To the Unknown

trapped alone

in the liminal space

between shifting present

and frozen past ...

I gaze up at departing geese

on my life journey

what might happen, what could be ...

this burden

of all the possibilities

as new snow falls on icy roads

Haiku Canada Review, 20:1, 2026

Caterpillar Cloud Haiku

caterpillar cloud ...

my autistic son’s eyes speak

a thousand words

Haiku Canada Review, 20:1, 2026

Time Haiku

Time stands still... 

I pirouette, pirouetting

in the first snowfall 

Haiku Canada Review, 20:1, 2026

Geese and Migrants Haiku

Canada geese

gathering, parting... and yet

these farm migrants

Haiku Canada Review, 19:2, 2025

Shooting Star and American Dream Haiku

a shooting star

over the border wall

American dream, and yet ...

Haiku Canada Review, 19:2, 2025

The Prices We Pay

claim denial ...

this numbness outside

this anger inside

deny, delay, depose

etched on blood-stained shell casings

gathering dark

one less CEO ...

half awake to this Promised Land

grievance-shadowed

A haunting voice echoes in my mind, "I don't wish anyone harm, but when a CEO routinely brought in revenue of over $100 billion for a health insurance company with the highest claim-denial rate, double the industry average, it's hard to feel sad about his violent death. He spent his life making money by increasing the suffering of everyday Americans. Now, I just follow his lead of indifference."

Haiku Canada Review, 19:1, 2025

snowonsnow ... Haiku

snowonsnow ...

the night brightened

car by car

Haiku Canada Review, 19:1, 2025

Self-Love Tanka

my friend gone too soon ...

a piece of paper falls

from her diary

with words in red bold font:

I've had enough of self-love

 

Haiku Canada Review, 18:2, October 2024

Courthouse Hallway Haiku

courthouse hallway

this rapid staccato 

of my ex's high heels

Haiku Canada Review, 18:2, October 2024

Life Just Goes on ...

isn't it vexing

not to know what plants will bloom

next year?

my wife murmurs to a lone rose

bent above near-leafless branches

I don't know what kind of question that is. My silence slows the pace of time passing; however, nothing is really unusual between us, a quiet couple as seen through the eyes of our friends and neighbors.

I go into the house, turn on the TV, and spend the rest of this afternoon drowning myself in the sound and fury of war news.

awake

in pre-dawn darkness ...

twenty years now,

I sleep side by side with her

this familiar stranger

Haiku Canada Review, 18:1, February 2024

Just to Be Alive Haiku

for Mary Oliver

just to be alive ...

yet the weeping willow

heavy with snow

Haiku Canada Review, 18:1, February 2024

FYI: 

...

it is a serious thing

just to be alive

on this fresh morning

in the broken world.

I beg of you...

Mary Oliver, "Invitation," Red Bird, 2009

Impulse Tanka

the clock's hands meet

as the last customers leave
in dim barlight
glass after glass this impulse
to drink away my past

 
Haiku Canada Review, 17:2, October 2023

Paris Postcard Haiku

divorced again ...

this wrinkled Paris postcard
signed with love

Haiku Canada Review, 17:2, October 2023

Reprinted on Charlotte Digregorio's Writer's Blog, Jan. 18 2024

River Moon Haiku

river moon

thoughts of life go

with the flow

Haiku Canada Review, 17:1, February 2023

Motel Bible Haiku

snow on snow ...

the dog-eared pages

of a motel bible

Haiku Canada Review, 17:1, February 2023

Fast-Beating Heart Tanka

my hand

over my fast-beating heart

as I recite the pledge ...

a voice fills my head,

are you Canadian enough?

Haiku Canada Review, 16:2, 2022

Affair Haiku

the affair unfolding and folding a bedsheet

Haiku Canada Review, 16:2, 2022

He Said, She Said

twenty years

and three children later ...
his marriage
worn away to a circle
of routine and aversion

he's a good man
a good father to our children
we've never quarrelled ...
cracking on the last words
her voice fades to a murmur
 
Haiku Canada Review, February 2022 

Winter Narcissus Haiku

winter narcissus ...

i crossed out and changed 
to I 

Haiku Canada Review, February 2022 

News After News Tanka

news after news

of record-shattering heat
day after day
a homeless man evicted
into the mayor's silence

Haiku Canada Review, October, 2021