Punctuation Day
questionable holiday
arrives without bang
Happy National Punctuation Day!
(I decided to provide that bang, after all.)
Archive for the ‘Haiku & Senryu’ Category
Happy National Punctuation Day — September 24 (Haiku)
Friday, September 24th, 2021A Holiday For Haiku? (Limerick)
Monday, April 17th, 2017“Haiku Poetry Day?” That sounds lame!
And redundancy’s surely to blame.
Be concise! That’s no vice;
Won’t “Haiku Day” suffice?
Terse verses deserve a short name.
Happy Haiku Poetry Day! (April 17)
Sundry Haiku
Saturday, July 11th, 2015I’d like the freedom
to not write haiku today,
but my brain insists.
*****
I am at the stage
where I like being on stage
with or without one.
*****
My near-rhyme rejects
turned limerick leftovers
find homes in haiku.
*****
I’m often impressed
by the drawing power
of unknown painters.
*****
Forgive and forget?
I keep meaning to forgive,
but I forget to.
*****
Your belief system
makes you feel superior?
Then it’s failing you.
*****
My muse goes yonder
as I wander in wonder
at time I squander.
*****
Spiders and crawlers
are welcome in my domain
if sent by Google.
*****
I should have prepared
for extemporization
but ran out of time.
*****
Music needs pauses;
I get restless when a piece
doesn’t have any.
*****
No Reason For Rhyme? (Limerick)
Tuesday, June 2nd, 2015No Reason For Rhyme? (Limerick)
By Madeleine Begun Kane
I’ve been censured and cautioned to spurn
Burning yearnings to rhyme, as I learn
How to coax some haiku
Into being, but few
Have earned kudos. My critics are stern.
A Rhyme For All Seasons (Limerick)
Monday, February 16th, 2015A Rhyme For All Seasons (Limerick)
By Madeleine Begun Kane
No matter the time or the season,
I will conjure up rhymes for no reason.
And haiku ain’t immune;
They are often rhyme-strewn,
Although many view rhymes there as treason.
Shoveling Duty (Limerick)
Monday, January 26th, 2015Shoveling Duty (Limerick)
By Madeleine Begun Kane
It’s snowing, alas and alack,
And I just finished shov’ling — can’t slack
During storms this severe.
But I did it. Oh dear!
All the snow I removed has come back.
*****
Blizzard in progress.
I resent New York City
resembling Fargo.
*****
Oboe-playing years
armed my shoulders for shov’ling,
but failed to prep mind.
“Absurdity Day” and “Air Your Dirty Laundry Day” Haiku (Nov. 20)
Thursday, November 20th, 2014In honor of “Absurdity Day” and “Air Your Dirty Laundry Day,” here’s a pair of haiku:
“Absurdity Day”
How is this day different
from all other days?
*****
I don’t celebrate
“Air Your Dirty Laundry Day”
Because it’s a wash.
Why Haiku? (Limerick)
Thursday, November 13th, 2014Why Haiku? (Limerick)
By Madeleine Begun Kane
I’m too blue to stop writing haiku,
Though my readers are threat’ning to sue:
Want me back in the swing
Of my limerick thing,
But both reason and rhyme staged a coup.
Haiku On The Attack (Limerick)
Tuesday, November 11th, 2014Haiku On The Attack (Limerick)
By Madeleine Begun Kane
Haiku’s been assaulting my mind,
Mocking lim’ricks, who’re feeling maligned:
“Haiku’s pithy, sublime.
“Lim’rick’s frivolous rhyme!”
Begged my muse to crack wise — she declined.
Mars Haiku Contest Results
Thursday, November 21st, 2013Earlier this year, NASA held a Mars haiku contest, which was managed by the University of Colorado. You can read the winning Mars haiku entries here.
I didn’t win, but my second haiku (the sappy one) got just enough votes to qualify to be included in the DVD that will accompany MAVEN on its journey to and around the Red Planet.
Here are my two entries:
Sorry to barge in.
We don’t mean to make rubble,
but we’re out of space.
***
Earth’s promise to Mars:
We vow to treat you better
than we treat ourselves.
***
Passover Haiku
Saturday, April 7th, 2012Passover practice:
Cut leavening from your bread.
Add it to your life.
Valentine’s Day Limerick and Haiku Too
Tuesday, February 14th, 2012Yet Another Valentine’s Day Limerick
By Madeleine Begun Kane
St. Valentine’s Day can be risky
Cuz the men folk do tend to get frisky.
And watch out for the pious:
They sure like to try us
Before and yes after their whiskey.
*****
St. Valentine’s Day
may be over in theory–
never in spirit.
Haiku Quartet
Wednesday, February 8th, 2012An “Acrostic Fly Haiku,” as suggested by Acrostics Only:
Free-floating on air,
Light as a feather, it soars,
Yielding to a swat.
*****
A “Relief Haiku,” as suggested by Sensational Haiku Wednesday:
Writing on deadline—
no ideas, none, nada.
Then, at last, relief.
*****
Forking over rent—
More than many can handle
if they like food too.
*****
Crafting a poem
takes work, skill, art, cleverness.
Damn … I left out wit.
*****
New Year’s Resolutions Haiku
Thursday, December 29th, 2011Foretell the future?
Easy! Just predict that you’ll
break resolutions.
*****
Why bother making
fresh New Year’s resolutions?
Re-attempt last year’s.
*****
The first haiku was prompted by Theme Thursday’s future prompt.
Haiku Friday
Friday, December 23rd, 2011This haiku quartet was inspired by sundry poetry prompts linked below:
Preoccupation:
the state you’re in right before
landing a new job.
*****
Haiku can uplift
all our holiday spirits.
Better yet — champagne.
*****
Our poetry prompts—
an unhealthy obsession?
No! When’s the next one?
*****
If I could create
a lovely haiku today,
I’d be ecstatic.
*****
These haiku were written for these prompts: Occupy, Spirit, Ecstasy, Health and for The Purple Treehouse’s Haiku Prompt.
Flaring Verse (Limerick and Haiku)
Tuesday, October 4th, 2011Jenn’s haiku theme this week is flare. So I decided to have some homonym fun, writing a flair limerick and a flare haiku:
A woman who dressed with much flair,
Wearing clothes I for one would not dare,
One morning looked odd—
Neither stylish, nor mod—
Alas, she was utterly bare.
*****
When bad tempers flare,
they tend to bare* grievances
best left buried.
*****
*In my haiku, I changed bear to bare after my husband Mark pointed out my error. Since I’m always pointing out his errors, Mark really enjoyed this. :)
Amusing Verse … I Hope
Wednesday, September 21st, 2011One of my favorite poetry prompt sites, One Single Impression, has asked its poet-participants to propose word prompts for upcoming editions. I suggested the word “amuse,” which will be used next week, starting September 25th. Here’s a limerick and haiku I wrote for the occasion:
Amusing Verse … I Hope
By Madeleine Begun Kane
I try to amuse when I write,
In my quest to pen verse that has bite.
But sometimes my muse
Lets me down. Yes j’accuse!
I suspect that it does it for spite.
*****
Poetry prompt sites
inspire, amuse, bring friends,
awaken muses.
*****
Depressing Haiku of the Day
Friday, September 2nd, 2011Labor Day’s coming —
the jobless labor to find
cause to celebrate.
Sorry about the downer haiku. To compensate, here are two old humor columns of mine: Just In Time For Labor Day, Some Job Interview Humor and Working Stiffed.
Sundry Haiku and Tanka
Wednesday, August 31st, 2011Prompted to write a school-related haiku, I ended up with a tanka. I just couldn’t seem to fit this true tale into a mere seventeen syllables:
Classroom clock won’t move,
its hands dulled by droning prof,
who catches my stare
and yells, “If you’re bored, then go.”
Lesson learned — I take my leave.
*****
Continuing with an education theme, I’ve used Three Word Wednesday’s drag, mumble, penetrate prompt in this haiku:
Penetrating mind
who mumbles at his lectern —
a scholarly drag.
*****
Drop the “f” from “flaws”
and you’re left with the word “laws,”
most of which are flawed.
*****
What greater pleasure
than a standing ovation
from the man you love.
*****
Sleepy Haiku
Wednesday, August 24th, 2011I lie in my bed,
coaxing my brain to adapt
and glide into sleep.
*****
Insomnia strikes
when I’m at my most weary—
tired irony.
*****
My lullaby verse—
I knew I should write it down—
now it’s lost to sleep.
*****
My thoughts skip around
like out-of-control children—
scaring sleep away.
*****
You can read my How To Become An Insomniac (Humorous How-To) here.
(My first haiku was inspired by Three Word Wednesday’s “adapt, glide, lie” prompt. My second haiku was inspired by Sensational Haiku Wednesday’s “weary” prompt.
Update: Happy Festival Of Sleep Day!
View my insomnia haiku image here.
