Category Archives: The Whirligig

Love in 5-7-5 Time

Apr 11

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1.
whatever you love
cuts you like a knife, carving
canyons in your flesh
 
 
2.
someone who loves you
washes away everything
you thought essential
 
 
3.
ceaseless floods of love
grind your soul’s granite to silt
washing it downstream
 
 
4.
layer by layer
what’s inside you is revealed
by your lover’s art

 
 

© 2021 by Magical Mystical Teacher


Posted in 5-7-5, haiku, Poets & Storytellers United, The Whirligig

12 Comments

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Haibun: Easter Meal

Apr 4

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The anchovies on the pizza were too salty, and I’m desperately thirsty. I keep trying to drink some water, but the table wobbles and it’s hard for me to pick up the glass. I never expected to be eating alone in a sad café on a chilly Easter Sunday. Through the dirty window an almost biblical scene unfolds: sheep grazing on lush grass. A shepherd has led them there. It’s so restful to watch that I close my eyes for a moment. But the impatient water prods me back to awareness by snapping out a single word: “Finished?”
 

On a windy day
the white dove loses her song
somewhere on the way.

 

Haibun © 2021 by Magical Mystical Teacher 

 

Posted in 5-7-5, haibun, haiku, Poets & Storytellers United, The Whirligig, Uncategorized

12 Comments

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Nonsense to Celebrate Daylight Saving Time

Mar 14

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Water spilling from a cup—
Will you help me wipe it up?
Grass is crying in the rain—
Watch out now, here comes a train!
Throw the broken plate away,
And then ask your friend to play.
Sing and sway, don’t rock the boat!
Just remember: Stones can’t float!


 
Poem © 2021 by Magical Mystical Teacher

Posted in light verse, Poets & Storytellers United, Rhyming poetry, The Whirligig

9 Comments

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Haibun: Some Wild Thing

Mar 7

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Some wild thing roves outside my door. It always comes at twilight. It moves stealthily among the shadows, zigzagging, never in a straight line. It is so swift—like a meteor’s flash or the whirling rings of Saturn—that I barely catch a glimpse of it. But I know it’s there—a constant presence as night comes on. Does it mean to harm me or to help me? I’m not sure, so in order to sleep I check the door locks and chains once more.
 

The Book of Bad Luck—
why do I keep reading it?
I know how it ends.


 

Haibun © 2021 by Magical Mystical Teacher 

 

Posted in 5-7-5, haibun, haiku, Poets & Storytellers United, The Whirligig

13 Comments

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Birds, Songs, and Longings

Feb 26

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1.
As we near the lake,
geese arc over the water,
honking a greeting.
 
 
2.
Settling on her nest
at the water’s edge, a duck
keeps her egg clutch warm.
 
 
3.
Rippling mountain stream,
who composed the song you sing?
Surely not the crow!
 
 
4.
Drifting and gliding
over the ocean’s surface,
seagulls hunt for fish.
 
 
5.
Midwinter longing—
if I had wings like a dove,
I’d fly far away.

 

Haiku © 2021 by Magical Mystical Teacher

 

Posted in 5-7-5, haiku, Haiku My Heart, Poets & Storytellers United, The Whirligig

20 Comments

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The Spiritual Godfather

Feb 24

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An homage to Lawrence Ferlinghetti, with phrases found in his New York Times obituary:
 

At the end of his life,
aglow,
the spiritual godfather
at dawn
starts wailing:
“Fireflies!”
Sharp humor and social consciousness
dissolve
like Galilee,
like smoke.

 

Five Haiku for the Frigid Season

Feb 19

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1.
Come now, let us mourn
all things broken, chipped, and torn—
deepening winter.
 
 
2.
Winter loneliness—
who has skill enough to mend
my threadbare blue shirt?
 
 
3.
Winter drive to work—
on the bridge I see skid marks,
remnants of a crash.
 
 
4.
Itching to plant seeds,
I thumb through the catalog
that came in the mail.
 
 
5.
Bar of soap in hand,
I draw water for a bath—
midwinter pleasure.

 

Haiku © 2021 by Magical Mystical Teacher

 

Posted in 5-7-5, haiku, Haiku My Heart, Poets & Storytellers United, Recuerda Mi Corazon, The Whirligig

18 Comments

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Strident Voices

Jan 24

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Strident voices fill the room,
Stripped of reason, dripping gloom;
In the yard among the ashes
Lie three shattered window sashes.
Mention them enough, they say,
And you’ll turn the night to day.
Later on when winter’s over
And the fields are white with clover,
And our conversations rust
(As we knew they surely must),
Maybe then the world will see
Everyone in chains set free.

 
 

Poem © 2021 by Magical Mystical Teacher
 
 
More The Whirligig #302
 
More Writers’ Pantry #54 at Poets and Storytellers United

Posted in Poets & Storytellers United, Rhyming poetry, The Whirligig

10 Comments

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Dancers with Candles

Dec 6

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Dancers with candles are lurking around
Places where mistletoe is to be found,
Hoping their empty lips soon will be kissed,
Fearing their footsteps will turn into mist.
Suddenly sleepy the dancers do swoon,
Not caring at all that it’s only noon.
Could this be deep magic doing its work,
Or am I dreaming like some lonely jerk?
Soon I’ll be nodding, my air will be gone,
And it will be time for me to pass on.
Please don’t forget me when I am no more;
Give heed to my wisdom, this I implore.
Of all I’ve told you, try to remember:
Dance with your candle every December!

 
 

Poem © 2020 by Magical Mystical Teacher
 
 
More The Whirligig #295
 
More Writers’ Pantry #49 at Poets and Storytellers United

Posted in light verse, Poets & Storytellers United, Rhyming poetry, The Whirligig

11 Comments

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Dreams that Call

Nov 29

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Do you hear the dreams that call,
Dreams your hands still hope to find?
Stand in wonder of them all,
Pillow them within your mind.
In the shell of your old life
You could stand until you die,
But it’s time to slip away
With the hawk that rides the sky.
Onward through the wind and fire!
Push yourself, do not give up!
You will find your heart’s desire
Waiting in a brimming cup.

 
 

Poem © 2020 by Magical Mystical Teacher
 
 
More The Whirligig #294
 
More Writers’ Pantry #48 at Poets and Storytellers United

Posted in Poets & Storytellers United, Rhyming poetry, The Whirligig

8 Comments

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