H Miscellany

The following miscellaneous “Haiku from Index Cards” all start with the letter H.

hail on the skylight—

my horoscope says

to gain a new perspective

             (written 2013, published 2019)

half moon—

a bear’s first step

into the ecotone

             (written 2015, published 2018)

half moon

travelling with me

away from home

             (written 2010, published 2015)

halves of a snake—

railroad tracks

gleam in the setting sun

             (written 1998, published 2001)

handful of wet leaves—

    a mouse’s white skeleton

    curled into a ball

             (written 1991, published 1992)

hands at four corners—

the slow drift of the blanket

down to fresh white sheets

             (written 2001, published 2001)

hands up!

the bride’s bouquet

in mid air

             (written 2002, published 2020)

harbour lights

the smell of fish

and fishermen

             (written 1990 or earlier, published 1990)

hardened nipple—

the ice cube melts

between my lips

             (date written unrecorded but 2016 or earlier, published 2017)

her birthday circled

on the lighthouse calendar

             (written 2024, published 2009; published in 2018 with “long-distance bill” as a first line)

her castanets

      on the mantel . . .

smell of spring rain

             (written 1990, published 1998; last line originally said “smell of burning spruce”)

her chemo

caught in pictures

the fire’s embers

             (written 2014, published 2024)

her deep breathing

tells me she’s asleep—

I straighten her stuffed animal

             (written 2003, published 2005)

her depression depressing me

             (written 2019, published 2019)

here in the lint screen

    the care label

of the ruined shirt

             (written 1995, published 2001)

hermit crab—

      out of its shell

      out of itself

             (written 1990, published 2007; for Nick Virgilio)

heron rookery—

on our silent walk

you reach for my hand

             (written 2014, published 2023)

her swollen head . . .

the astrologer

seeing stars

             (written 1990, published 1991)

his death haiku

tied to the kite string—

wild grasses

             (written 2017, published 2017; see “From Jumble Box”)

hoar frost—

the shape of the garden

you used to tend

             (written 2007, published 2016)

hollow steps

worn into the fallen redwood . . .

a gentle spring rain

             (written 2001, published 2013)

Hollywooden

             (written 2013, published 2018)

home from the redwoods—

all my pictures

are vertical

             (written 2012, published 2013)

homeless shelter—

footprints in frozen mud

from last night’s queue

             (written 2012, published 2013)

home on Christmas Eve—

the street-corner santa

unbuttons his shirt

             (written 1998, published 2003; see “Haiku Christmas Cards”)

horsetail clouds

  the moon

the river makes

             (written 2015, published 2022)

hospital courtyard . . .

a bookmark left

on the wooden bench

             (written 2013, published 2020)

hummingbird at the window

            —my blink

                        startles it away

             (written 1993, published 2004)

hush of the crowd—

a penalty flag

on the final touchdown

             (written 2012, published 2022)