12/31/09

the old year ends
and tomorrow we begin
the journey forward

©2009-Art Belliveau

12/30/09

a taste of freedom
time alone as man and wife
Grandma babysits

©2009-Art Belliveau

12/29/09

snow disappearing
underneath the shining sun
how quickly things change

©2009-Art Belliveau

12/28/09

a spreading sickness
so soon after Christmas Day
it doesn't seem fair

©2009-Art Belliveau

12/27/09

slip slidin' away
was a much better song than
car experience

©2009-Art Belliveau

12/26/09

night after night
burns away
seeking what i cannot find

©2009-Art Belliveau

12/25/09

christmas stars
burning brightly overhead
as brightly as they did
two thousand years ago
when a poor child
born to an unwed mother
was refused room
at his future stepfather's
family guesthouse
born without a place to stay
the stars shone down on that child
born in destitution
shone down as brightly then
as they do on the poor
and homeless
the lonely
and the unwanted
in our world today

©2009-Art Belliveau

Revision of word knives

razor's edge

words
when used carefully
thoughtfully
are the razor
that shaves away
obfuscation
leaving the plain truth
in sight

words
when used carelessly
thoughtlessly
can be as cruel
and as hurtful
as that razor
pulled across the throat

although with
words
the pain is not
so quickly over

©2009-Art Belliveau

senryu 12/24/09

laid in a manger
foreshadowing His future
as Bread for the world

©2009-Art Belliveau

senryu 12/23/09

silent snow falling
blanketing the trees and ground,
and the homeless, too

©2009-Art Belliveau

senryu 12/23/09

silent snow falling
blanketing the trees and ground,
and the homeless, too

©2009-Art Belliveau

word knives

words
when used carelessly
thoughtlessly
can be as cruel
and as hurtful
as a knife
across the throat
although with
words
the pain is not
so quickly over

©2009-Art Belliveau

car ride

the road moves below me
as i sit in my car
focused straight ahead
as the miles go by
the scenery is moot
as the traffic is
what must be watched

©2009-Art Belliveau

senryu 12/20/09

Molly’s Christmas play
she was the cutest angel
it was type-casting

©2009-Art Belliveau

senryu 12/19/09

vacation’s first day
i’m busier than ever
there’s no time to rest

©2009-Art Belliveau

senryu 12/18/09

first semester’s done
there’s time now to recover
before a new start

©2009-Art Belliveau

haiku 12/17/09

under moonless skies
stretching to infinity
a lonely cat yowls

©2009-Art Belliveau

haiku 12/16/09

under the night sky
slowly the frost starts to spread
over sleeping grass

©2009-Art Belliveau

Missing You

I miss you a lot.
Even when it isn't raining.
Even when it isn't cold.
Even when it isn't foggy.
Sometimes I even miss you
When you are right here beside me
But
Simulataneously
Worlds away

©2009-Art Belliveau

I'm Me 12/14/09

I am who I am.
And I am not certain,
even when I am unhappy
or outright pissed off at
who I am
that I would want to be
anyone else.

Maybe that is cowardly of me
hugging onto this one exitence I have known
but
I am not able to do
anything else.

©2009-Art Belliveau

i know how you see me

i know how you see me
i should
you have told me often enough
and
each time you do
i want more and more
to be the person you see
instead of just
the person i am

©2009-Art Belliveau

12/12/09

things i've let
slip through my fingers:
sand
time
m&m's
sugar
salt
you

©2009-Art Belliveau

my puppy

she's old now
my puppy

even after 15 years
she is still
my puppy

whiter head
slower walk
hearing going
sight going
gall bladder going

but

when i look at the love
that still shines from her eyes
and see the excitement
when i come home

i know this sick, old dog
will always be

my puppy

©2009-Art Belliveau

self pity senryu

heavy as lead weights
sinking those nearest to me
i hate depressions

©2009-Art Belliveau

Villanelle--Chaste Behavior's Overrated

Chaste behavior’s overrated.
It just won’t work for everyone.
Being naughty’s much more fun.

Many of the girls I dated.
Agreed with me and we had fun.
Chaste behavior’s overrated.

When we parted, we were sated,
After all was said--and done.
Being naughty’s much more fun.

But through the years, I grew too jaded;
Tired of not having that special One.
Chaste behavior’s overrated?

No longer did I feel elated,
Always moving to the next one.
Being naughty’s much more fun?

Now I’m settled down and mated.
With that old advice I’m done:
Chaste behavior’s overrated;
Being naughty’s much more fun.

©2009-Art Belliveau

charlie brown's teacher 12/08/09

i've always envied
charlie brown's teacher
she sits (or stands
she is never seen, so who knows?)
her voice blares in her
"wha wha whaaaaa"
unintelligible to me
but always clearly understood
by those in her class

where can i get
communication skills
like that?

©2009-Art Belliveau

Too Many Voices

I’m trying to write from
      my heart today--
The only trouble with that is
      my heart isn’t speaking to me
As I listen for it
      I notice other voices chiming in
My appendix has its opinions
      but, mostly, they are redundant
My spleen (of course) wants to vent
      and spew its bile all over the place
My colon tried to unload, too
      but I think it should not be (seen or) heard
My brain has too much going on
      the different voices cancel out
So, since my heart (apparently) won’t talk today
      I think I’ll have to wait and
Write that poem tomorrow

©2009-Art Belliveau

yucky senryu

my stomach’s roiling
i’m afraid it will explode
that would be messy

©2009-Art Belliveau

senryu 12/07/09

sitting in class, bored
i’ve seen it all already
teachers have it rough

©2009-Art Belliveau

lethargy senryu

like a giant snake
lethargy coils around me
squeezing me to death

©2009-Art Belliveau

a senryu for Pearl Harbor Day

day of infamy
a cowardly attack that
launched US into war

©2009-Art Belliveau

near-sighted

looking into the future
myopically (of course)
never seeing as far ahead
as i think i should be able to
i’ve noticed though--
the past is just as blurry
when i look there

©2009-Art Belliveau

Homework Blues

I cannot lift my backpack,
My homework weighs a ton.
I have to finish all of it,
Before I get to have some fun.

It will take at least three hours,
Or maybe even more.
My homework makes me fall asleep,
It really is a bore.

I wish it took five minutes,
Then I’d really have it made.
Three hours of homework is way too much,
I’m just in second grade!

©2009-Art Belliveau

Hoping for Snow

I wish that it would snow today,
At least three feet or more.
I want to see the back yard all white,
And feel the cold wind come through the open door.

I want to build a snowman,
And have a snowball fight.
I want to wear flannel pajamas,
And sleep under my blankets tonight.

I want to shiver with the cold,
And see the fog come out my mouth.
And I want a snowday out of school,
Too bad I live in the Deep South.

©2009-Art Belliveau

Teacher Math

30 students
-1 in the ALC
-2 in ISS
-5 absent
-8 sleeping
-2 doing homework (for another class, of course)
-4 daydreaming
-7 who just won't understand
-----------------------------------------
1 wasted class period

or maybe not
if that one kid left
has really learned something today

©2009-Art Belliveau

consequences of truth 12/02/09

scraped raw
by jagged-tooth
implacable truth

i would rather
have these
self-inflicted
wounds

than wrap myself
in the false safety
of well-intentioned lies

©2009-Art Belliveau

the dance 12/01/09 draft two

constantly we circle
as the music pounds

twisting and turning
falling and rising

sometimes closer
sometimes farther away

darting in and out
hips swaying

adagio to allegro
in constant motion

yearning to end the dance
and fall into each other

but the music
yes the music

drives us
relentlessly on

©2009-Art Belliveau

the dance 12/01/09

constantly we circle
sometimes closer
sometimes farther away
darting in and out
in constant motion
longing to end the dance
but the music
yes the music
it constantly
drives us on

©2009-Art Belliveau

yuletide 11/30/09

one by one they change
the darkness lifted
house by house
the yards transformed
to winter wonderlands
even in the South
where snow’s called rain
each house adding a light
against the gloominess
of the lengthening nights
shining together
as we shine
lit from within
by
anticipation

©2009-Art Belliveau

certainty 11/29/09

i am not certain
of much
okay
of anything
but
i do believe
in you

©2009-Art Belliveau

adrenaline rush

i know it’s bad
when the drone of
my own voice
threatens to put
even me asleep
and i watch the heads
slowly nod
jerk up
but eventually succumb
to gravity
then i use the words
that magically energize
everyone in the room
“take out a piece of paper
and something to write with--
we are going to take a pop quiz
on this”

©2009-Art Belliveau

panic 11/27/09

there i was
drowning again
adrift in the turbulent seas
of my own unchecked
emotions
and i called to her
to throw me a line
and as she did
i had a flash of fear
as i prayed there was not
an anchor attached

©2009-Art Belliveau