Two Levels: Haibun Poetry
By Mike Garofalo
Haibun Poetry by Mike Garofalo
25 Steps and Beyond: Collected Works
Two Levels: Haibun Poetry
By Mike Garofalo
One
An old friend in LA died of ALS only one year after he retired. Bad luck personified! While driving home on Interstate 5, somewhere north of Colinga's Harris stockyards, past fruit orchards miles wide, I came upon a flipped car crash where people were injured and one had died. We covered her bloody torso; everyone cried.
the smell of ripe apricots
bloody asphalt—
another unfairly dies
Two
journaling daily
passing time—
forgotten memories
While weeding our bookshelves at home, some shelves held some old daily journals of mine. I leafed through a few, and found, just the petty details of an old man's life in a town. Nothing much worthy of reminding me of something relevant that happened to sombody now me. I gathered up twenty old monthly diaries, and tossed them into my backyard campfire, transforming them into ash and smoke drifting higher. A Beltane bonfire of faded papered memories.
Three
rain pelting down
umbrellas drying inside
—opened the cafe menu
I lollygagged for a few hours in Olympia's downtown. Spent a few bucks on poetry books at the Browser's Bookstore. Savored Rockefeller oysters and creamy chowder at the Oyster House bar. Gazed past the Budd Inlet at the State Capitol's huge masonry dome; shimmering wet in its overcast home. It's huge copula Dome topped with an ornate Lantern of Stone.
Four
I am always incredibly impressed by how noted translators can rewrite sonnets in English from sonnets in Russian or German. How can they maintain the rhymes? It’s a mystery to me, seemingly impossible, almost magical, how could they keep cogency, poetic artistry, and yet keep the rhymes? Stunning displays of linguistic versatility!
Validimar Nabokov
Russian to English—
Puskin’s Eugene Onegin sonnets Rhymed!
Five
After four straight days of steady rain, on this pre-dawn morning it changed. A falling full moon framed the vast western sky. It was very low on the horizon above the damp Pacific Beach yurt campsite. Clouds scattered and moved, leaving holes in the sky. I left this morning, adventure ended— said my fondest goodbyes.
Ending rain
moon sets—
leaving today
Six
I had a bad dream! Republican Senators closed down the Federal Government and approved attacking Greenland and Canada to steal resources for the wealthy. Mr. Vance crashed into a tree, like Sonny Bono, while skiing in France. Mr. Trump died of a heart attack while riding in his golf cart at Mira Largo. Suddenly, I woke up in a stir. Good dreams, bad dreams, it's a blur.
good news
bad news—
relative to whom?
Seven
The Native People living along the Quinault and Queets Rivers in Washington State share a similiar creation legend. "The Great Changer Kwate and the Great Spirit Transformer S'qitu once came to the mouth of the Queets River. After fording that very cold river they rubbed their legs to warm and restore themselves. Small rolls of dirt formed under their hands. They threw the dirt balls into the river, and from them a man and a woman came forth; who became the ancestors of the Queets people. S'quitu told them they would remain on the river and would be known as K'witzqu because of the dirt from which their human skin was made."
Glaciers slowly melting
rain ever falling
rivers every flowing
S'quitu intentionally
or unintentionally
made human beings
from K'witzqu dirt
and Queets floods
and magical arts
and the K'witzqu People lived
in Taholah huts
praying to S'quitu
Eight
Highway 99 and Interstate 5
A Gift of Dried Garlic Flowers
At the Edges of the Fertile West, Volume 2
By Mike Garofalo
25 Steps and Beyond: Collected Works
Poetry Research by Mike Garofalo
At the Edges of the West, Volume 2
Highway 99 and Interstate 5
At the Edges of the West, Volume 1
Highway 101 and Hwy 1
Haibun Poetry Research
English Language Haibun Poems
By Mike Garofalo
Research, Studies, Notes
Bibliography, Links, Docs
Haibun: A Writer's Guide. By Roberta Beary, Lew Watts, and Rich Youmans. Ad Hoc Fiction, 2023, 110 pages. VSCL. A fine introduction to understanding, writing, reading, and publishing this popular poetic form. Many informative lists of resources for Haibun writers.
Mike Garofalo lives in Vancouver, Washington.
He worked for 50 years in city and county
public
libraries, and in elementary
schools.
He graduated with
degrees in
philosophy,
library science, and education. He has been
a web publisher since 1998.
25 Steps and Beyond; Collected Works
This document was last edited, revised,
reformatted, added to, relinked,
changed, improved, or modified
by Mike Garofalo
on March 17, 2025.