Clean Toronto Together

one by one 

tent cities dismantled 

amidst drifting snow

the mayor wears a smile

for the camera

will my bed 

be far enough away

from my neighbour’s ...

a masked old man murmurs

by the shelter entrance

weareall

inthistogerther, t o g e t h e r

facing the challenges

politicians of all stripes

at each other's throats

NeverEnding Story, November 18 2022

Note: For more, see "To the Lighthouse: A Rhetorical Device, Irony"

The Weight of Fear

policemen

bust another house party

at an Airbnb

we'reallinthistogether

to get infected 

a long lineup

at the mobile clinic

two young men

with masks under their chins

laughing at each other

delta surging

and antibodies waning ...

I escape

into the crawl space 

of ten-year-old me

Failed Haiku, 6:69,  September 2021 

Aftermath

first confession
after the election:
Father, I've sinned;
I did not choose
the lesser of two evils

the sugary bust
of Donald Trump
was stolen ...
a Mexican migrant
smiling to himself

Kokako, 26, April 2017

Black Friday: A Kyoka Sequence

Thanksgiving night
Yo, all the iPods are gone
a man yells to the line
of cross-border shoppers
who camp outside Best Buy

my first time
to sleep at Best Buy
she smiles
as a shouting match
erupts inside the store

the staff yells
the 47-inch flat screens
are sold out
people waiting outside
shiver in the cold morning

Sketchbook, 6:4, July/August 2011

Human: A Kyoka Sequence

long, narrow
aisle to the altar
the guests
stand on both sides thinking
they married the wrong people

the morning
greeting has long gone
he ponders
buying that magic blue pill
maybe ten minutes longer

first time
in the Bra Lounge
she wonders
if these fancy bras are those
his interns wear

back from
the housewarming party
they argue
about whose house is bigger
whose children look smart

children's rooms
filled with autumn moonlight
the old couple
sit silently
staring at the TV screen

slow walk
to the church cemetery
the mourners
wear long faces
speaking ill of the deceased

Haiku Canada Review, Vol. 5 No. 1
Take Five : Best Contemporary Tanka, 4, 2012