Treadmill

First published in Frogpond 23:3, Fall 2000, page 53. Verses 1 to 5 written 30, 31 December 1999 in White Rock, British Columbia. Verse 6 written 21 February 2000 in Foster City, California, and verse 7 written 3 February 2000 in San Carlos, California. Verses 6 and 7 also appeared in Countdown, the 2000 Haiku Poets of Northern California members’ anthology, page 14.


December 31 . . .

noon

by the sundial


 

Y2K—

a little before midnight

I rewind the heirloom clock


 

fireworks at midnight—

a piece of Y2K confetti

lands on the sundial


 

Y2K celebration—

the city park sundial

knocked on its side


 

what computers feel,

clocks feel, I don’t know—

millennium’s end

                (after Bashō)


 

New Year’s Day—

the computer keeps working

I feel about average

                (after Issa)


 

January 2nd—

middle-aged jogger on the treadmill

running backwards