32 HAIKU­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­

by BILL DIMICHELE

 

 

 

 

The following haiku are a compilation of 32 poems selected from a few hundred haiku created by the late Bill DiMichele between 2015 and 2016.  Bill always said the most important quality an artist can have is a good eye; to be able to see something enchanted in the mundane.  This skill is evident and shines through in his haiku.  They illustrate the beauty in the ordinary and the fantastical alike, and show a deep veneration of all things. 

 

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“I went over to an old Chinese cook in the doorway of the kitchen and asked him, “Why did Bodhidharma come from the West?” 

“I don’t care,” said the old cook."

                                                  (Jack Kerouac, Dharma Bums)

 

 

 

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2

 

a wicker basket

and hiding at the bottom-

two strawberry leaves

 

 

 

3

 

sarcophagus lid

sinks low above the treetops

wash it down with beer 

 

 

 

4

 

sitting at pier 9

white city, misty morning  

seagulls dive for crabs

 

 

 

5

 

her eyes will twinkle

be still or be disfigured

an unfinished doll

 

 

 

6

 

warm cup of cocoa

and for the perfect contrast

body facing death

 

 

 

7

 

late summer drowses

a country cemetery

gravestones forgotten

 

 

 

8

 

hummingbirds like harps

nearly weightless, wrapped in light

they’re drunk all the time

 

 

 

9

 

moss rock wall

lizards do a mating dance

under the birdhouse

 

 

 

10

 

ocean and mountains

cali morning, star jasmine

mexican breakfast

 

 

 

11

 

when there is silence

when the stars have come around

when peaches ripen

 

 

 

12

 

dusty clocks ticking

a dark house facing the sea

splinter of a moon

 

 

 

14

 

tangerine fire

from the top of crow canyon

we watch the sunset

 

 

 

15

 

painted sails flutter

she looks down to the harbor

blinking in her robes

 

 

 

16

 

when the first snow falls

it’s like an eternity

white on white on white

 

 

 

21

 

sit on the roadside

eat apple pie and ice cream

route 4 to denver

 

 

 

22

 

i was born and died

in the american night

cornfields and small towns

 

 

 

24

 

monongahela

hot air, sweat and humid river,

that slow brown workhorse

 

 

 

28

 

colorful crayons

fuchsia magenta lemon

spread across the floor

 

 

 

36

 

the fiddle music

carries it to my window

the smell of cut hay

 

 

 

38

 

hot tea with jelly

noisy crumbs under the knife

my glasses fog up

 

 

 

41

 

bring me a blanket

we’ll watch the heavens dancing

with millions of stars

 

 

 

42

 

two stars revolving

a candle in the lantern

honeymoon whispers

 

 

 

43

 

above is below

pink crest, purple trough ripples

waves on the ocean

 

 

 

61

 

from the parapet

dim light of cadmium red

heaven rests the dead

 

 

 

63

 

hot cinders smoking

here in the land of the dead

none of the keys fit

 

 

 

96

 

Time is short, he knows,

My father reaches to me,

I touch his tattoo.

 

 

 

97

 

Butterfly nectar

White crane in flowered garden

Lilies don’t bother.

 

 

 

100

 

Afternoon sun glares

Purple is a cool color

There is no purple.

 

 

 

105

 

After the rainstorm

Blue skies and birds are released

Drops still hang from trees.

 

 

 

106

 

October grape vines

Knowing the melancholy-

Yes, I will drink you.

 

 

 

107

 

Funeral winter

The old man in the distance

Crunches through the frost.

 

 

 

112

 

Fallen from the sky

And into her red mitten

The visiting moon.

 

 

 

 

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Some of these haiku were featured in the “Haiku Journal” and “Now” edited by Bill, which was a special one-time only edition of the “Tip of The Knife Visual Poetry Magazine” (link below) devoted to haiku (link below).

 

http://tipoftheknife.blogspot.com/

 

https://now-haiku.blogspot.com/2016/06/now-haiku-magazine.html

 

facqueuesol would like to thank Julie & Will DiMichele for making this tribute possible.

 

 

 

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© Bill DiMichele 2016/2021

a facqueuesol paperless book