Cat Hair Haiku

Little black sliver
with a silver tip
adrift in a sea
of potato soup.



(The Sentinel-Record, Hot Springs, AR, July 6, 1985)

Arc Welding Concerto in E-Flat Major

The allegro of the welder's instrument,
the fussing of voltage in a fusion zone
(dark windows burst with lightning),
and, caesura, the lifting of the hood,
and, presto, down.

Allegretto, while he has the spot,
but adagio non troppo along the seam,
little waves of weld,
smoke dancing through strobelight: vivace!
His two becoming one: vivace!

Rondo: allegro assai...ah!
He's down to a nub of rod.
Look, the heavy glove, the c-clamps;
this is the art of creation.
Bravo! Bravo! Bravo!


(Arkansas Magazine, Arkansas Democrat, November 10, 1985)

Ginsberg and the Micropaedia

You are surrounded, Gins-
berg,
by ginger lily, gingko and ginseng,
but YOU should have been in color, Gins-
berg,
or 3-D, day-glo, pop-out, Gins-
berg,
like kids books with little cymbals
that CHING when the page is turned, Gins-
berg,
or aboriginal meter sticks that
TAK-TAK-TAK-TAK-TAK:
DON'T SMOKE! DON'T SMOKE! DON'T SMOKE!
A column for your trouble, Gins-
berg.
A picture for your existence, Gins-
berg.
Is it worth it, Gins-
berg?
Are you still there, Gins-
berg?


(Sentinel-Record, 1982; Sou'wester, Southern Illinois University, Fall, 1988)

The Thing About the Heart

The thing about the heart is,
while lying in such positions that
it pumps against the rib cage
telegraphing its rhythm
to the outer senses,
that it doesn't belong to you.

It seems somehow alien,
seldom heard,
and less often felt,
but when it is,
however briefly,
mortality skips
like a stone across the mind,
and you start adding and subtracting
and forecasting a lifetime.

Then the phone rings,
and you grab the cigarettes,
light one, and breathe
great clouds of immortality.


(Sou'wester, Southern Illinois University, Fall, 1988)