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