:00

Sometimes the poet
in slovenly bovine scenes
finds peace among noise

---

Used to get invites,
to gallery openings,
where I drank too much.

---

photo cow chews grass
gives a dirty look to man
through the dimensions

---

oblivious smoke
cow leaves shrooms in fields azure
divine hindu shit

---

the two of us
watching the world go by
and each his own cud

2011-10-08T06:22:00.008+10:00

pride and aggression
the nature of a dragon
much to overcome

---

wisdom well guarded
this pearl is so hard to find
chasing my tail

---

self created
of everything and nothing
it unto itself

---

fury spits fury
dance immortal not to end
fire-water tangle

---

have: fiery meatball
need: linguini, romano
wine and crusty loaf

2011-10-01T05:19:00.003+10:00

a crime of violet
head bowed, reaching for the sky
wings of surrender

---

a bleeding blossom
her kiss resistant flower
mary shelley's weed

---

Carmine temptress
A siren with wings unfolded
Call for her bidding.

---

on a rare day of snow
i held a cyclamen loosely
leaving childhood behind

---

tiny green creature
peeking bravely from your ship
of purple petals

2011-09-24T10:55:00.006+10:00

In promising all
Giving little lives the spirit
Of Edward Bernays

---

joyously spellbound
in a heartfelt, altered state
morphed into a hound

---

Hypnotic coins
Sea monkeys to play with
Doggy done it too

---

too many words i see
more bosomy and leggy
just sell the sizzle

---

staring out to sea
where magical things were real
and cost a dollar

2011-09-16T16:32:00.002+10:00

in akhet season
I cross the minds horizon
with my thoughts as boats

---

an imagined world
coffee, cars and carefree faces
all beyond the sea

---

water reflects thoughts
hellish self contemplation
minutes turn to years

---

full sublimation
sun-laced, warm, salty breezes
king and serf at once

---

sensing but a void
the man's mind can see paris
drowning on dry land

2011-09-08T18:25:00.009+10:00

slave built dark temple
where real decisions are made
the towers must fall

---

hiding behind masks
the vainglory of the self
bellies, cocks, and cunts

---

After the battle's
Won, will the undead still need
To be the other?

---

Reeking cheap drama,
dependent on costumes, light,
obtuse script writing.

---

lighting the fuse
the whole squalid tribe
are reduced to ash

2011-09-01T15:57:00.004+10:00

inconsolable
her life a distant shore
ever receding

---

met her at the pub
we was merrily singin'
but she had the blues

---

with cottage cheese thighs
scoliosis brace unbound
it's valentine's day

---

fumes of paint thinner
naked in your blue embrace
imagination

---

split second frozen
the woman as a young girl
bombing from the pier

sudden violence
her body hits the water
too shocked to laugh

2011-08-20T13:32:00.003+10:00

Beers and beer coasters
Music, smoke, and low gold light
"Boys! I'll Tell Me Ma!"

---

chose gin over vodka
moved from the east to the west
fuck karaoke

---

a whiskey i want
louder, forget our worries
the old shillelagh

---

Tears on my red cheeks,
Laughing louder than all week,
while we all tune up

---

stepping out for air
marched to the pub double time
left the bar reeling

2011-07-25T09:08:00.003+10:00

help from thee I plea
stuck with cat-like eyes of mine
in the tree of life

to pick a flower
alert and amenable
like a gift from gods

---

Secrets of the mind.
Nietzsche; Sartre; Bertie R
Can't know what I know.

---

time dangling askew
twinkling possibilities
life just happening

---

He came back and winked,
"She's not as shy as she acts"
Grabbed their coats and left.

---

water, dark and deep
mystery without language
remain unexpressed

2011-07-18T06:51:00.008+10:00

bloke, I sympathise
that's exactly how I'd feel
if I woke up there

one minute I'm zonked,
on the couch watching TV,
the next... Ice! Thing! Fish!

---

"The Survival Nerds"
Premiers this season on Fox
Life without 4G

---

fish out of water
into a roaring fire
back into water

---

Line tied round big toe
Lie back and wait for a bite
Aye, aye there she blows.

---

Renaissance Tony:
he can fish and grow stubble
all at the same time!

2011-07-09T17:17:00.001+10:00

One spring acid trip,
naked on Kailua beach
badly sun burned dick.

---

take away our clothes
sunburns and gay love flourish
summer dreams in heat

---

Languid existence
Can be soo boring for the
Ones who don't like sex.

---

An old-cherub's home
Outside, perhaps at recess
Or maybe nap-time

---

from the flow of life
a mind stylizes reality
making it more true

2011-06-24T10:16:00.001+10:00

Soulless creations
Lacking divine proportion
Void of symmetry

---

who needs a garden
when you've a flat screen TV
and gardening shows

---

cannot find my house
stuck between value and reality
sleeping on the lawn

---

taking on water
we sink in a sea of debt
no bailout for us

---

Micronesians come,
sculpt our utopian yard,
I never go there.

2011-06-06T10:48:00.004+10:00

No pictures, just music.

---

snow falling at night
warm breath and a close embrace
i just want to live

---

gentle rain falling
a million things reflected
by the caress of the notes

---

Dark clouds, breeze gently
Blowing cliff top grass - now chill
Oh, where is my love?

---

another day done
walking home from the station
a sunset lit world

memories replay
words, laughter, smiling faces
small consolations

at last the sun dips
past the temple to home
a light at the door

2011-06-06T07:40:00.004+10:00

there was a girl
with bee-stung lips
mad, of course
a shakespeare comedy
her head on my shoulder
and then
in a moment
I'll never understand
I failed
somehow-
she looked at me
and thought 'no'

2011-05-11T14:46:00.002+10:00

the blinding whiteness
makes me turn my face away
we wait on the beach

---

salty lips
sand between toes
sun on my back

---

a warm summer breeze
libations and vibrations
oh, take me away

---

Bondi Bondage a
Desire for high entropy
The rest free for me

---

the bodysurfer
waiting for the perfect wave
then three strokes and go

2011-04-28T06:27:00.001+10:00

years of hardship
dissolved into this moment
the ground falls away

---

many years of toil
now it is your turn to fly
don't forget to breathe

---

Perfect poise in space
Five make a baby’s mobile
Art instilled from birth

---

this body developed
toned, shaped, stretched, enlivened
by an exceptional mind

---

hey you beautiful
your body as a token of you
do a dance on me

2011-04-11T15:03:00.001+10:00

Yanaka Bochi
A swirl of falling petals
On ancient gravestones

---

Dormant life passes
Through the eye of the universe
Then shows its pleasure.

---

seasons circle again
last years sun becomes flower
new life in dead branch

---

the earth blooms with joy
a warm gentle breeze to pass
filled with aroma

---

It is what it is.
They tell me it's Life renewed;
Is that what it is?

2011-04-06T13:06:00.000+10:00

a shell of a man
but wasn't it always thus?
now that too is gone

2011-03-14T16:07:00.003+10:00

a Spring afternoon
alarms split the air and then
all is swept away

---

Time for renewal
Waters cleanse, ashes arise
With death comes new life

---

namazu rising
underworlds and underlords
next up, cthulhu

---

The Shinto Spirit
Turned his coat collar up, final look
Then wandered away

---

his face a struggle
haunted by thirty five ghosts
"To be alive is hell"

2011-02-24T09:06:00.001+10:00

vices and virtues
rewarded or else punished
by fall of the dice

---

does anyone else
prefer to go down the snakes
than up the ladders?

---

sadly have played this
far more times than i have
indulged in wild sex

---

Endless summer hols
Long days swimming in the stream
Nights of snakes and ladders

---

Hot night with the kid,
Beer for me and juice for him,
board games and apples

2011-02-12T10:36:00.001+10:00

as a child
it would have been thought
these were gods hands

---

a minor gesture while
floating with them divine
above sweaty tourists

---

so close, within reach
eons pass, great works crumble
distant as ever

---

searching for a God
One to touch, not contemplate
thus put on ceiling

---

The cracking plaster
reveals the nature of god
more than the painting

2011-02-05T14:25:00.001+10:00

would you love
even the most weird
desires of mine

while quivering
as beings built into
a notification board

---

we may as well wait
in this sign as the bus will
be along shortly

---

a hand extended
into our world, dark and cold
but help is withheld

---

winter dreary nights
Milanese purgatory
next stop, unconscious

---

people who are not,
happily not waiting here,
some place that isn't

2011-01-28T15:13:00.001+10:00

the best day of my life
was that one bright day in Mali
where i lost my head....

---

what benefits a
suit to sit around all day
without a body

---

ain't nothing to me
my clothes tell you who I am
and that's all there is

---

another cheap suit
more layers killing spirit
till nothing remains

2011-01-19T14:29:00.003+10:00

order of the day
the talking heads will now
speak and say nothing

---

desultory art
intangible and shifting
leaving not a trace

---

I said, he said, she
we all said those things we said
our heads full of me

---

hot air fills the void
the truth can not be spoken
free speech for shut minds

2010-12-02T13:51:00.003+10:00

a hole in the sky
his heart too small to keep him
from earth's hard embrace

---

The darkening sky
reveals fresh new stars to me
moment by moment

---

seagulls and sparks fly
gunshots ring shocking the heart
give love a bad name

---

Red dwarf heart of the
Human nova, final beat
Before extinction

---

city lights float up
twinkling through a ceaseless glass
coldly receding

2010-11-20T09:11:00.003+10:00

shots of my mother,
found upstairs in an old book,
pressed like a red rose.

---

many tried to copy
the pout, the breasts, the allure
none chose the despair

---

things done and not done
twists and turns and trails of smoke
how things might have been

---

It’s done – the deed, oh!
Now she tries to protect you,
"Jack, Jack… I’m waiting."

---

unbeknown to her
she would star in a dark tale
sadly her last role

2010-11-13T14:59:00.002+10:00

Eugenicists at
Red Cross dispense life or death
In blood bag lottery

---

My eyes are closed tight,
teeth clenched, I hear the doctor,
and a dripping sound.

---

Even in these times
Irony of his blood type
Is not lost on us

---

a bag of red rum
blood suckers wetting their lips
just b positive

---

terribly sorry su
you need your blood so very much
more than we do

2010-11-06T15:48:00.002+10:00

if you see buddha
in the grove of ancient trees
strangle him slowly

---

the tree unmindful
slowly embraces Buddha
mindful, he minds not

---

Tree stands tall and proud
Roots of Budhism anchored
Firmly to the earth

---

In a sun drenched place,
the wilted traveler recalls
Ozymandias

---

a quick sniff of blow
still standing the test of time
A god or still high

2010-10-25T15:02:00.001+10:00

"Pretty young girl show?"
Summer sweat runs down my back.
Mekong Whiskey time!

---

numbly hungry not for food
but something aching deep down
maybe those x's can feed...

---

when love is nowhere
a substitute can be found
for a price too dear

---

Youthful waywardness
Needs second thoughts when we know
The Matroesjka's history

---

best actresses tempt
empty hearts or broken dreams
light disperses all

2010-10-16T15:12:00.002+10:00

Near the grassy knoll,
unknown gunmen and Hoffa
ride Cuban saucers.

---

Alain yum-cha
Giant nipples in the sky
Shaojie, maidan

---

the sad cow watches
his sphincter gone to heaven
where the tricksters are

---

The wind is so strong
now I have to tend rice fields
without my best hat

---

warm warmer warmer
no come back, I am here
cold colder colder

2010-10-11T15:21:00.003+10:00

the filth of the world
crash the garden of eden
theirs for the taking

---

Romance and carnage
Twenty years before the mast
Aye, aye, there she blows

-

Pirates of old stole
the gold. Now there’s a hanker
to nick a tanker.

---

Some Pacific coast,
Aubrey on the quarterdeck,
Maturin below

---

look on ye forward
if footing be it stable
arrival then moot

2010-10-04T15:11:00.002+10:00

trolley dodgem hell
the quick, the dead, the hungry
tackle that waitress!

two plates of ha gao!
white pepper for the congee!
sticky rice with pork!

over pu-erh tea
we sit, survey the wreckage
Shaojie, maidan!

---

oh, that hurried pace
a glimpse of earthly pickings
but what for the soul

---

Place population
In the steamers, feed to plants
Makes more sense this way

---

delicate small mounds
topped with tasty brown mushrooms
nipples or dim sum?

2010-09-24T16:41:00.002+10:00

my microscope blurred
motes borne on the abstract sea
in opposition

---

pink, blue, blue, pink
the giant amoebas float by
as tree marries television!

---

Thought transference through
diverse mediums – HELP ME
Sorry I’m just a fish.

---

Felix just hoicked
And up came a fur ball - Yoiks!
Not a happy cat

---

big bertha, small sun/son
earth and moon, entwined escape
from Fuji san's/son's/sun's milk

2010-08-31T13:28:00.002+10:00

two of me in hand
is worth less than one of me
on your balcony

---

a finch in a pinch
giving a one eyed staredown
happy to just be

---

asphalt and concrete
a nowhere flickers with life
sparrow's arrival

---

hey little fellow
having a break from seeking union
with the sunlit window.

---

what we see here folks
is flying vermin, (but cute)
lice everywhere

2010-08-19T14:44:00.001+10:00

Wheels within wheels
Mechanical, political
The world keeps turning.

---

a man of the world
one that he made for himself
swapping steel for sun

---

sex organ of the
technological machine,
man becomes subsumed.

---

how very beautiful
that behind that mechanical feat,
an ordinary man

---

steel and man entwine
meshing together at last
encircling them both

2010-08-04T10:20:00.001+10:00

Deep hues of nightfall
Warm, alone, I own it all
At least until dawn

---

this perfect urban
inviolate, peopleless,
non-human heaven

---

lights are so pretty
I compose a little poem
not very witty

---

Long hot summer night
I have found a reason to live,
walking the city.

---

lights stay on for the
cold steel heart of the city
humanity gone

2010-07-20T14:02:00.001+10:00

Sad and all alone,
No one I can call my own.
Why don't girls like me?

---

You rage on Stoney
Careful where you point that gun
You may off someone

---

as they say in France
'appyniss is a warm gun
bang bang, shoot shoot, yeah

---

so what do ya want
more population control
squeeze the trigger, man

---

Get away from me
with those damn rusty scissors
and that dull razor

2010-07-12T13:27:00.001+10:00

in a black mirror
waters of life corrupted
my dark twin stares back

---

an upside down world
where white-less eyes greet your gaze
mute in their despair

---

oh, that sweet sweet crude
makes water reflect itself
and maybe smoke more

---

colours glow,images flow
the primal pond of existence
keeps flowing - keeps growing...

2010-07-05T09:14:00.001+10:00

Fates divine union
a child born from warring tribes
he chooses wisely

---

Dignity remains
First nation spirits have flown
Gone, not forgotten

---

what words can arise
upon seeing this wisdom
just thank you, and sorry

---

Did cities once rise
Now long forgotten and lost?
What songs did they sing?

---

calm yet fierce, he stands
waiting for the Great Spirit
bewildered absence

2010-06-28T16:31:00.001+10:00

years of diligence,
meditative yoga, so
I can see my heel.

---

with absolutely no effort
the center piece of the sculpture
manifested formlessly

---

mastery attained
and now coiled like a spring
waiting to go BOING!

---

Living Triskelion
Quocunque Jekeris Stabit
Or Mr Terre’ Blanche?

2010-06-21T13:29:00.004+10:00

effortlessly i sow
miraculously crops grow
this divine life flow

---

the cold autumn sun
shimmering the field to sleep
man oblivious

---

the sun a halo
sanctifying the sower
and blessing his work

---

"The field is purple,
and dude, the sky is, like, green!
or am I just high?"

---

I love two painters
van Gogh is my favourite
Constable comes next

(Phwooar! scraped it in to the fifth spot Tony!)

2010-06-15T13:38:00.006+10:00

We swam and drank beer,
Last summer, just you and me. 
Now, alone, I'll die

---

Modern Weaponry 
Gives video game choices
With no reset button

---

a sleepwalker's trance
through an endless world of death
too tired to wake up

2010-06-07T10:57:00.003+10:00

drift in the current
distant shores gold with the sun
shimmer in the haze

---

clouds in clear water
this origami smokestack
reckless fingers weave

---

Hands withered with time
Perform familiar actions
Mind soars, body withdraws.

---

bowing at gangas feet
in an embrace so tender
and a hug so brutal

---

summon the great zeus,
this river of green gift-wrapped,
just a spark, mind you.

2010-05-07T15:46:00.001+10:00

Here is a work of
Art to grace your wall, We call
It Mother's Whistler

2010-04-24T13:05:00.001+10:00

liberation now
as it is realised that
i am not the rock

2010-04-15T14:54:00.001+10:00

the little death
a languorous swim at night
all in a twinkling

2010-04-07T15:39:00.001+10:00

wee folk lead the dance
a thousand housewives follow
all nowt but child's play

2010-03-31T14:03:00.001+10:00

the arc of history
sensible behind these eyes
the gaze too intense

2010-03-23T14:09:00.002+10:00

the burden of narcissism
manifests as art and yet carries not
a glimmer of self deprecation.

2010-03-17T15:05:00.003+10:00

Shemales beat the drum
Rhythm and magick abound
Continents connect.

2010-03-09T14:41:00.001+10:00

Waves in the ether
Communing with the Great Spirit
Reverence in the air

2010-03-03T14:47:00.001+10:00

the sins of the past
ruined lives long since ended
all unremembered

2010-02-19T15:30:00.002+10:00

cigars and horses
sweating men with rolled up sleeves
bald with old tattoos

2010-02-12T14:46:00.003+10:00

no matter the time
it's always reassuring
to find myself not dead

2010-02-03T15:26:00.002+10:00

such a pretty spot
the perfection of the breeze
blowing my mind

2010-01-27T14:02:00.001+10:00

flowers of fire
bloom in short-lived ecstasy
floating in languor

2010-01-18T05:07:00.005+10:00

Summer by the pool.
I'm tanned and reading Nietszche,
while the cat skin-dives

2010-01-12T05:03:00.002+10:00

a sphere was fashioned
in unfamiliar form
not real but seeming

2009-12-23T15:06:00.005+10:00

shorts or a sarong,
prawns, cold beer, a paper hat.
happy oz xmas

2009-12-17T16:29:00.001+10:00

god in a closet
pretending to be human
whose daydream are you?

2009-12-05T14:08:00.001+10:00

Southern Nevada
Something-or-another Gulch
I know this place well

Maybe Mexico
a day northbound of La Paz
I know this place well

Or Arizona
canyonlands north of Flagstaff
I know this place well

A wide open road
to a point in the distance
I know this place well

2009-11-21T14:26:00.001+10:00

What is this bounty?
This vast richness unmeasured!
It's ours forever!

2009-11-13T06:47:00.007+10:00

Is the illusion
eluding you my darling?
have another sip

2009-11-06T14:43:00.002+10:00

New from Microsoft
Computers for Windows
Gates has a winner

2009-10-28T14:09:00.001+10:00

Such a family smell
Cinnamon, cloves, and oatmeal,
Christmas beer brewing.

2009-10-14T14:01:00.001+10:00

No hell below us,
just a rolling sunlit lawn.
Above us only sky.

2009-10-01T21:24:00.004+10:00

Orbs in mystic flight,
Spectral spheres bring joy or fear.
On what plane am I ?

2009-09-21T15:34:00.002+10:00

vengeful Medea
my perfect wanton goddess
never shall I stray

2009-09-05T16:39:00.003+10:00

as the world flows by
I wonder what my fate will be,
if I look away

2009-08-29T08:13:00.007+10:00

Hard landings result
when harsh realities meet
A flight of fancy

2009-08-22T15:32:00.001+10:00

a world loosely limned
carries off the unjaded
in happy rapture

2009-08-14T12:45:00.001+10:00

black dog for Winston
he was a lousy gambler
dice rolling in blood

2009-08-07T15:37:00.005+10:00

my hands to my ears
blocking other's siren songs
yet my own sings on

2009-07-28T15:29:00.003+10:00

un-giant's causeway,
a non-Ikea non-room,
the outside unclosed.

2009-07-21T21:56:00.002+10:00

Branches reaching far.
Grab and hold the giant star.
Dismayed, darkness falls

2009-07-13T13:11:00.003+10:00

fragile translucence
made quick by the sun's first touch
the infant stirs

2009-07-07T14:52:00.000+10:00

needle to heaven
for the god-kings to look down
upon their spittoon

2009-07-01T17:51:00.001+10:00

worlds burning in war
stars dance around makara
all transformation

taramasalata, anyone?

2009-06-26T15:29:00.003+10:00

Okay, time to try something a bit different. Previously everything was pivoting around me (as schoolmaster, ha ha). Fact is, I have no great desire to be that fellow. I'd just like to write some haiku, and read other people's, and otherwise have a bit of a laugh.

To this end let's try making the whole thing a bit more democratic. Rather than me posting a pic and selecting the best haiku that I add to the front page, I'll open the front page to whomever wants to post. They may post a pic, or some music (linked to box.net for download kind of thing), or whatever, with their own bit of poetry underneath it. Actually if you just want to post a naked haiku without any pic at all, that sounds fine to me. And then with that as our inspiration, the rest of us pile into the comments, and off we go. There will no be selection of 'best' or anything like that.

So! Rather than a class with teacher handing out gold stars it will be more like a poetry evening with people taking turns to wax rhapsodic. And the comments will serve as the 'red-wine-with-jatz-and-taramasalata' banter afterwards, if you can dig it. It's so much more grown up this way I think. Oh, and it's byo red wine and taramasalata, ha ha.

I sent out invites to the regulars already, and Buff (otherwise unprompted) started the ball rolling. Very good! The only thing I'd add is that since it's your pic Buff, you get to stick your haiku beneath it (PS - done already). I haven't quite figured out the invite thing yet and I'm not sure who did or didn't receive them. Best I can figure, you need a blogger account. And I think I need your email in order to invite you. If you want to post on the front page (Hi Su, you up? Other John?) I think the best thing would be to send me a 'DON'T PUBLISH' comment over at the church with your address in it, and then I can add you to the list. If you don't care for that (and I can't say I blame you), well, there's always the comments.

I do admit that the possibility exists that this will crash and burn if too many people all pile in at once. I don't want to dictate how often a new entry should go up but, I think one a day is a bit much. I'm thinking one every three days or so would work better.

PS No need for any criticisms of what's posted. Life's too short, and haiku are too. Post/don't post, comment/don't comment, that's all there is to it. As ever, we seek the sublime, and if we can't have that, we'll just have a laugh. Yoroshiku!

2009-06-19T04:02:00.006+10:00

Imagination
Opens doors to many worlds
All inside our heads

2009-06-01T17:15:00.002+10:00

in this delusion,
anything beyond one's grasp
isn't really real.

2009-05-24T15:23:00.002+10:00

On the wings of love
Does maternalism shine
In uncertain times.

---

opaque delight abounds
the angel and the child
both awake whilst sleeping.

---

asleep with angels,
from dreams to reality;
tranquil smiles to all.

---

caring is a gift
love posted as a letter
returns to sender

2009-05-16T16:50:00.002+10:00

Stillness beckons me
Moving forward through the air
Encompassing all

---

Stillness abounding,
river flows 'neath a full moon,
a life filled with peace.

---

blossom in moonlight
with gentle architecture
in structures sublime

---

Eventide on empty vale
Spirits roam but are not seen
To rest and ponder

---

The waters of life
nourishing sakura dreams
until tomorrow

---

A moonlight kiss at night
Water's affection glows bright
Their love, makes things light

---

the struggled control over
finally relaxing into the flow
i return to the source

2009-04-19T17:17:00.001+10:00

once, effortless friend
now, brigand thief of my youth
i curse you daily

---

Iris, who are you,
do you look out or within,
where does one begin?

---

Golds, browns, black, and white.
Nothing reflected but light.
Nothing gained but sight.

---

some buddhists insist
this eye is only crying
light in water out

---

And the Eyes have it!
Or was it really the nayes?
Blink and change your mind.

---

truth is in the eye
some can't hide an empty dark
in others it's love

---

Neither the seer
nor the object seen
but the pure unalloyed seeing.

---

Can the brain deceive,
what it is the eye perceives?
If so, what is real?

2009-04-12T11:29:00.002+10:00

The barcode of life,
sits and awaits a purchase.
Who's for sale? How much

---

The barcode is id.
It is yourself, most basic
nothing else matters

Scan us or track us,
Count us as inventory.
UPC restrains

---

The mark of the Beast
In the shades of black and white
It's all about you

---

you can't brand nature,
monsanto's lawyers busy,
soon, all cataloged.

nothing natural
dares be immutably straight;
the devil's details?

---

more than a number
i will not be bought or sold
packaged and processed

---

these black and white stripes
"save time" for "the management"
while "you" wait in line ''''''''''''''''''''''

don't worry, we won't
censor your barcode unless
it says "enlightened"!

---

hidden in a code.
natures wisdom is challenged.
such bitter harvest

Jacques-Louis David

2009-04-12T11:03:00.013+10:00

The fellow in the picture is Jacques-Louis David. He's described as the man who brought 'feeling' back to Western art after it had collapsed into the insipidness of rococo. I'll be honest and say I have a problem with this use of the word 'feeling'.

As for David, it's a big call to say he single handedly invented Neoclassicism, but for the sake of space, let's do it. His watershed break was his Oath Of The Horatii. Says David - bugger picnics and pooncing about, real men take up arms, sobbing women or no.

Art is art unless it's politics and David's head was there. One wonders if there was ever a painter as politically ambitious as David. He was a Jacobin, a member of the Committee of Public Safety, and otherwise up to his armpits in the French Revolution. Whilst he's not as famous in this regard as Robespierre say, depending on how you look at it, the revolution could not have succeeded without him.

He was to the Revolution what Goebbels was to the National Socialists and effectively functioned as their propaganda minister. His paintings (maxed out with the uber-famous Death of Marat) served, indeed were conceived of, precisely as variations of agitprop. The painting of Marat was the rallying point for the huge march to the National Convention, all the trappings of which David also designed, along with those of many others. In fact the National Socialists took tremendous inspiration from David in coming up with their various rallies and propaganda events. David was there first.

Um... there's actually a lot to be said for the French Revolution. And there seems to be a lot to be said for Robespierre too. At the time he was known as 'the incorruptible' - he lived, dressed, and ate modestly. Had he said he wasn't a crook no one would have sniggered. That aside, his desire for a unified France free of the parasitic aristocracy is, on its face, laudable. Unsurprisingly we only know of him as a bloodthirsty unleasher of chaos. I'm not saying he wasn't, it's just that it's not that simple.

And then there's David. He swore to Robespierre that if he was killed, he, David, would join him. But on the day in question he called in sick and Robespierre died on his own. So much for that. Sure enough, in the collapse of the revolution and the lead up to the First Republic he was prosecuted and jailed. But nothing too dreadful - back in the day if you had money, jail could be quite pleasant: furniture, good food, servants. But he wasn't there long, and on his release, and before you could say 'Je suis un rockstar', there's David as Napoleon's official portraitist. Napoleon spookily enough, is depicted by David, the scourge of the aristocracy, in a fashion that would have done any aristocrat proud.

So what is this 'feeling' that he brought to art? Are they his feelings? His painting seem uniformly sterile - a hint of arrogance perhaps. In terms of a painting conveying the feelings of the artist compare David to just about any of the masters of the Renaissance. Take a quick jog through Giotto to Da Vinci, and Caravaggio, even Vermeer and Canaletto, and you'll know more of the artist than David will ever tell you.

David's 'feeling' would more correctly be described as 'what he would have us feel'. And what he'd have us feel is political arousal, which is to say righteous anger (and later awe for the dictator). We are his to be pushed in the direction of his choosing. He's precisely a didact. Do didacts have feelings? Who can tell? Is ambition a feeling? Or arrogance? How about self regard?

2009-04-04T15:48:00.001+10:00

Of blood and terror
caught upon the minds canvas
This work is my self

---

who be i tonight
friend or foe
i so easily interchange

---

I leave this record
for posteriority
the assholes to come

---

for left i look down,
for right lifts me once again;
yay, consternation.

---

Two faces in one
Human discord on display
Who are you today?

---

one great artist said
"Light is a great temptation."
I cover white light.

---

last chance for a verse?
creativity revolts
one more basket case

---

In the masculine realm of the outer
I move in strides of determination
Wide eyed, alert and lacking fear
I am indeed master of my destiny

Moving in strides of determination
I don’t see the trees weep
Wide eyed, alert and fearless
Of all but the space within

My persona carefully maintained
Which with brush captures the luminous light
Yet avoids this vast emptiness within
As if to be this space would equal sin

Oh this huge space which spins within
That provides the impulse to capture unfolding scenes
Wide eyed, alert and lacking fear
Except to confront the inner body's tears

The vastness of the divine within
Which biblically has been taught as sin
Prevents me from seeing the trees weep
And leads me to another sip of gin.

2009-03-29T14:41:00.002+10:00

medical contest
fix this sick hermaphrodite
win a Mercedes

post presidency
who guessed my next job offer
prison sex dummy

"one face here fits all"
the corporation insists
"open wide, and scream."

---

completely replaceable
now what goes where i wonder
jane, where is the brochure?

so the new age gurus
tell me i a create my reality
but how do i breathe?

---

We all fall apart.
Science only goes so far,
and then what is left?

---

The new and improved
Mister Potatohead doll
Not for the children

---

science solutions
secret the soul immortal
everything's for sale

---

Is it GI Joe?
It is He. He becomes she.
She is Barbie!

I need a new part
Go to the new limb warehouse
Buy more and pay less

2009-03-22T16:44:00.001+10:00

gently you cradle
seeing no imperfection
sing to me again

---

forever i will gaze at you
with the deepest awe and wonder
love truimphs over hate

---

you took the deep trip
pure vulnerability, this time.
I got your back, son

---

life is as you see
emotion love and caring
only for your own

---

choked miracle
love and water quietly coax
life to flow again

---

take care in darkness
hold close with a gentle hand
to an unseen love

2009-03-15T10:16:00.003+10:00

don't pick up the cash
there is nothing you can buy
that can save your soul

---

crumple up the coloured portraits
into tight little balls
proceed to ignite

---

banksters celebrate 
your life is their confetti 
your gold for their straw

---

I see ER 2
Far too much in this photo
A ponzi scheme, no?

---

Leaving the toilet
He gave me a dollar bill 
Didn't wash his hands

---

Money world over, 
Economic Recession, 
Everyone wants some!

---

Colourful money
Colours the understanding 
of papers real worth

---

silly consumer
which shell is the pea under?
None. It's in your brain.

--

all the money gone
banks broken with lies, insane 
now we must eat words