Land of the Free

electric gate

Your Kind of Community

in glowing white letters

picket fences

a white man shadows

the black teen

thud of footsteps

one bark answers

another

ID check

the black teen’s shadow

slips out of the gate

Prune Juice, 36, 2022

The Making of "Make It New"

written on New Year's Sunday

Mala beads

carved into skull shapes

dream of the last night

the glow 
of a good-luck crystal 
first sunrise

NeverEnding Story, January 2 2022

reprinted in Asahi Haikuist Network, February 20 2026

Night and Day

false negative

an infectious silence
darkens the office

false positive
a kiss-marked post-it note
on the humming fridge

Failed Haiku, 6:61, January 2021

Neither Calm Nor Bright

Christmas Eve

alone I watch a replay 

of the debate

a deflated Santa

on the White House lawn 

theft and fraud charges

PoemHunter, December 24, 2020

Tomorrow will worry about itself

smell of sunshine

birdsongs fill empty
tree-lined streets

flatten the curve ...
I take a close look
at my belly

rooftop workout
I elbow-bump the blonde
I've a crush on

a night of dreams:
all hands on the last box
of face masks

Failed Haiku, 5:56, August 2020

Selected Senryu Sequence: American Carnage

New Life in Trumpland, A Senryu Sequence

Go Trump graffiti
a stray dog
marking his spot

trumping Trump
my Mexican parrot
lifts up its voice

election night
a scream from the other side
of the fence

Trump victory
the sky bursting
with crows

post-election blues
my sister dressed in black
from head to toe

Thanksgiving dinner
Trump hats and Clinton stickers
left on the doormat

misty night
red states,  blue states
strongertogether

first false dawn
Donald Trump Toppled
on realnews

bald eagle's cry
cut off
Inauguration Day

a neon sign
on the White House roof:
Alternative Facts

NeverEnding Story, January 23, 2017

Reality Show Host

Revised Seventh Entry, Coronavirus Poetry Diary: "Laughing" in the Face of Adversity

just like the flu ...
all eyes on the last pack
of toilet paper

social distancing ...
further and further away
from the President

Relax, it all will pass ...
this infectious silence
of the American Dream Mall

we're doing great ...
in my virus-free dream
the White House locked down

NeverEnding Story, March 16, 2020

Note: American Dream is a retail and entertainment complex in the Meadowlands Sports Complex in East Rutherford, New Jersey, United States, that has over 450 stores and 33ooo parking spaces.

Each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way

the smell
of our routine silence
dinner time

it begins and ends
with slamming the door:
divorced talk

divorced ...
bed sheets no longer
retain her scent

Failed Haiku, 4:42, 2019

Disemployed?

laid off
the autumn gust changes
its direction

unemployed
all these shapes
of winter clouds

job hunting
I step on the spring sun
in a puddle

summer heat
the AI greeter makes out
my fake smile
(note: AI stands for Artificial Intelligence)

Haiku Canada Review, 12:2, October 2018

Fire and Fury

white house briefing
a mouth that opens
and closes

white house guards
living from one fake news
to another

Prune Juice, July 2018

Just Words

a senryu sequence written for Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un

first peace talks
crows on the power line
answering crows

peace talks halted
a raven cries
into the gathering dark

peace talks resume
a small twist
to the president's mouth

NeverEnding Story, June 11, 2018

Happily (N)ever After

fall equinox
living together
yet apart

that same look
on her Tudor face
trial separation

winter sky
heavy with rain clouds
divorce court

ex's black cat
curls up with my dog
midnight countdown

Haiku Canada Review, 11:2, 2017

From Beginning to End

warm beer
on a sultry night
his talk of love

just divorced
his whiskey glass brimming
with winter stars

Failed Haiku, 2:22, October 2017

My Millennial Life

ten to eight
I hop from one job
to another

couch surfing
my circle of friends
grows smaller

wingsuit flying
my dream world becomes
larger and larger

my view
on work-life balance
tilted downward

Prune Juice, 22, 2017

Confessions of a Justified Trump Fan (R)

The political is personal and the personal is sexual -- David Wilkinson

my liberal wife
on top of me
year in, year out

I stick
to the missionary position
Trump victory

breakup sex
we try more new
positions

after divorce
masturbation makes me
great again

Failed Haiku, 2:16, 2017

New Life

for Trumplanders

on the hospital
road sign
Trump hat icon

therapy session:
the patient
trumping Trump

Failed Haiku, 2:15, March 2017

American Carnage: New Life in Trumpland

A Senryu Sequence

Go Trump graffiti
a stray dog
marking his spot

trumping Trump
my Mexican parrot
lifts up its voice

election night
a scream from the other side
of the fence

Trump victory
the sky bursting
with crows

post-election blues
my sister dressed in black
from head to toe

Thanksgiving dinner
Trump hats and Clinton stickers
left on the doormat

misty night
red states,  blue states
strongertogether

first false dawn
Donald Trump Toppled
on RealNews

bald eagle's cry
cut off
Inauguration Day

a neon sign
on the White House roof:
Alternative Facts

NeverEnding Story, January 23, 2017