Four Weird Haiku for Winter

1.
trees and animals
broken by bitter weather
cracked by singing wind
 
2.
I passed an old house
the color of swollen hands,
hands made raw by frost.
 
3.
Deepening winter—
I take stock of the pantry,
hoping there’s enough.
 
4.
Crow with no feathers,
I wept to hear you shrieking:
“Snow ahead, turn back!”

© 2022 by Magical Mystical Teacher
 
 
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Four Strange Haiku for the New Year

1.
My chainsaw rips deep
into the heart of the pine—
who knew wood could scream?
 
2.
Come, O mountain wind!
Carry me far, far away
from this season’s smoke!
 
3.
Together we walk,
little sister fox and I,
through a land of dust.
 
4.
Crow with no feathers,
your voice rasps out a warning:
“Storm ahead, turn back!”

© 2022 by Magical Mystical Teacher
 
 
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Three Winter Haiku

1.
winter contentment—
frozen berries in a bowl,
steaming jasmine tea
 
2.
scribbled on a page
of the dying man’s missal—
winter’s bitter breath
 
3.
Deepening winter—
a black bear dreams of berries,
what he longs for most.
 

/

© 2021 by Magical Mystical Teacher
 
 
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Haibun: The Medic’s Tale

I had to work without a day off for weeks, up to and including Thanksgiving Day, so the feast is late this year. Plates, potatoes, rolls, wine—everything’s in short supply, and hard to find. Now I have to fight my way through Black Friday crowds. I’ll be lucky to find even a wrinkled tablecloth, bundled in a broken plastic wrapper. With any luck, this shopping expedition will take only hours, not decades. But what do I know? I don’t live in some storybook tale, where bluff and bluster somehow magically compensate for wit and wisdom. This is as real as it gets. And the feast—whatever ends up on our table—is late this year.
 

November morning—
a cup of instant coffee
doesn’t hit the spot.

© 2021 by Magical Mystical Teacher
 
 
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Haibun: The Bullet

I found a bullet beneath a maple tree whose blood-red leaves seemed to be burning. I took the bullet home and sat in the doorway. Filaments of a broken spiderweb dangled overhead. There was within me a ferocious longing to know what creature had escaped death on that bright autumn day. Something that could crawl or creep? Something that shone or shimmered? I would never know. But in my hands I held, like a communion wafer, the token of its escape. Holy, holy, holy.
 
My rudderless boat—
the frigid current takes me
wherever it wills.

/

© 2021 by Magical Mystical Teacher
 
 
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Four Autumn Haiku

1.
On the far mesa,
strangled shadows gasp for light—
deepening autumn.
 
2.
I miss you, Father—
it was hard to say farewell
on that autumn day.
 
3.
I fall into bed,
beat from raking autumn leaves,
and page through some books.
 
4.
Seven kinds of mud
slow me on my pilgrimage—
long autumn journey.
 

/

© 2021 by Magical Mystical Teacher
 
 
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Three Haiku as Autumn Deepens

1.
raking fallen leaves—
my ceremony to heal
the wounds of autumn
 
2.
a distant mirage—
the languid days of summer
when we sipped iced tea
 
3.
My dwelling’s empty,
so come, corn pollen laughter,
come, O mountain song!
 

/

© 2021 by Magical Mystical Teacher
 
 
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I Peered Into the Pantry

I peered into the pantry to see what I could see;
A seed was there, I ate it—it tasted good to me!
I found some rich, ripe compost atop the highest shelf;
Since I’d no one to share with, I ate it all myself.
I love the taste of crude things, things rare as crystal seas;
They heat my brain and belly, and make me want to sneeze!
I know the changing climate is something I’ll survive;
In my pantry habitat I’ll always grow and thrive!

/

© 2021 by Magical Mystical Teacher
 
 
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Nothing Common

Nothing common in her tweets,
For she’s fortified with sweets!
What she tastes she somehow sees
Always tucked between her knees.
 
Autumn’s version of her face?
She knows just the perfect place:
In a corner of the zoo
With a peckish kangaroo!
There the campfire stories burn
And odd children come to learn
How to brand themselves with stars
That have slipped between the bars.
 
If you’ve suffered through this verse,
Don’t forget: It could be worse.
You could be among the dead,
Plunged in darkness, plagued by dread;
But you’re here, you’re having fun—
Keep it up, your life’s not done!

/

© 2021 by Magical Mystical Teacher
 
 
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Four Autumn Haiku

1.
autumn mystery—
the way praise spills from my heart
when the first leaf falls
 
2.
My partner dances
not with me, but with ashes—
autumn’s first hard frost.
 
3.
Doors on autumn’s hut
stand ajar—dinner simmers
on an open fire.
 
4.
Baby’s got no shame,
but he won’t tell me his name—
this cold autumn rain.

/

© 2021 by Magical Mystical Teacher
 
 
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