learn when to let go —
it’s central to mastering
this delicate dance

dinner at Tiffin
w/you, me and your best friend
– like an audition

I’ll be your grotesque
and funnel away the threats
to your hallowed walls

grand declarations
never meant half as much as
what we didn’t say

rolling by in 2’s
springtime lovers leaving you
solitary blues

I wrote this one twice three times — first on the napkin you see above, then on regular paper and finally in a card for someone else. I decided to post the original here, but still can’t decide which draft I prefer.

I made a short list —
all the things I wouldn’t do
for your company

Comments

• April 1, 2010, susan writes: This is lovely.
• April 1, 2010, howard writes: thank you -- it fit its purpose :)
  
  and only now as i accept your compliment do i notice that i actual wrote the haiku at least 3 times, but only twice for public view.
• April 2, 2010, mikaelah writes: howard - I love this! the image that comes to me as I read it is of tossing the list.
• April 2, 2010, mikaelah writes: can I post this on my website?... linking back here of course!
• April 2, 2010, howard writes: sure you can
• April 2, 2010, howard writes: not a bad image, though the image i'd favor is of crumpling up a blank sheet of paper because i can't think of any items for the list.
• April 4, 2010, mikaelah writes: actually your image works for me too..

I was engaging in some mostly useless thought a while back, mostly about a girl I was once involved with. It’s a familiar story to most jilted lovers, I suppose: dwelling on how the person who dumped you has moved on to someone even less worthy than you were.

I label these thoughts “mostly useless” because we tend to skew assessments of our own comparative worth. Either we think too much, or too little, of ourselves in relation to other people with whom we see ourselves competing. We rarely see the situation as it is.

Which isn’t to say I think I was wrong in the situation referenced by the haiku — just that it’s marginally possible I could have been ;)

(Incidentally, this is the handwritten version of my most recent haikubreakup submission)

when you ran to him
it hurt like hell ’cause I knew
he deserved you less

unlucky in love,
the Black Widow’s beau resigns
to nature’s design

Comments

• August 11, 2009, PJ writes: Are you trying to say something about male/female relationships in general? (I'm not trying to be argumentative, just wondering)
• August 11, 2009, howard writes: yes indeed, though i'm not necessarily implicating every woman as a "Black Widow" ;)
  
  i actually submitted an earlier form of this haiku to haikubreakup.com. if it gets posted there, i'll link to it so others can see the earlier version too (which is written in more of a first person voice).
• August 13, 2009, apreziosi writes: Maybe I misinterpret ... but I think along those same lines.
  
  I've resigned myself to a life of solitude, regardless of nature's inklings. I feel that the link would kill me faster than I would kill myself.
• August 13, 2009, howard writes: no, I think you caught the general flavor of it, Anthony ;)

used excessively,
compartmentalization
kills integrity

Comments

• August 2, 2009, Pete K. writes: I agree, and filling the second line with one word is also pretty good.
• August 3, 2009, howard writes: on the Flickr posting of this photo, I basically admit to my fascination with 7-syllable words, so yeah, I did count that as a slight triumph ;)

there is nothing here
except the space between us
full of emptiness

The scribbled and borrowed haiku continue at long last. We send you to your weekend with one from “Writer X” — in other words, someone wishing to remain anonymous.

To check out the other secondhand contributions to date, just click here. If you think you might like to join in, you’d be welcome to send a contribution of your own.

I can’t be happy
w/out it making you sad.
Something’s wrong w/that

Comments

• August 11, 2009, PJ writes: I keep meaning to comment on this one. I like it, probably partly because I feel like my husband could have written it about me on a bad day ;)
• August 11, 2009, howard writes: well, in the interest of honoring anonymity, i can neither confirm nor deny -- but i hope you and your hubby have had more good days than bad days (or at least the kind of days that would inspire this sentiment).