haiku 06/29/10

star-filled dome above--
the clouds of the afternoon
washed the sky clean

©2010-Art Belliveau

descent 06/28/10

i stare at it
looking down into
the very maw of hell
the sidewalk giving way
to the depths below
a doomed damned soul
clutching the earth
trying to forestall
the inevitable fall
then walk over it
as i hurry on
late for work
again

©2010-Art Belliveau




Check out the picture that inspired the poem.

haiku 06/27/10

almost a full moon
illuminating the sky--
a sliver missing

©2010-Art Belliveau

taking chances 06/26/10

waiting for a plane
she sits

staring vacantly out the window
at storm raging outside
her chestnut hair falling
blown out of the careful hairdo
wild as the weather

though leaning forward
as if intensely interested
her eyes
are far away
barely focused
no telling what she is really seeing

gathering my courage
i walk up to her
to talk
to see what happens

©2010-Art Belliveau

patience 06/25/10

smaller than my thumb
yet
beneath it’s smoothed ochre colors
are oceanic depths
the currents of earth
that formed it
uncounted millennia ago
frozen
solid
patient

©2010-Art Belliveau

courage 06/24/10

her eyes drew me in
captured me in their chocolate depth
hope and fear warred in those eyes
eyes that were far older than
her scant four years

would this time be different?
would there be a place for her here?
her eyes said they wanted to believe it
but they could not allow that yet

a picture of bravery
bravery as clear as a soldier
charging into enemy fire

life creates that kind of fire, too
as she charges into her unknown future

©2010-Art Belliveau

Vegas 06/23/10

Vegas

Ozymandias had nothing
on the guys who ran Vegas.
The monuments they built
to greed and excess,
monuments built on the bones of enemies
and the blood of the suckers
who spent all their hard-earned coin
in their casinos:
The Dunes,
The Sands,
The Desert Inn.
All gone now--
less than dust in the wind--
not even the negative space
of where they once stood
lording it over that desert valley.
Replaced by newer, grander
structures, which make up in glitz
what they lack in originality.
And, all too soon,
they will be gone also,
and something else newer
will rise in their place.

©2010-Art Belliveau

haiku 06/22/10

black, angry clouds loom:
roiling shadows sounding their
bass profundo roar

©2010-Art Belliveau

haiku 06/22/10

over the city
black storm clouds spread over rain:
a giant mushroom

©2010-Art Belliveau

haiku 06/21/10

magnolia blossom
shriveling and brown with age:
still part of the tree

©2010-Art Belliveau

senryu 06/20/10

wakened with kisses
as my wife and daughter sang:
“happy father’s day!”

©2010-Art Belliveau

haiku 06/19/10

outside’s an oven
the sun baking those below--
i miss last night’s storms

©2010-Art Belliveau

haiku 06/19/10

lightning, thunder come
slowly moving from the west--
homeless hide somewhere

©2010-Art Belliveau

senryu 06/18/10

the sun beating down
he stands on the corner, holds
one word: “anything”

©2010-Art Belliveau

Recipe for Trouble 06/17/10

take one teacher
(preferably first year
and inexperienced)
fill with doubt and insecurity
add insane pressures
unreasonable demands
and unrealistic expectations
(both internal and external)

in separate container
take 28-35 students
fill with boredom
anger, & hormones
add a large measure of
disrespect for authority
(note: this is the normal
state for most teenagers)

mix together
add miscommunication
and equal measures of frustration
to each

wait for explosion

©2010-Art Belliveau

senryu 06/16/10

even in summer
I never seem to get rest--
but I love workshops

©2010-Art Belliveau

traveling 06/15/10

where am i going?
the road ahead
is obscured by
lack of vision
hard to follow
because there is
no map
yet i still travel
trying to guide my way
looking in
the rearview mirror

©2010-Art Belliveau

If I Were a Book 06/14/10

If I were a book,
I would inspire and entertain.
I would have a thick, hard cover
to protect the delicate inside,
but it would be worn and almost tattered
from use.
If I were a book,
my pages would be worn
and their corners would be bent
and written on with marginal notations
and underlinings,
as readers sought to understand
and expand my words and ideas.
If I were a book,
i would be well-read and
hopefully,
loved.

©2010-Art Belliveau

senryu 06/13/10

tomorrow comes soon
though hours till then seem endless
it’s an illusion

©2010-Art Belliveau

senryu 06/12/10

where’s my energy?
simple movements take effort--
i’m caught in amber

©2010-Art Belliveau

senryu 06/11/10

lazy, quiet day
no work done, no chores finished:
the world didn’t end

©2010-Art Belliveau

Happy Anniversary

As we reach our fifteenth year,
One thing now is crystal clear:
I have you and you have me,
And that’s the way it is meant to be.

©2010-Art Belliveau

leaving 309 06/09/10

i look around the room
it is empty now of everything
except what the school provides

the walls are bare
the bookshelves gone
the desks are clear

there is a curious ambivalence
as i turn out the lights
for the final time

i expected something
anything
but yet

as i close the door behind me
here the final click of the lock
i am numb

©2010-Art Belliveau

Gulf of Mexico Lament 06/08/10

Look what we’re doing to the earth, air, and seas?
Filling them with poison, garbage, and junk.
Watching the news has put me in a funk.
Tragedies pile on, bringing me to my knees.

We have been fouling them by degrees.
And now, it appears, we are all sunk.
Look what we’re doing to the earth, air, and seas?
Filling them with poison, garbage, and junk.

Now is the time--the time we must sieze.
The misinformation we need to debunk.
The Kool-aid we’re given must not be drunk.
To our planet we must no longer be like a disease.
Look what we’re doing to the earth, air, and seas?

©2010-Art Belliveau

senryu 06/07/10

thinking about time:
no time’s more important than
time spent holding you

©2010-Art Belliveau

senryu 06/06/10

life comes at me fast:
sometimes i feel just like a
bug on the windshield

©2010-Art Belliveau

haiku 06/05/10

down the curving ramp
our shadow rotates, stretches:
we remain the same

©2010-Art Belliveau

senryu 06/04/10

pink frisbee flying
erratically through the air--
father/daughter time

©2010-Art Belliveau

accident 6/03/10

it was a random weekend day
before the divorce
but maybe not before you
started thinking about it,

we were out as a family
for a day on the intercoastal
in your small, secondhand boat
you were so proud of.

mom was elsewhere at the moment
probably dealing with little brother
i was alone with you
and your friends
and in front of them
in response to some
stupid, childish
11 year-old thing i said
you told me--
a smile on your face
but with hard, cold eyes--
“you were an accident.”

©2010-Art Belliveau

not over yet 6/02/10

it was a saturday
he had paid child support
that month
so i had to go
and spend the weekend with him
and her

her long, chestnut hair
combed and brushed
straight and shining
caramel eyes blazing

quietly she talked about her week
as though i really cared
what she had to say to me about it

“their god-damn dogs
chewed up our cat.
those f-wads won’t
chain ‘em up.
we found him torn apart
out in the back.
no one cared but us.
those s.o.b.s that own em
practically slammed their
damn door in our faces.
it’s not over though.
i put some poisoned meat
in the back yard.
after those fuckers eat it.
then it will be over.”

©2010-Art Belliveau

walking out the door 6/01/10

the sun beating down
the humidity boiling up
opening the door
to leave my
air-conditioned comfort
my breath ripped away
even then
beneath the shade of an oak tree
a cool breeze
finds a way
to remove some of
summer’s sting

©2010-Art Belliveau

tanka 5/31/10

when summer simmers
and i spend some time outside
here’s the recipe:
i start by being deep fried
then marinate in aloe

©2010-Art Belliveau