This 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.
Jenn’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. :)
One 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.
*****
Labor 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.
Prompted 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.
*****
I 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.
Words meant to welcome—
“Please make yourself at home.”
remind me I’m not.
*****
Oboist mutes gasp,
playing unviable phrase,
conquering Bizet.
*****
A Nantucket man
knew his much lim’ricked neighbor—
envied him his fame.
*****
Plan for the future,
but never let your planning
erase the present.
*****
An alluring scent,
indecently delicious,
renders gents senseless.
*****
(The first haiku was inspired by Sensational Haiku Wednesday’s home prompt. The second haiku was inspired by 3 Word Wednesday’s prompt to use the words gasp, mute, and viable. That second haiku alludes to a notoriously long and difficult oboe passage in Bizet’s Symphony in C.)
Haiku hankering
mixed with lim’rick addiction —
housework hiatus.
*****
I am on a quest
For haiku or senryu.
Mission accomplished.
*****
Artificial
line breaks can seduce readers
into thinking
you’ve said something
profound.
*****
Today I have a bit of fun with two pairs of synonyms:
The words nigh and near —
synonyms, and yet just one
sizzles and sings.
Near merely describes,
while the soaring nigh evokes —
close but no cigar.
But don’t pity near —
it verbs — something nigh can’t do.
This verse now burned out.
*****
Metier, I hear,
is a forte synonym.
What a grand duo —
one traded for the other —
pianometier music.
*****
(Pompted by nigh from Haiku Heights and Weekend Theme’s metier.)
Flutist misses cue.
Conductor settles the score.
Time to face music.
*****
Botoxified face,
once intelligent with age,
now frozen wasteland.
*****
(Face prompt from Theme Thursday)
Blank slate office walls —
Decorate? No one tempted —
temporary work.
*****
Nakedly ringless,
undecorated fingers
robbed of wedding bling.
Married still, but ringed no more.
Replaceable … and yet not.
*****
(Prompted by decorated)
Just a single spark —
all you need to fire up
imagination.
*****
Blaming messenger
heralds avoidance when you
can’t bear the message.
*****
Some thorny problems
can’t be solved by deep thinking
and just need deep sleep.
*****
(Prompts used in this post: making fire from We Write Poems, messenger from Sunday Scribblings, and thorn from Weekend Wordsmith)
Excited tourists
stop and stare, awed by Times Square —
forget they have feet.
*****
Sleepless, hollow eyes
gaze at legal opinions,
but see student loans.
*****
Windy documents
written to persuade judges —
endless legal briefs.
*****
Libraries, once hushed,
quiet playgrounds of the mind,
kept calm and silent
by strict ground rules, now drown thought
in playground cacophony.
*****
(Thanks for these four prompts: New York, hollow, paradox, and hush. Posted at Monday Memories.)
Update: April 21st is Thank You For Libraries Day.
Symphony of black,
my uniform for decades —
stage no longer mine.
*****
Harmonics converge
in a dissonant parade
of the marching bands.
*****
(Thanks for the uniform prompt.)
As you can see from this verse, I’m inseparable from silliness:
Inseparable —
ventriloquist and dummy
joined at the quip.
Inseparable —
honeymooning newlyweds
joined at the lip.
Inseparable —
masochist and sadist
joined at the whip.
Inseparable —
gambler and his bookie
joined at the tip.
Inseparable —
compulsive gambler and debt
joined at the Strip.
Inseparable —
the hop and the jump
joined at the skip.
Inseparable —
Jewish moms and their children
joined at the guilt trip.
(Written for Writers Island’s inseparable prompt)
Designing programs
for software business clients —
command performance.
*****
Military gifts
like General Patton’s patch —
commanding presents.
*****
Want satisfaction
when your weapon’s sarcasm?
Pick a smart target.
*****
An unrooted soul
steps on the joy of others
and roots for failure.
*****
Meaningful haiku
that’s smart, breezy, yet mellow —
ticklish challenge.
*****
(Haiku Heights commands prompts us to write haiku using the word command; One Single Impression wants us to be sarcastic; Sensational Haiku Wednesday roots for us to write haiku; and Three Word Wednesday prompts us to use breeze, mellow, and tickle in one fell swoop.)
Nursing nostalgia,
the tribute bands play covers —
relive what wasn’t.
*****
The injured cellist,
forced to bow out of concerts,
retires her bow.
*****
The big bands play swing —
old couples dance joyously,
then reclaim their canes.
*****
Three childhood friendships —
treasured, instrumental —
piano, oboe, flute.
*****
(The first haiku was inspired by Writer’s Island’s tribute theme. The fourth haiku was inspired by Monday Memories’ friendship theme.)
Warning to those here for their daily dose of “funny.” Most of these aren’t. Sorry!
My passionate hunt
for humor in the mundane—
a chastening quest.
*****
Vulgar temptation
haunts, tantalizes, prevails—
beats dainty retreat.
*****
Passionate and raw
feelings too painful to root
escape on breached wings.
*****
Integrity fights
a war against temptation—
battles to a draw.
*****
A thought tempts, glimmers,
says “explore me,” then wings off—
never to return.
*****
Marching to the beat
of your own drum may work best
in solo parades.
*****
To those who ask me
how I remember my verse—
that’s what blogs are for.
*****
Thanks to these prompts for their inspiration: Carry On Tuesday, Haiku Heights, Haiku Wednesday, LoL Prompts, One Single Impression, Poetic Asides, Sunday Scribblings, and Three Word Wednesday.
Mad Kane (Madeleine Begun Kane) is a writer, musician, and "recovering lawyer." She won the Robert Benchley Society Award For Humor and enjoys writing limericks, song parodies, and current events haiku.
You can email her at madkane@madkane.com, visit her political humor blog, or stop by her home page.
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