haiku 05/29/10

cloud ceiling so low
as it drizzles rain on me--
can almost touch it

©2010-Art Belliveau

senryu 05/28/10

a big, old, white guy
beard, ponytail shot with grey--
whaling on guitar

©2010-Art Belliveau

senryu 05/28/10

backward baseball cap?
man, you're no adolescent!
give up and grow up!

©2010-Art Belliveau

senryu 05/28/10

smokin' soul songstress--
singing the blues from her pain
for young, white hipsters

©2010-Art Belliveau

senryu 05/28/10

aging musicians
setting up another show--
long live rock 'n' roll!

©2010-Art Belliveau

haiku 05/27/10

in the pine tree's shade
a warm, cool breeze has begun--
summertime draws near

©2010-Art Belliveau

senryu 05/26/10

an empty playground
abandoned swing sets and slides--
where are the children?

©2010-Art Belliveau

haiku 05/25/10

blue sky overhead
innocent of cloud cover
the horizon's black

©2010-Art Belliveau

haiku 05/24/10

a granite boulder
perched upon another one
dry o'er the river

©2010-Art Belliveau

haiku 05/23/10

the sky is beneath
green trees which are stretching down--
reflection in pond

©2010-Art Belliveau

haiku 05/22/10

the scent of wood smoke
lingers in my hair, my beard--
even the next day

©2010-Art Belliveau

senryu 05/21/10

school's out for summer
nobody signed my year book--
depression defined

©2010-Art Belliveau

haiku 05/20/10

after the sun sets
cardinals fight mockingbirds
before the light fades

©2010-Art Belliveau

senryu 05/19/10

writing assessment:
everyone works silently
until someone barfs

©2010-Art Belliveau

I Cannot Write Like Ogden Nash Wrote

I cannot write like Ogden Nash wrote.
I've tried and my failures could fill a trashboat.
His rhymes were clever and surely amusing;
English he enjoyed abusing.
He twisted the language to fit his design,
And, somehow, no matter how hard I try to, I just cannot seem to make
         that style of writing poetry mine.


©2010-Art Belliveau

senryu 05/19/10

i eat my lunch late
i'm never hungry when i
have bathroom duty

©2010-Art Belliveau

senryu 05/19/10

first it annoyed me
then i found it amusing
now it just bores me

©2010-Art Belliveau

Time to Go 05/18/10

boxes piled
posters removed
one by one
the room I have made home
for the last four years
slowly stripped of my personality
slowly becoming more generic
a blank slate
ready for the next teacher
to fill

©2010-Art Belliveau

Dichotomy 05/17/10

on the church’s
stage-like altar
the preacher thunders
threats of damnation
tales of tumultuous torture
and perpetual pain
of sulphurous lakes
hotter than lava

a frenzy flows through
the fellowship
shouted AMENS!
and ALLELUIAS!
spontaneously sound out

looks of rapturous joy
glow in the congregation
hands are raised up
some people stand
some jump up and down
some weep
tears runnning down
bright-eyed faces

with each new
description of the damned
with each new
depiction of despair
the enthusuasm explodes

the music swells
hundreds of voices
ring out in song

“What a friend we have in Jesus...”

©2010-Art Belliveau

senryu 05/16/10

the only sure thing--
the only thing that won’t change--
is that all will change

©2010-Art Belliveau

haiku 05/15/10

birds joyously sing
on a beautiful spring day
i’m still unhappy

©2010-Art Belliveau

senryu 05/14/10

i sit home alone
soak in the peace and quiet--
and miss the chaos

©2010-Art Belliveau

senryu 05/13/10

another birthday
another year spent on earth--
was it spent wisely?

©2010-Art Belliveau

senryu 05/12/10

of course there's a Hell
but here's my question: who is
unredeemable?

©2010-Art Belliveau

senryu 05/12/10

where they hear music
all i can perceive is noise--
generation gap

©2010-Art Belliveau

haiku 05/12/10

myriad colors
start exploding every spring--
all of them are green

©2010-Art Belliveau

senryu 05/11/10

the saddest fact is
i just cannot reach them all--
but i have to try

©2010-Art Belliveau

senryu 05/11/10

greeting his friends while
moving from table to table--
lunchtime is busy

©2010-Art Belliveau

senryu 05/11/10

the tide sucks me down
i drown in dark emotions--
hey! i need a rope!

©2010-Art Belliveau

senryu 05/11/10

the tide sucks me down
i drown in dark emotions--
hey! i need a rope!

©2010-Art Belliveau

haiku 05/11/10

outside the classroom
flying free from branch to branch
the joyful bird sings

©2010-Art Belliveau

tanka 05/10/10 (scifaiku style)

I open my eyes
and pray I'm still asleep as
Cthulhu claims me
the nightmare was preferable
to this dread reality

©2010-Art Belliveau

kwansaba 5/09/10

The end of the school year comes,
at times seeming glacial in its pace.
Other times it flashes forward. It seems
as though I am living my life
as part of a cosmic traffic jam.
Moving in fits and starts, but aching
to find open road and cruise away.

©2010-Art Belliveau

haiku 05/08/10

steel grey cloud cover
always makes me think of snow--
it's 80 outside

©2010-Art Belliveau

haiku 05/07/10

the grasshoppers' song
mingles with the croaking frogs'--
under silent stars

©2010-Art Belliveau

senryu 05/06/10

got what i wanted--
be careful what you wish for--
now the worry starts

©2010-Art Belliveau

haiku 05/05/10 REVISED

my dog plays out back
a mockingbird dive-bombs her--
she has no idea

©2010-Art Belliveau

Limerick 05/03/10

There once was a student in school,
Who never would follow a rule.
He'd sleep at his desk,
And make a big mess,
As he covered the whole thing in drool.

©2010-Art Belliveau

05/02/10

the dark winds blow
sending the trees outside
writhing under its assault
blowing out the stars
leaving the sky black
devoid of hope
endlessly receding

with you
here by my side
though
i feel safe

©2010-Art Belliveau

A Day at the Fair

A Day at the Fair

Footlong hot dogs
Apple pies
Cotton candy
(Jumbo size)

Ice cream cones
Rice krispy treats
Other yummy
Stuff to eat

Like kettle corn
And hot french fries
Barbecue plates
And cherry pies

Vanilla fudge
Chocolate cakes
I ate it all
Now my belly aches


©2010-Art Belliveau

Swimming with Sharks 04/30/10

a darkened classroom
after school
on a Friday afternoon

the echoes of
the students’ voices
silently resound
in my head
as i sit here

papers are getting graded
grades are being entered
and yet...

i feel
(as i so often do)
that i am swimming
against the tide

being pulled away
from what i find important

being pulled under
by this rip tide current
of red tape
and record keeping

when all i want to do
is swim free
and play in the waves
of words
and books
and poems
and the creativity
of my students

©2010-Art Belliveau