weighted

trying
to move
forward
but
i’m hip deep
in wet cement
and
chained
to an achor
there is no
going back
so
i am forced
to keep
struggling on

©2009-Art Belliveau

lazy day

a lazy
donothing
day

so much
sweeter
when

it is stolen
from
a busy
busy
week

©2009-Art Belliveau

looking for...?

constantly
shuffling through songs on the iPod
obsessively
switching radio and tv stations
repeatedly
scanning the contents of fridge and pantry
never satisfied
with what i have
when
i have it
looking for that perfect...
what?

©2009-Art Belliveau

paradox

there is something to be said
for the silence
of a late night alone
but
if it is said
that silence is broken
and then what?

©2009-Art Belliveau

senryu 8/27/09

a hasty remark
rattled off when exhausted--
a heart exploded

©2009-Art Belliveau

haiku 8/26/09

soft rains fall outside
the parched earth drinks in deeply
Southern summer night

©2009-Art Belliveau

innocence

innocence

i can’t remember when i lost you
for so many years we were one
weirdly enough
at first i didn’t notice you were gone
you had been slipping away from me
piece by piece
each piece forever gone
how could i have missed that?
after i lost you
the world lost some of its gleam
a darker and more cynical view
became my norm
now i see you again
however briefly
in my daughter
i can get the vicarious thrill
of your presence once more
until she loses you
too

©2009-Art Belliveau

i know you're out there

i know you're out there
living your life
loving your kids
doing your job
buying groceries
reading books
watching tv
all without me

©2009-Art Belliveau

haiku 8/24/09

slowly turtle's head
peeks up out of the water
then disappears fast

©2009-Art Belliveau

senryu 8/24/09

up too late again
stomach churns with butterflies--
excitement or fear?

©2009-Art Belliveau

taking time

so much time
demanded by
“necessary” things
like work
like cleaning the house
like taking care of the yard
never time for
family
daughter
wife

unless

time is taken
deliberately
consciously
taken from the “necessities”
taken for the important
people

an afternoon at the park
the gabble, gabble, honk of
geese
blending and mixing with
the laughter and shouts of
playing children

wife and husband
sitting in the shade
reading, watching, listening
mother and father
playing with child
holding hands
buying ice cream from a truck
and making a memory

the important takes precedence
over
the necessary


©2009-Art Belliveau

lost

i felt lost
lost in a place
as familiar as
my own bathroom
lost in space
and time
looking for some trail
some sign
some something to tell me
where I was
where I was going
and then
I found
you

©2009-Art Belliveau

i wish that you could see

i wish that you could see
the man i grew into
the man you helped me to become
through your years of example
through your love
even though you were not perfect
you always did your best
inspiring me
to try to do the same

©2009-Art Belliveau

little did i know

i had thought
for so many long years
that the drummer i marched to
could be heard only by me

little did i know
somewhere out there
you were marching also
in lockstep with
my drummer
and me

©2009-Art Belliveau

the battle begins

the battle begins
each side takes its position
it may be over quickly
or may drag on and on
seemingly endless
wails of agony
shouted threats
tears and submission
and when this battle ends
the next is still in sight
even for a first grader
homework happens

©2009-Art Belliveau

unintentional muse

unintentional muse

simply talking to you
sometimes
simply thinking about you
replenishes the well
and makes me more able
to allow the words
to flow freely
from my fingers
to the page

©2009-Art Belliveau

breadcrumbs

i write a trail of breadcrumbs
hoping against hope
that you will be able to follow
this ephemeral trace of my intentions
before it fades away

©2009-Art Belliveau

reading between the lines

reading between the lines
looking for words that
were meant but never written
seeking messages
that only you can find
hoping that the meaning you receive
is the meaning that was meant
and not just
wishful thinkiing

©2009-Art Belliveau

haiku 8/16/09

rain falls heavily
absorbed thirstily into
parched earth below

©2009-Art Belliveau

8/15/09

like a phantom limb
that still feels attached
that still feels pain
even absent
you are always with me

©2009-Art Belliveau

senryu 8/14/09

yawning my head off
school's first week is history
time to go to bed

©2009-Art Belliveau

The P.B. Solution

The P.B. Solution

Keeping a beagle busy
Isn’t very hard;
All you need is an open door,
And a great big, fenced-in yard.

But what if it is raining out,
Or it’s getting really late?
Then you just need some peanut butter--
Trust me, it works great!

Take a heaping fingerful
And stick it on top of her nose;
She will lick and lick and lick,
While jumping to and fro.

After all the p.b.’s eaten,
And she looks ready to calm down,
She’ll come back and beg for more--
To go another round.

So you just need good ole peanut butter,
When your beagle’s getting bored.
Just a simple fingerful,
And your her boredom will be cured.

©2009-Art Belliveau

Ladonia Night

under a moonless august sky
cranky crickets and desultory dogs
exchange repeated greetings
traffic from the unseen highway
adds an urgent undertone
of miles to go before sleep
fitfully a breeze eases past
cool currents of air
promising the summer’s heat
will one day end

©2009-Art Belliveau

haiku 8/11/09

sticking in my lungs
sludgy and thick--hard to breathe
peanut butter air

©2009-Art Belliveau

Triolet--The School Year Starts Up Once Again

The school year starts up once again.
Eager faces enter that first morn,
Ready once more to work with books and pen.
The school year starts up once again.
They make it through another year and then,
The cycle is reborn.
The school year starts up once again.
Eager faces enter that first morn.

©2009-Art Belliveau

8/09/09

I am
drowning in masks
I wonder
which one will I wear now
because
(of course)
it is too daunting to go out
exposed

©2009-Art Belliveau

senryu 08/08/09

exhaustion breaks me
physical, emotional
another year starts

©2009-Art Belliveau

senryu 08/07/09

rising resentments
fear-filled phantasms fueling
deepening divides

©2009-Art Belliveau

Limerick 8/06/09

Waiting for school to start
The time just seems to dart
The minutes whiz by
In the blink of an eye
At a speed that frighten's my heart

©2009-Art Belliveau

senryu 08/05/09

how can I tell you
who I truly am inside
when I'm so unsure

©2009-Art Belliveau

haiku 4 August

I open the door
a wall of thick air hits me--
Hi, humidity.

©2009-Art Belliveau

An American Example

Booker T. Washington
Frederick Douglass
Martin Luther King, Jr.
iconic names
fighters for freedom
advocates of equality
now
mockingly
sardonically
ironic names
of housing projects
and schools
devoid of diversity
hollowed of hope
an American example
of style over substance

©2009-Art Belliveau

haiku 2 August

the dragon and swan
swim through August’s sea of stars
toward summer’s end

©2009-Art Belliveau

Florida Night

night winds rise
from the blackened sea
palm leaves rustle
overhead
echoing
the susurration
of the waves
bougainvillea’s sweet scent
floating free
in the subtropical night
your hand
warm in mine
your heart
entwined in mine

©2009-Art Belliveau

the perfect student

once upon a time
I was the teacher and you
the student
my pedantic lessons were not
what I wanted to teach
my boring lectures not the words
I wanted to say

and you
the perfect student
disregarded the pretense
of my pedagogy
heard past the scripted
words and attitudes
and learned the lesson
I could not teach aloud

©2009-Art Belliveau

even when...

even when...

even when I cannot hear you
the sweetness of your voice fills my ears

even when I cannot see you
the loveliness of your face fills my eyes

even when I cannot hold you
the warmth of your soft body fills my arms

even when you are gone so long
the nearness of your love fills my soul

©2009-Art Belliveau