Senryu from Fig Newtons: Senryu to GoThe following are thirty-one senryu from Fig Newtons: Senryu to Go (Foster City, California: Press Here, 1993), which I edited and published with my press. The book won an honorable mention in the 1994 Merit Book Awards sponsored by the Haiku Society of America (for books published in 1993). You can also read the book’s introduction. + +
at his favourite deli the bald man finds a hair in his soup +
after the verdict the arsonist lights up
mexican cantina— the waiter says bon appetite
bags under his eyes— traveling salesman
bending for a dime two businessmen bump heads
traveling circus— the contortionist orders a pretzel
behind bars bartenders drunk with laughter
first day of summer a postman delivers mail in a safari hat
beside the pizza man the bus boy spins a washcloth
hazy summer afternoon— the smog-check mechanic puffs a cigar
her swollen head . . . the astrologer seeing stars
billboard lady in a bikini— three-car pileup
first confession his parking meter expired
one shopping day before Christmas . . . a squirrel runs from tree to tree
grocery shopping— pushing my cart faster through feminine protection
express checkout the fat woman counts the thin man’s items
visiting mother— again she finds my first grey hair
the understudy steps out from rehearsal to view the eclipse
my face dripping . . . the floppy-foot clown’s plastic flower
golden gate park teen with a boom box— mime covers his ears
making a wish on a falling star no—a satellite
afternoon mail— the stamp from Australia upside-down
kindergarten Christmas pageant— a wise man loses his beard
spring afternoon— the twelve-year-old slam-dunks from a ladder
after divorce the plant she left grows on me
nursing-home bingo— the husband and wife with matching mustaches
skinny-dipping, the newlywed’s two dogs
moonless night— her guard dog barks at the new husband
first haiku on my new computer— qwertyuiop
jaywalkingthedog
under the umbrella stormy face
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