The wars of the gnomes

The wars of the gnomes
prove mysterious to us
thirty year chasm

flying on vicodin

Speaking to no one
the panty pilot swept through
she took my toothbrush?

in transit

Dawn strikes the airport
passengers wait listlessly
some of them look dead

terminal

Mountains of luggage
stagnant streams of passengers
landscape of despair

home? Ohhm?

Bernard Moitessier
chose tahiti over home.
What is sanity?

consume more

Marketing's big goal
is to create whole new needs
where there had been none

Emigres

Citizens back home
diminished refugees here
but their kids can dream

preserve us

Some clerics pretend
they'll rule this world in god's name
I piss on their beards

consume!

Marketing's big goal
is to create whole new needs
like amusement parks

thuggery

Now Bhutto is dead
Musharref keeps all power
who needs elections?

aspiring

Zeppelins manquées
San Francisco's tower tops
float on the fog-bank

stranded

Like steel Zeppelins
San Francisco's tower tops
float on the fog-bank

Too much realism

I still grip the hold
but it has torn from the wall
just like climbing trad!

information density

ambiguous verse
like overlapping codons
gets more out of less

information density II

phage lambda got it
overlapping triplet code
uses space better

information density

Ambiguity
in seventeen syllables
makes twice as much sense

questions

What gives life meaning?
Do we just pass along genes
to put off asking?

bully pulpit

Fear muslims! Hate them!
Cheney bangs the drum for war
drooling for Iran

christmas tree

One more dead fir tree
reminds us of warmer days
we're past the solstice

adrenaline

My parachute worked!
It's exciting to cheat death
now, the long walk down

apologies to lennon

so this is xmas
still there`s war, lies, greed, and tears
and what have you done?

inner space

Integrating sparks,
constructing realities
Can brains grasp the mind?

Misdirection:

Blame the C.I.A. !
Don't ask who gave the orders!
"These are not the droids. . . "

novel

In many contexts
"Innovation" merely means
applying old lore

non-obvious

Machines in our heads
construct our realities
from ion fluxes

haute cuisine

"Wild Bill's", Leadville:
independent puckery
at ten thousand feet!

consensus

machines in our heads
construct worlds from scant data
why should they agree?

geocentric

From our perspective
saturn has just passed the moon
dwarfed by a pebble

ripe

Vultures soar closer
what aroma allures them?
I need a shower.

drawn

Vultures soar closer
seeking that elusive smell.
I need a shower.

california

So this is christmas?
Watching the vultures soaring
basking in the sun

Ho Ho Ho

Garish yule displays
add to global warning woes
faux snow's all we'll know

just look

Artfully arranged
the finest food on acid
still tastes just like dirt

endless

soldiers killed their dads
then recruiters close the loop
orphans trained to kill

out of the loop?

What did Dubya know
about the C.I.A's tapes?
When did he know it?

Iowa II

The field shifts and flows
campaigns built on sand falter
upsets bring new hope

Iowa

The field shifts and flows
campaigns built on sand falter
maybe there's still hope

solstice

Way down, almost south
at one end of our orbit
I watch the sun rise

vestis virum reddit?

Naked we are born
and naked we leave this world
in between, who cares?

vantage point

Fitness for one clone
can mean death for the patient
cancers mock Darwin

cover-up

What did Dubya know
about hiding evidence?
When did he know it?

piercings

Hurtling down from space
a cold parcel speeds towards earth
piercing the cloud-deck

solstice

The year's shortest day
shows off the full moon in spades
ruling the long night

Irony

"define irony."
"hurtling down the freeway --
reading your haiku."

locked up

Intersection clogged
cellphones claim drivers' whole minds
just hang up and drive

impaction

Car stopped in crossroads
cellphone claims drivers whole mind
just hang up and drive

within you, without you

Pent inside a skull
the mind lives and explores life
outside, it just dies

Orwell

Government censors
choose what the people can know
Can we vote on that?

seduction

Recruiting our youth
our army sells adventure
and hides the orphans

holes in the sky

Plummeting from space
a cold parcel speeds earth-wards
punctures the cloud-deck

medium and message

Stark data packets
lack ink's calligraphic charm
still, e-haiku breath

pub-suck

Newton misled us
gravity is not constant
beer makes it stronger

after the revolution

Let's put carbon back
anthropogenic peat-beds
can repair the sky

gilded age III

Our new gilded age
Malefactors of great wealth
claim wealth they don't earn

gilded age II

Our new gilded age
a mono-layer of gold
hides the dull gray truth

gilded age I

Our new gilded age
a paper-thin golden class
rules the dull gray mass

storm alert!

Winter storm alert!
Citizens are strongly urged ...
`grab your skis and go!`

perspective

As I soar higher
my horizons spread wider
freed from fine detail

for the people

Senator Feinstein
mis-represents her voters
a new broom sweeps clean

contempt

Spineless senators
empowered a monarchist
now he blows them off

He stays bought

Spineless senators
rushed to confirm Dubya's man
now he shows contempt

what is Justice?

Michael Mukasey
told the congress to fuck off
Dubya owns his soul

moonlit beach

Merest zest of moon
stuck on the sea's salty rim
garnishes the sky

tinted view

Brains on androgens
perceive weapons everywhere
girls are different

lunar perspective

my child spies the moon
new crescent born of twilight
sees not sword, but smile

rosh chodesh

Razor-thin crescent
dangles over the city
moon of Damocles

East-Bay view

Blade of crescent moon
dangles over the city
moon of Damocles

secrecy

The CIA holds
detainees without number.
Who'd know if some died?

assumptions

Everyone assumes
waterboarding's non-lethal
who has those data?

Franklin

To accomplish much
do not seek credit for it
just get the job done

sequestration

mend the atmosphere
make anthropogenic peat
capture the methane

attitude

Keep beginner's mind
learn something new every day
grow older, not old

sedate

Dick Cheney banks on
the depth of our apathy
fattened on lies

induced fit?

Haiku are fine-tuned
each resonates with some minds
tunnels through the rest

density II

When writing haiku
artful ambiguity
uses the space twice

density

When writing haiku
artful ambiguity
gets more out of less

complementary?

'though It's all music
men and women play their parts
scored on different clefs

hook-up

Orthogonal worlds
straining to communicate
can Mars know Venus?

Discriminating

We discern edges
and so we construct our world
splitting "us" from "them".

band-pass

Haiku are fine-tuned
they resonate with some minds
they're lost on others

play

supple and sharp-edged
the best damned toy I ever got:
the gift of language

quake

soil liquifaction
makes buildings wave and tumble
landscape by Dali

mud season

Malibu derby
step right up to place your bets
whose house will slide first?

irresponsible

George rapes the planet
courting an apocalypse
to bury his sins

for those who have eyes to see

We refine haiku
then scatter them on the beach
like surf-polished stones

purebred hiptsers

Last night in Bernal--
leashed dalmatian on a walk,
skateboarding owner.

Hellbent

Analysts push back:
"Iran had shelved their program!"
facts just bounce off George

pacified

Baghdad is quiet
a new strongman makes the rules
we've become Saddam

twisted logic

In this hemisphere
storms rotate counter-clockwise
Coriolis rules

flaky igniter

Hearing the bomb tick
tubbers hasten to submerge
"whoompf" goes the heater

emphatic bracket

The sun dips earth-wards
Etching the skyline in flames
parting night's curtain

listening

Endless argument
each talking past the other
abstract opera