hang up your cape this
weekend. even supergirl
has kryptonite days.

and she wrote me back:

i wish i could write
a haiku to say thank you.
oh, wait. i just did.

which got me thinking.
all of us should play a game.
it's called Haiku Tag.

this is how you play:
read these haikus & think "wow,
what a great idea!"

write your own haiku.
have fun. sign it and send it
to me and your friends.

invite them to play.
ask them to write, enjoy, and
send their own haikus.

i will collect them,
organize them, and post them
here on my website.

never written a
haiku? no problemo! they
are super simple:

a traditional
haiku has three (5, 7,
5 syllable) lines.

jack kerouac's are even easier.
capture a moment in 3 brief lines.
don't worry about syllables.

so, let's get started!
here are the haikus. read'm,
like'm, add your own:

tulip faces show
scattered raindrops upon them
petals forming smiles

the form restricts some
its discipline sets me free.
soft powerful verse.

i'm so overjoyed!
i have found this secret spring;
haikus are the best.

a simple process
but I have fucked it all up
please take two, redo

Is it Thursday yet
Must be I see Poison Girl
and she's drunk again

Talking to pillows
Is more comforting than church
Feathers tickle me.

will you still be here
when i am gone far away
it sucks to be you.

I had a vision
The whole planet just blew up
In a garden rose

I can smell the sheets
Flapping with the breeze today,
Though it is winter.

Chicken noodle soup
Your mother recommended
Because she loves you!

Sara, oh, Sara
With the lovely red-gold hair,
You speak the sad truth.

Decadent heroes
are essentially eunuchs
in a cutthroat land.

it is exciting
it's lindsay's first hurricane
be glad you knew her

Eating a carrot
I won't go blind tomorrow
Going to the sea

Judy, Judy, Jew
You are a beauty you
Let's play in the grass

i find amazing
like dominos falling we
are all connecting.

mean people may suck.
but nice people bring good luck.
i say, "what the fuck."

"you see her," she said,
pointing to the lines he drew.
"you really see her."

my black cat and her
catrobatics as she slips
from chair to cold floor

today I spent too long
looking for Rama's secrets.
I only found two.

am i the only
person on earth who loves snow
four months til winter

a bottled garden
and angry music playing
my cat purrs tres loud

When he kissed me it
tasted like hamburger, so
I wanted to stop.

my dog got a leaf
stuck in his left shoe. i do
not know what to do.

dreamt of india
my head too heavy fell back
onto my pillow.

10 is good for me.
off to marmalade we'll go
to fill our bellies.

i remember in
fifth grade writing my muy first
haiku. it was fun.

haikus are becoming
my favorite kind of poem.
they're fun to write, too.

my eyes are squinty-
watery, itchy, and gross
it must be springtime

only write three lines
with seven syllables here
five top, five bottom

triple hot rocket
tonight on warm cream cushion
thrusters go! up top

i hate things like this
forwarding haiku is bad
i will not do it

driving home from the
drug store all of the women
seem more beautiful

garlic peels basil
stems tomato chunks even
her garbage smells good

you know what I need?
one of those things that makes you
rich and good looking.

i'm an orchid out
of her element, away
from her swamp and tree.

my sandals? so cute
my toes haven't seen the sun
for about nine months.

pretending to be
in the international
space station asleep.

i get right-wing spam
e-mail from someone who I
otherwise respect.

daydreaming of you
always makes me want a drink.
I'll have another.

"no penguins allowed":
a new sign on the bar door.
they know from last time.

whoops i just realized
my haiku isn't haiku fucked
up follow the rules

god dipped his sun-wet
brush into the sea splashing
out the color green.

head in hands
over world situation.
peace, come soon.

he died in my arms.
he was buried in my heart.
there he sleeps deeply.

the sun holds my body
in a passionate embrace.
winter has melted.

Why struggle to be
brilliant? Relax, be yourself,
and watch the sun rise.

Nobody sees me
I must be invisible.
Or are they just blind?

Perhaps praying, these
Stark barren-limbed trees reaching
For the touch of God.

She stuck the bottle
Inside the cold toilette tank,
Forgetting the flush.

He brought home cookies
Soft sweet delicious morsels
Instead of kisses

Would you dare disturb
my soul bereft of man's faith
if Earth love stirred you?

my first haiku
ever written in english
perhaps the last one.

haiku not easy.
struggle i with brilliant words,
this will have to do.

like secret whispers
ominous, mysterious
her season changes

inertia waning
spirit follows body at
the speed of a dream

Swift dreams and sure wings
Allow the spirit's safe flight
Along paths of stars

you don't have to tell,
i'll be your little secret.
hold me, love me, please.

you disturb the peace
of our divine sister-circle,
you delicious men.

let's play a fun game.
rama calls it haiku tag.
i'm done, now you're it.

"can we not laugh for
a while?" he pleaded. it was
a painful good time.

tonight sensei gives
a self-defence seminar
it's not aikido.

we sweat on the mat
bending fingers, kneeing heads,
poking thumbs in eyes.

nervous energy,
laughter, but sensei stops us
this is life or death.

I am very bored
at this silly job I have
for money not love.

all a dream of spring
falling leaves and cotton sheets
moments caught in light

i didn't realize.
this sunday is the last day
we will see brittany.

she is going home
to san diego and won't
be back for a while.

mental property
economy of our words
makes them worth much more

earl grey honey air
peaches in my regalia
summer sap in heat

machiavelli
doctor ro-rosenpenis
mephistopheles

o haiku, i ache
to echo you like the song
by sonic youth

a haiku for you
lisa of the long brown hair
you are too too cool

haiku back at cha
far away in the hot sun
kelly, fun and neat.

did you and henry
decide to move to texas?
if so, when and where?

seattle:fifty
degrees with slight chance of rain
home: real hot, I guess.

home to miami
i can't wait to sweat for the
first time in a while.

you can take me out
of florida, I guess, but
you can't keep me warm

in anything less
than ninety-five and humid
with a chance of rain.

burping to the beat
probably something I ate
and will do again

i never do this,
but haiku is a good cause.
simple and concise.

chilled sweet creme anglaise
milk, sugar, vanilla, eggs
golden velvet. mmmmm....

haikus are written
by those with too much time on
their right and left hands.