Sudden

The following “Haiku from Index Cards” may come as a surprise.

sudden downpour—

the umbrella salesman

offers a rain-check

             (written 1997, published 2000)

sudden fall—

stain on my skate lace

from a rusted aglet

             (written 1996, published 2002; written at the Iceland Skating Rink in Belmont, California)

        sudden guilt

all the labels in their medicine cabinet

        turned to the wall

             (written 1994, published 2000)

sudden gust

across the tide pool

the smell of the sea

             (date written unrecorded, but either 1990 or 1991, published 1993; see “A Gnat in Amber” renku)

sudden lightning—

       the street mime

              claps

             (written 1992, published 1998)

sudden quiet

after the computer power-down

risen moon

             (written 2003, published 2008; see “From Montage”)

sudden silence

frogs

cease their croaking

             (date written unrecorded, but prior to March 1988, published 1992)

sudden sneeze—

my baggage

over the weight limit

             (written 2023, published 2023; see “Terminal Illness” rengay)

sudden summer rain—

a pine needle catches

in the wiper blade

             (written 1991, published 1994)