summer
lounging by the pool,
she’s smiling at me, I swear -
- blending w/the sun
shuffling off
I’m still with Coco
I caught Conan O’Brien’s last Tonight Show this past Friday. Near the end of the show, Conan made a brief speech addressed especially toward the young people watching. This haiku is a mash-up of the main points in his address, with which I agree wholeheartedly.
Video of the farewell speech follows the print version of this haiku below.
indie java
I’m a big fan of quaint coffee shops. They tend to make the most comfortable spots for putting pen to paper. Unfortunately for me, quaint coffee shops are vastly outnumbered by corporate mega-chain shops like Starbucks. I’m not a hater of Starbucks; I’d just prefer to sit in a place more like Jenkintown Java (where the above photo was taken), or at least a Saxby’s (if not independent, at least locally-owned), and scribble for a few minutes — or a few hours.
Jenkintown Java is a place I discovered almost by accident when looking for a place to meet someone for coffee. On the corner of Greenwood Avenue and Cedar Street in Jenkintown, PA, it’s a nice little corner shop with everything from coffee and tea to Bassett’s ice cream. The walls are adorned with interesting artwork and the tea selection is actually pretty good, too. While I’m not much for giving reviews, I like the place, so I thought I’d give them a shout out.
in theory
I was reading a couple books about crafting and appreciating haiku — the sort of reading that tends to remind me of two things:
- why I love reading and writing poetry and haiku
- why I hate reading books that attempt to define good poetry or haiku
I’ve never bought the idea that you can foster creativity by forcing people into the same old patterns, which is why I’ve always bristled at the conventional wisdom conveyed in such books — as well as teachers who rely too much on these conventions.
Some of the poetry and haiku I’ve enjoyed most would fall “short” of such experts’ proscriptions. Maybe that’s because I evaluate poetry, haiku or any other artful expression on one criterion. It must speak to me in a way that enhances the scope of my understanding.
Simplistic as it may be, that definition works for me. What are your criteria — for haiku, poetry or art in general?
roots
I’m never surprised
to see pain and beauty share
the same DNA
draft eternal
I was going to punctuate this one, but then it would be finished — and finished pieces are just too easy to interpret.
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