Some Penny Haiku, Part 3

[Steve Plonk]

"Grief Penny Haiku"
By Steve Plonk

Life's journey ends so swift
Time is a thief
Memory is a gift
Which eases grief
With a lift...

[Steve Plonk]

"Roadside Sign Penny Haiku, etc."
By Steve Plonk

"Real Eyes
Realize
Real Lies"...
Then we have
To explain the truth
Which is relative to
The beholder,
Who as s/he explains
Becomes a witness...
Those who prophesize
Express with finess...
***
As we know, there
Are many kinds of trees--
All reach toward the sky,
The sun warms them
As they grow...
The truth, in the same way,
Warms the soul,
As our soul gains traction
During our lives,
We bask in God's Grace...
Thanks be to God's gifts...

[Steve Plonk]

"Two Milleniums Penny Haiku"
By Steve Plonk

a)
Sometimes we wonder
Why there aren't any spoons?...
Just plenty of knives & sporks,
With starving people ready
To cut something in various
Corners of the globe...
In the background,
The radio plays:
"O Little Town of Bethlehem"--
***
b)
Poor Bethlehem, rests its
Collective head on stones...
Meanwhile, a shiny beast
Slouches its way to Bethlehem,
As the pilgrims try to survive
A week in the "Holy Land"...
Grant us a boon, Savior King,
Who was visited by three
Wise men bearing three gifts...
More than two thousand years ago--
What gifts do we really have
To top these, many eons hence?
***
c)
The Grand Conjunction & Star
Came to rest over the stable in
A cave, as shooting stars
Announced the angels watching,
As the animals about him stood,
The cattle, the sheep, the donkey,
Barn dogs & cats, the shepherds--
Savior King born in a stable rude
All glory is yours, & what is man,
To be able to glimpse your message?
***
d)
Around 7 B.C., a nova & a Grand Conjunction
Announced Jesus' birth, so say the
Astronomers of this day,
But the astrologers of the early
Days found the Savior lying in
A manger in a cave, because his folks
Could find no room at an inn...
***
e)
Jesus was born to die so
That we might be saved:
Etching a tapestry of western thought...
Who are we to be able to glimpse his message?
"Now abide these: Faith, Hope, Love,
But the greatest of these is Love..."
May we not hear the clanging cymbal,
But hear the horn of Gabriel...

[Steve Plonk]

"New Moon Penny Haiku"
By Steve Plonk
a)
There's a new moon
We cannot see,
Because God
Blocked it out
With a giant flea...
***
b)
Oh pesky fly
Plagueing the sty
In my left eye,
Wave goodbye,
Let the sliver
Of a crescent moon
Peep through
In my vision...

c)
Sea splashes
Foam in my eye
So that I cannot
See the crescent
Moon rise in the
Pacific sky...

d)
Freaking moon
With a big oriental face,
Help me smile
With my facade
Upon my fellow
Human race,
Bless the pansies
Which shine in
Moonlight this
Late December night...
Brightening my 'hood...

[Steve Plonk]

"New Year Kittens Penny Haiku"
By Steve Plonk
a)
Two little kittens named
Mittens and Chaps
Mew outside my basement den
Window as my tuxedo cat
Meows back down below...
Happy mew year they say
Happy mew year, old cat...

b)
Meanwhile, upstairs,
I hear two more cats
Gently meowing out
The new year,
Right after the ball
Has been dropped in
Times square,
Tabby cat & Coon cat
Make stereo meows
After eating their
"Kitty Kaviar" chows...

c)
Five cats singing
"Auld Lang Syne"
While neighborhood
Dogs woof & whine
As fire crackers go
Pop Pop! As latter day
Holiday lights light hilltop...

[Steve Plonk]

"Pets Muse Penny Haiku"
By Steve Plonk

Cat & dog's whines & mews
Communicate as well as amuse,
Pets attentions inspire the muse,
If one is attuned
To their animal news...
***
Pets radio antenna
Is more sensitive than ours
They have better sight & hearing, of course...
Pets hear the trains coming
way before us,
Hear the rains, way before us--
Beating our poor ears...
***
Pets sense tremors from
Earthquakes underground,
In time to evacuate
Buildings in town...
Pets know our car noises,
Know our footsteps
As we arrive home...
As we may see,
Out of many choices,
Pets are great company...

[Steve Plonk]

"In Chat-Spot: Penny Haiku Series"
By Steve Plonk

In the Chat Spot,
We chat-a-lot,
Some is just chatter,
Some is just rot,
But we get to
The things which matter,
In the Chat Spot...
***
In the Chat Spot,
We shoot the breeze
With ease,
Talk small talk,
With profound meanings,
Break the ice across the world,
Just as the United Nations
Flag's unfurled...
We chat with friends,
Keep ourselves amused...
Even talk about comfortable shoes...
***
At times, I get the blues,
When I am reminded of
My comfortable shoes,
When so many along the avenues,
Go barefoot with blisters
On their feet,
Scratching & struggling
For some bites to eat...
***
But I remember the
Sneakers in care boxes in church,
Which were given with care
To those who have not,
Shipped to folks in our world
Who have suffered calamity,
We try to ease those in depravity...
***
So let's give when we can
Not just to the outstretched hand,
Alleviate need when we see it,
'Cause one day we may be in need,
'Cause in order to grow corn,
We must be there to seed it...
***
All are worthy, there are
Sentient beings all around--
Among those beings,
Are alley cats in the town--
Animals & children neglected,
Folks exposed to radiation detected--
Storm & flood victims,
Looking so forlorn,
Who wonder how to
Get their next meal
The following morn...
***
To help, "give a leg up"
When you can--
Don't hold back,
It takes a village
To get trains
Back on track...

Author’s note: This is an expansion of a series of poems I posted in “Chat Spot".

[Steve Plonk]

Tuna Water: For My Cats (Lyric)
-A Penny Haiku series-
By Steve Plonk
a)
Mew mew mew mew
Drinking tuna juice
Gracious, how delish
Juice from tuna fish
***
b)
On a lazy evening
Hearing buzzing of the bees
I hear the sound of mewing
Meowing please please - please
I get out the tuna can
Open it up so quick,
Even before I get out the bowls
Our cats have come to lick
***
c)
It’s much to cats liking
I could never fail to tell,
They practically smack their
Muzzles with the smell,
Their little paws come scurrying
Practically knocking down the bowls
Slipping pink tongues in and out their jowls…
***
d)
Mew -mew meow mow -mow
Drinking tuna juice
Gracious, how delish
Tuna water in our dish…

Author’s Note:
Inspired by the old folk tune, “Goober Peas”

[Steve Plonk]

“Little Pets Penny Haiku Series”
By Steve Plonk

a)
Little kitties, little doggies
Going for a walk…
In their halters, in leash & collars,
What if they could talk?
As March winds blow
This spring day
What would they say?...
***
b)
Wiggling ears & tails
Labeling and arching backs
Stretching on the sidewalk
Shaking off the rain
Smelling the azaleas &
Dripping honeysuckles
As moisture collects on leaves—
What would be the little pets
Likes & what would be their pet peeves?
***
c)
Little kitties, little doggies
Listening to the mockingbirds,
Titmice in the cedar trees
How would they let us
Know with words
What they may only say
In pantomime & patience
When pointing at their
Empty water bowl with their
Noses after coming inside
From the March breeze
With pollen on their coats
From the evergreen trees…
***
d)
Little kitties, little doggies
Leading their animal lives
Begging for their meals
Doing tricks for treats &
Interesting athletic feats…
Meow, mew & woof , whine
They help us figure out
What they want & we
Muddle through just fine…

[Steve Plonk]

Wake up from your ennui & read these whimsical poems, see above.
Let me know what you think...

[stilltrucking]

"...a penny for my thoughts
would not tax my mind at all"

puppy dog heaven

[Steve Plonk]

Thanks, Still Trucking...

[Steve Plonk]

Grantchester Meadows Forever (Penny Haiku)
By Steve Plonk

Y'know what gives me
Those spring thrills?
Watching the swaying
Of the daffodils--
Another example of garden
Hocus-pocus
Is the early colors of
The Grantchester crocus/

Circa 1970

[Steve Plonk]

THE SAFFRON NUMBER (Penny Haiku)

By Steve Plonk

I remember
The saffron number
The very last saffron number
We did together,
You & I & the mephi--
Oh where am I,
Who knows... Who cares...
Pushed the china button &
I tripped somewheres
Don’t worry about me
I’m only with stellar company…
The back roads of my mind
Are still smokinnnn'!

Circa Summer 1976

[Steve Plonk]

THOUGHTS ON THE EVENING OF VIKING TOUCHDOWN:
JULY 20, 1976 (Penny Haiku)

By Steve Plonk

Oh, red planet Mars
Will you ever stop being a mystery?
Never, until I set foot
On your pistachio, peppermint stick surface/
The first false color picture of you
Was the beauty of a dying world
Like Earth maybe too someday/
Mars, you seem like an old toothless
Red setter—a dog with a painful
But dignified bark/