Nine Haiku

Spring:

lovers hammering together

their broken bed

—

So much work to do

I begin

by putting it off

—

Noticing everybody in the bar

has missing teeth

he leaves early

—

Next to the fire station

a burned down

house

—

Writing about my youth

now and then

a branch falls

—

After everyone

is awake

the dog quits barking

—

In the mirror

The old man I was afraid of

as a child.

—

Library sign:

We now have On the Road

in large print.

—

Sweeping snow

I watch myself

sweeping snow.

John Brandi writes: “If I’m in the right state of openness — intellect absent, the world before me as is, no hint of another to come — then poems arrive unexpectedly, as they should.” A world traveler who has long been associated with the Beat poets, Brandi is probably our country’s best known Haiku poet. These are from his collection Weeding the Cosmos, published by La Alameda Press and are reprinted by permission.