Step out the front door
ice cream truck there already
think I know what’s next
walk right past the truck
bit of a surprise I guess
time for the playground
glad we showed restraint
how much ice cream is too much?
oh look here it comes
inevitable
now it’s only a question—
nope it’s chocolate
child grows a goatee
after only a few bites
this calls for a wipe
somehow the slides seem faster
Tag: Haiku
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Yet Another Ice Cream Truck Haiku Sequence
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Haiku Maundy
Raising a PK
means staying at church all day
some weeks of the year
Have I taught her well?
She ignores the services
when she’s having fun
brings toys when needed
takes them up for communion
tonight washing hands
she just joins the line
cheerfully knows something good
waits at the altar
mostly mommy smiles
We walked around the building
during some down time
call from the window
she knew it was mommy there
inside her office
she looked up calling
responding can you hear me
I’m too high to reach
we went back inside
to mommy’s office surprised
not to see herself
outside down below
just the place where she had been
and a bit later
would be there again
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Spring Break Haiku
The ice cream truck tune
wafted through open windows
time to put on pants
Way too hot outside
for a day like this in spring
child requires a coat
Playground friends running
around the steps to the slide
pretend space voyage
What should dinner be
a pickle and an orange
wash them down with milk
Child circles stuffed cat
singing made up songs about
the way that words sound
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Ice Cream Truck Haiku
Ice cream truck music
ringing through the neighborhood
is heard but unseen
Child is excited—
why? she has never seen one
could be the concept
of two awesome things
pasted and phrased together
prompts a trip outside
I see where it is
still within walking distance—
friends at the playground
instead—why not play
dragging a tractor around
within her control
the truck drives away
missing out on a few sales—
neighborhood moves on
plastic cone in the sandbox
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Strays
Time is a stream
you step into once
you run out of other options
A house is a metaphor
for what you want
to take place inside the house
Things happen
the way they always have
then they happen again
Some are missing
you remember them more
when you miss them
Mouth makes language
out of another
mouth’s reaction to it
Return is incomplete
when you begin
where you started
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Haiku Day
Deciphering words
out of the babble we hear
what we think are words
Reacting to trees
how they appear different
the more you see them
Perhaps like they did
the first time we walked with her
could she remember
Face of practiced awe
who are we to interrupt
the pace of rapture
With our semantics
is she responding or just
accommodating
Language we provide
shaping the eternity
from which she springs forth
To fit a design
we can barely respond to
with a halting yes
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Easter Haiku
After the risen
takes a rest the rest is not
so easy to find
Practicing our wow
faces takes more time than not
in direct sunlight
There is a first time
for everything but story
lives are measured by
How we wake one day
and know how body has changed
still unrecognized
Walking a new path
beside friends waiting for snacks
do a double take
Here I am—did you miss me?
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Haiku Vigil
Astonishment is
a trait of the night ending
before the darkness
What makes a flame rise
other than words spoken then
repeated again
We know emptiness
is not yet the end of this
being what we are
The night was meant to
turn morning into dancing
a circuit complete
Of course body is
a part of the earth—witness
blossoms yet to be
Joshua Keiter 