My Last Haiku
and Other Haiku Quintets
Dan Dana
some years left to write
‘tiI I slip away, unseen,
my words remaining
Cover photo: Ultra Deep Field by James Web Space Telescope (NASA)
© Dan Dana, 2025
Five Palms Press
Sarasota, Florida
dandana.us/fivepalms
Introduction
This poetic trail of crumbs picks up where A Life Mostly Lived, my previous memoir in verse, left off in 2022. These new poems are similarly constructed, each one a set of five (yes, a quintet) of haiku. But this time the haiku quintets proceed from the present, 2025, and travel back through the intervening years.
Some poems are life-snippets describing actual events, often referring to contemporary newsworthy matters the reader may recall from the headlines. Others address ideas, emotions, and musings occurring solely within the confines of my skull. Collectively, they represent life as I’ve lived it up to June 2025.
Inspired by Hemingway’s iceberg theory, I aim for potent minimalism. The visible tip leaves the bulk of these poems unwritten, unspoken, untold, awaiting your discovery and completion by the image in your mind’s eye, the tug at your heart, the punch to your gut. As you read and reflect, their fuller meaning emerges Rorschach-like from your own personal underworld, beneath the surface of your mind, unnoticed until this moment.
Some haiku quintets are lighthearted, perhaps entertaining. Others invite deeper reflection about life and its meanings. In each, the choice is yours.
A definition will be useful here:
Haiku Quintets: I strive to pack maximum meaning into the 17 syllables of the classical Japanese haiku form developed 400 years ago—a poem of three lines divided into 5, 7, and 5 syllables. But diverging from tradition, and perhaps committing other poetic heresies as well, my poems each consist of five haiku—thus a “haiku quintet”—comprising a single narrative theme and amounting to 85 syllables. A photo or image illustrates and completes the finished piece. I dub this novel art form “poetic impressionism by curious wordcraft.” Apologies to Basho for my unorthodoxy.
A memoir can be more than a reporting of events. I wish I knew my forebears’ thoughts, beliefs, pursuits, and personal contemplations. Those gossamer threads comprising the fabric of their lives escaped being recorded in any satisfying depth, now lost forever. I have experienced a rich mental life, crumbs of which map the trail found on these pages. I invite you to peek into my private world along the way.
I’m eighty. Given the uncertain timing of my ultimate demise, this volume may be my final effort to gather scraps of this life I’ve mostly lived into a readable package. If I discover that I’m still breathing a few more orbits around our star, I may produce more. Dunno. Meanwhile, here is my harvest for this autumnal season.
Browse
Let your mind wander
Follow it there
Repeat
Excepting some images, AI is not used in the creation of these haiku quintets.
Preface
Legacy
hundreds of haiku,
roadkill along life’s highway
these rich eighty years:
~ how to make love work,
~ facing death eyes wide open,
~ how and why we’re here
what worth is writing
if these nuggets die with me,
to serve none but one?
one day I’ll expire,
life’s horizon shall be breached,
but words may live on …
… in readers’ lived lives
—to no greater legacy
could I dare aspire
My Last Haiku
oh, my fickle muse,
you’ve found another lover
for your affections
we’ve had six good years
flitting from this whim to that,
producing offspring
your new partner’s charms,
those alluring fifty words,
dwarf my tired quintet
you seem to prefer
microstory’s slender form,
prose poem’s figure
carry on, my dear,
I will read your spawn with her
through haikuist’s tears
I began writing microstories in November 2024, which gradually replaced haiku quintets as my preferred form. A volume will be published in 2026.
22 May 2025
Cuba
her history cursed
by invasion, assault, and
colonialism
her gritty people
oppressed by greed’s ambition,
humanity’s scourge
yearning for just peace,
all sisters simply wanting
life and liberty
Fidel’s wondrous dream
of equality for all
crushed by tyranny …
… his own and others’,
fallen victim to false fear
of democracy
Image credit: Simplemaps
After trip with Eckerd College, March 2025
31 March 2025
What Matters?
Earth is just a speck
of spinning rock and water
in the cosmic void
I am just a speck
of consciousness on Earth’s plane
with eight billion more
we matter to us,
as I matter to myself,
against pure reason
you matter to me,
your infinite suffering,
tho’ it’s not my own
beyond this logic,
our caring for each other
must be what matters
Photo: The “pale blue dot” (Earth) taken from four billion miles away by the Voyager 1 spacecraft (NASA)
10 November 2024
Witness
dancing to music,
trapped in tunnel’s putrid tomb,
Hamas mutes their song
bandaged head to toe,
smart bomb blasts Gaza clinic,
one more child’s life snuffed
burqa’d Afghan girl,
vile mullahs silenced her voice,
crushing her teacher dream
Dinka mom falters,
soldier-raped, again, then shot,
then her baby dies
in distant comfort,
old man grieves in vain witness,
why oh why oh why!
20 October 2024
Oversharing/Undersharing
he blurts blatant truths,
assuming others agree,
or would like to know
she restrains her truth,
assuming others don’t care
what’s beneath her veil
he hears no protest,
so infers their concurrence,
strengthening friendship
she hears no questions,
inferring her smile tells all
that’s wanted to know
love accepts raw truth,
partners know the real story
behind our shadows
13 October 2024
Milton
The News stirs drama,
the lifeblood of its success
in the marketplace
we were forewarned:
“evacuate now or die”
as Milton drew near
its public service
saved countless lives and houses,
yet stoked undue fear?
despite dire warnings,
destruction and death ensued
—we did not obey
Milton’s stress test passed,
our condo fortress stood strong
—need we fear the next?
Screenshot: Milton’s blue eye nearing Sarasota, Oct 10, 2024, 6:59 pm
12 October 2024
Despair vs. Joy
Sunday’s New York Times
spread on our breakfast table,
"all news fit to print”
innocents suffer
death by bombs, hunger, hate, fate
far away from here
democracy grief
dampens my election hope,
fearing dirty tricks
yet, joy, too, resides
in peace, plenty, safety, love
—my cup runs over
these dissonant truths
battle for the higher ground
as my coffee cools
6 October 2024
Pandora
your melodic voice
warms the soundscape of my home,
music to my ears
I’m free to listen,
or not, attention flitting
twig to twig to twig
you probe my senses,
finding corners of my mind
where dust has gathered
unanswered questions
lie fallow, guiltlessly left
to wither in peace
your gentle presence
hedges against loneliness
while Susan’s away
24 September 2024
Minimalism
the more I can say
with fewer words, the better
—I must choose wisely
between books’ covers
find blank pages where truth lies,
awaiting my thoughts
my daily ambles,
silenced of podcast prattle,
tell all I must know
this perfect sunset
displays more of Nature’s art
than I can behold
this haiku quintet
holds eighty-five syllables
—I’ve reached my limit
16 September 2024
Why I Write What I Write
a scribe friend asked me:
“why do you write what you write?
why this and not that?”
~ it interests me
~ I know something about it
~ it may help others
~ to leave a small piece
of my mind behind for you
when my body dies
~ to hedge against death
so something of me will last
a few years longer
~ so that you might smile,
lingering over these words:
“so THAT’s who he was!”
28 August 2024
Exercising My Brain
I recently read
that old brains need exercise
to fend off dotage
so, right brain’s thinking
of witty, creative words
to paint this canvas
while left brain’s busy
following haiku’s strict rules,
counting syllables
just one more stanza
to weld a decent quintet
from junkyard word-scraps
I’ll take a break now
to give neurons time to rest
—both brains need a nap
Image by AI (ImageFX)
28 August 2024
Shall I Stay Quiet?
America’s scourge,
political violence
lurks behind Trump’s mask
in our gun-drunk land
I fear democracy’s end,
from my foxhole’s view
my trifling haiku,
my whispered pleas for reason,
my poetic bleats
see, I’m no warrior,
yet I care for our fair home
and hope to save it
am I in danger,
raising my voice in the crowd?
shall I stay quiet?
Image by AI (ImageFX)
5 August 2024
Pain and the Food Chain
we all need to eat,
more to the point, carnivores
—if no food, no life
larger predators
eat the smaller ones alive,
frantic to escape
even bugs feel pain,
as do all along the chain
from slug to apex
pain is Nature’s tool
to ensure species’ success,
we’re pawns in life’s game
it’s a cruel world
—antinatalists ask if
pleasure’s worth the pain?
5 August 2024
Love’s Origin Story
newborn needs its mom
in sync, mom needs her newborn
—oxytocin flows
moms’ love of babies
spans cultures, species, eons,
—the primeval bond
fruits of her womb count
a million generations,
life’s unbroken chain
birthing and nursing,
she would kill to protect them
by basic instinct
the girl fell in thrall,
igniting her life’s passion
—babies rule the world
Personal collection of Susan, a mother-baby nurse
4 August 2024
A Neanderthal Day
this cave has sheltered
our clan since the Beginning,
and will Evermore
our stone and bone tools,
made by elders of elders,
are kept in their place
our cooking hearth warms
sleeping beds of grass and ash
under auroch skins
spear points are sharpened,
we will hunt cave lion soon,
my son is learning
with ochre in hand
I made wall painting today
—sons’ sons will know me
Krapina Cave Museum diorama, Croatia
This typical day was replicated for 15,000 generations spanning 300,000 years until Neanderthal DNA became fully subsumed within Homo sapiens’ genome by interbreeding about 40,000 years ago. They were our direct ancestors. Modern monotheistic religions emerged only about 2000 years ago.
31 July 2024
How Do I Love Thee?
God of all power,
Maker of the universe,
Knower of all things
Killer of children
by hunger, war, disease, hate,
where is Thy mercy?
Ally of fascists
who murder their enemies
who love other Gods
Denier of facts,
discoveries of science
that would disprove Thee
humans hath made Thee
of wishes and fantasies
—how can I love Thee?
The theodicy problem in verse. Image by AI (ImageFX)
31 July 2024
The Forbidden Question
this awkward schoolboy,
assigned to deep center field
by phys ed teacher
doubts had been brewing
about Sunday sermons’ truth
on slippery slope:
Heaven and Hell, real?
why does prayer seem not to work?
and … (I dared not ask!)
trembling, knees wobbling,
that forbidden question burst:
and … does God exist?
fly ball came my way
frozen by fear, I dropped it
—I had reached the edge
The awkward, distracted boy
30 July 2024
Invited Back?
was I a good guest?
did I say thanks for her
warm invitation?
did I compliment
her grand home and furnishings?
they’re most beautiful
the expansive view
was pleasing to my senses
in every way
she served a fine meal,
dessert was evening’s climax,
savored to the end
am I in good stead?
will I be invited back
to her next party?
30 June 2024
Game Set Match
Putin's smarts trump Trump's
spycraft’s his deep specialty
not a fair match-up
Project Sixteen’s win
Kremlin’s epic victory
handler’s shrewd game plan
how? — foul dirt on Don?
— secret agent mole recruit?
— useful idiot?
that was practice round
lessons learned for Twenty-four
get it right this time?
snared pet on a leash
all roads through Trump lead to Vlad
game, set, match … we lose
Photo: CNN, 16 July 2018
9 May 2024
Tom
1936–2025
boy from Illinois
grew to reach mythic stature
in our loving eyes
friend, husband, grandpa
of his modern family,
breaking boundaries
he knew what he liked:
double slice of apple pie
with double ice cream
a healer with heart,
faithful to his doctor’s oath,
loathe to suffer fools
tracks left in his wake,
on all who feel his imprint,
will linger lifetimes
At our dinner table, May 5, 2024
11 June 2025
My Obituary
(An early draft)
migrant of the mind
who could not resist asking,
“what’s life’s big picture?”
avid collector
of worldly experience
— a lifelong hobby
career was a tool
to probe psyche’s hidden gems,
he dared to drill deep
dismantler of myths
— sought to fathom our true place
in this vast cosmos
educator strove
to leave world a smarter place
— now returned to dust
Dan Dana
9/23/1945—?/?/20??
Educator – Mediator – Poet
23 April 2024
My To-do List
certain tasks need done:
finishing my tax return,
restocking the fridge
chores to be checked off
life’s list of dull requirements,
one-by-one-by-one
but, toddler’s id roars!
uncorralled feral horse
fighting rider’s reins
morning-brain’s awake,
lending spirit to my bones,
that rare stuff of art
pushed aside, squeezed out,
kept on hold, gasping for air,
haiku muse expires
18 April 2024
Being Dead*
no darkness, no light
nothing at all, forever
no past, no future
time after I die
will not pass—same timelessness
as before my birth
here will not be there
who I was will be no more
no me, no not-me
no regret, no loss
no loneliness, no sadness
no fear, no gladness
no pain, no pleasure
no now, no then, no being
just pure nothingness
* This description becomes obvious once religion (supernaturalism) is discarded.
Imagine nothing, not even this empty hole.
17 April 2024
Ode to My Sandals
two good soles, gone bad,
you protected me from harm
on fraught foreign soil
for ten zillion steps
we hiked, trekked, climbed, jogged, stumbled,
but mostly sauntered
like an abused horse,
rode hard and put away wet,
I neglected you
dearly departed,
third sturdy generation
must yield to the fourth
what fate awaits you,
without proper funeral,
tossed like common trash?
9 April 2024
Are You My Father?
my country was torn
by American soldiers
—you were one of them
my mom did sex-work
doing what she had to do
to survive those times
she knew many men
who wore your feared uniform
you both were young then
where do you live now?
what qualities do we share?
did you write this book?
you are near eighty
I am fifty-five today
are you my father?
31 March 2024
Slippery Slope
on tongue’s tender tip
names of known people and things
stubbornly resist
my urgent summons
in daily conversations
at senior moments
friends say, “yeah, me too”
but their words seem to appear
when called to duty!
how did your brain work,
oh, pioneer ancestors,
as age beset you?
were you forgetful?
did you sense, with worried mind,
that slippery slope?
My grandparents’ grave in Ottawa, Kansas
28 March 2024
Managing Differences
I can’t live with you
yet, I can’t live without you
—I must find a way
I can’t work with you
yet, we must work together
—we must find a way
at kitchen tables,
in corporate workplaces,
on remote Zoom calls
human nature’s key
to resolving our conflict:
we can talk it out
learn Simple Magic*
to manage differences
at work and at home
* An early working title of this book (1988)
This haiku quintet was composed as a preface to the 2024 revision of Managing Differences: How to Build Better Relationships at Work and Home published by Mediation Training Institute at Eckerd College, St Petersburg, Florida — www.mediationworks.com
8 March 2024
Books
she texted, “thanks, Dad,
for reading me books back then,
when I was a kid”
surprised tears welled up,
spilling on my iPhone screen
between heaving sobs
what hunger is this?
what deep longing has been touched
by her gratitude?
I’m a gray old man
wondering what good I’ve done
with my eighty years
five decades later,
she’s a librarian now,
a lover of books
Holding Su, 1973
27 February 2024
How Is Life Good?
bomb-crushed Gazans scream,
hostages wail for release,
last hope fades to black
Ukrainians die
like Putin’s captured conscripts,
blending blood with mud
hordes pound border wall
fleeing homelands’ misery,
so near, door slams shut
in this pain-drenched world
some victims grace our news screens,
but most never do
please tell me again,
believers in loving gods,
just how is life good?
Hiroshima, Japan, 2003
Consider also non-human sentient animals who die by predation and in meat factories.
26 February 2024
Maestro de Pelo
best haircut ever!
brain surgeon’s keen precision,
scissor artistry
every fleeing hair
found hiding caught mid-escape,
promptly guillotined
wild unruly beard
sculpted to near perfection,
subduing Nature
my shaggy old friends,
retired in shorts and T-shirts,
won’t even notice
it’s a crying shame
his exquisite work of art
was wasted on me
Luis Enrique Robles Garcia, peluquero, Puerto Vallarta, México
21 February 2024
The Right Side of History
I want to be on
the right side of history
when it is written
my words live in print,
on offer to the wide world,
though seldom noted:
P climate will kill us
P America’s star will fall
P religion is myth
P no, life is NOT good
P only science leads to truth
P love is the answer
some while left to write
‘tiI I slip away, unseen,
my words remaining
16 February 2024
Lucky Life
1945 – 20??
born at World War’s end,
lived ‘til democracy died(?)*
—lifespan’s perfect plan
escaped ancients’ pain,
surpassed olde royals’ comforts,
skipped predator’s lunch
goods and services,
luxuries beyond belief
by middle class means
great while it lasted,
lucky place and lucky time,
I’m a lucky duck
fortunes turning dark
as human story unfurls,
—I mourn future’s child
* Ominous clouds appear on America’s political horizon at the time of this writing (July 2024)
Image by AI (ImageFX): There but for fate went I.
16 February 2024
Memory
I can’t remember,
or do I no longer know?
—effect is the same
the name of a friend,
a movie I’m told I saw,
our lunch date today
I once could recall
such things with little effort,
when younger brain ruled
memory’s decline’s
creeping in on cat paws to
the room where I live
in worried silence
I sense her presence near me,
purring me to sleep
Photo by Susana Mosteiro
22 January 2024
My Muse Shall Not Be Denied
she taps on my door
at such inconvenient times
with her urgent pleas:
as dawn’s brain-fog lifts,
in morning’s soapy shower,
at sunset’s repose
“do not ignore me!
my rare gift will slip your grasp,
lost forevermore”
I may fail this task
her mission is too daunting
for these few short lines!
“my time is not yours,
deny me at your peril,
I shall not return”
12 January 2024
Judih
absolute control
fallacy of human mind
release into blur*
petals of her art
scattered on kibbutz Nir Oz
and the whole damned world
murdered by Hamas
for no crime but her people
and her love of peace
hate begets more hate
vengeance begets more vengeance
human nature’s scourge
her gentle voice snuffed
could her haikus ease the pain?
is hope chimera?
* A haiku by poet Judih Weinstein Haggai, murdered 7 October 2023
Photo: The Times of Israel
30 December 2023
Hanging Memories
bits of life we’ve lived
hang around the house all day
pretending to be art:
· Harrod’s deep stairwell,
· Los Arcos beyond our toes,
· Bogotá tiple
· Mandela’s campaign,
· Kit’s collage, Plaza night’s lights,
· drizzly Paris street
· roadside Zulu masks,
· Los Muertos’ married macaws,
· Norwegian rowboat
easily confused,
memories hang on our walls,
mistaken as art
Each phrase alludes to a hanging memento, which in turn invokes a story eager to be told.
24 December 2023
Confirmation Bias
preach, oh faithful choir!
I enjoy singing along
keep your posts coming
I trust our sources
they tell us god’s revealed truth:
plain, obvious facts
other side’s dead wrong
fooled by biased media
lying through clenched teeth
Trump’s a lethal risk:
he’ll kill our democracy
with Putin’s dagger
in cozy silos
confirmation bias brews
— but I’m sure I’m right
Speakers’ Corner, Hyde Park, London, 24 September 2023
21 December 2023
This Side of the Glass
in here, warm, dry, safe,
few discomforts perturb me
— out there, tempests rage
on nightly news screens
I watch untold suffering
through reporters’ eyes
bombs strike hospitals,
hostages in stark terror
bleed in dark tunnels
poor migrants duped by
smugglers promising false hope
die in truck ovens
from my sheltered perch,
I glimpse the world’s horrors from
this side of the glass
Photo: Sarasota, 12 August 2021, 6:43 pm
17 December 2023
With Eyes Wide Open
you and I seek love
yearning to touch and be touched
to see and be seen
you and I will die
breaching our lone horizon
to be no longer
you and I wonder
who am I in the cosmos?
is this all there is?
we are both poets
seeking our own perfect words
where none can be found
you and I can share
this trek to oblivion
with eyes wide open
15 December 2023
The Quarter in the Bank
Roy and Edna Moore
began their post-war venture
with empty pockets
saving this quarter
to bankroll their married life
and recall their roots
dreaming of a home
to hold family treasures,
love’s rich dividends
eighty years forward,
their roots bore twenty-one sprouts
from three strong daughters
we, their grateful clan
count our wealth of blessings in
loving memories
— with Susan Moore Dana
The story: Roy and Edna put this quarter—their entire savings—in this doggy-bank in 1945 upon arrival in Kansas City from Ohio after WWII. Unopened, it traveled with them throughout their lives in Kansas and South Dakota until their deaths in 2003. Daughters Susan and Shawna had always known the keepsake doggy-bank contained that priceless quarter but had never seen it. The coin was retrieved December 2, 2023, by Shawna Moore and Gary Davidson.
3 December 2023
Happy Festivus
hail, winter solstice!
northern earthlings’ shortest day,
axis’ greatest tilt
let us celebrate
our Neolithic forebears’
Sun God’s next rebirth
Stonehenge pagans’ rites
or Saturnalia’s heirs
— what’s YOUR tradition?
Hanukkah, Christmas,
or mischievous Festivus*
for the rest of us
let’s join together
as secular humanists,
be kind and have fun!
* A parody holiday celebration first broadcast on a Seinfeld episode December 18, 1997. Image by AI (ImageFX)
26 November 2023
How Do You Not Ask?
do you not wonder:
is your faith the correct one
among all others?
how to reconcile
settled science with your faith,
since both can’t be true?
does your life’s work rest
on confidence that you’re right
without crippling doubt?
since youth, I’ve scoured those
inescapable questions
—I could not NOT ask
not debating here,
I’m simply seeking to know,
how do you not ask?
With Franciscan friar (London, 9/18/ 2023). His vows: “no money, no honey, no doubt” (poverty, chastity, faith).
28 September 2023
Sugar and Joe
paw in paw they flew
in Delta’s chilly belly
to distant London
furry childhood pets
reincarnated today
as Apple AirTags
five hours have vanished
welcome to Heathrow, poochies,
did you mutts sleep well?
next, train to Oxford
a soft bed awaits us there,
where old dogs can rest
puppy-spirit stirs,
our tails wag more slowly now,
but still scratch the itch
Screenshot on arrival. Sugar and Joe were Susan’s and Dan’s first pets.
28 September 2023
My Old Country
I had always thought
I was just “American,”
from no “old country”
my ancestors came
some four centuries ago,
leaving all behind
they carried my genes,
braving a new beginning
on frail oaken ships
today, tracing steps
of eight thousand Englanders,
my direct forebears
I’ve found part of me,
missing piece of who I am,
in my Old Country
In London with the pre-UK flag of England. Nearly all my ancestors immigrated from England between 1620 and 1750. Thirteen generations ago, each person alive today had over 8000 direct-line ancestors living around the same time, somewhere. Mine lived in England.
27 September 2023
How Did We Do This?
entitled old man
deluded in grandeur, pomp,
and misplaced grievance
damaged little boy,
his father’s failed redemption
for his public shame
a sociopath
devoid of pure empathy
and human kindness
our democracy’s
flawed electoral system
birthed this freak mutant
oh, America!
our nation’s embarrassment,
how did we do this?
TV screenshot 24 August 2023
26 August 2023
My Lai
no way could she know
if I killed her family
a lifespan ago
I wore uniform
of the invading army
that slaughtered her kin
I want her to know
I was a harmless typist
in quiet Qui Nhon
what guilt do I bear,
an innocent Nazi boy
swept up by events?
I wept by the ditch;
she had met many of us,
perhaps the killer?
Photo by Tom Moore, with whom I visited the site of the My Lai massacre on 27 April 2015, and with whom I served in Vietnam in 1968. The solemn but gracious caretaker of this memorial site witnessed her mother and other family members die at this ditch on 16 March 1968.
20 August 2023
Nihilism’s Remedy
the world is so big,
the universe is so vast,
I am so tiny
time is infinite,
history spans forever,
my life is so short
leaders fail their task;
I see, care, but cannot do;
I am powerless
I am but a drop
in the Sea of Existence,
insignificant
but I can watch, awed,
in the company of friends
‘til my movie ends
Photo credit: Technology
20 August 2023
Roy and Edna
side by side for life,
growing together in love,
your daughters’ beacon
supporting, leaning,
yet standing tall and strong,
a forest of two
since your sapling years,
twenty-three leafy branches
sprout twigs from your stem
two cut down too soon
in the summer of their growth,
yet gave root to more
your model marriage
shed light on love’s rocky path;
we walk in your shade
Two trees named Roy and Edna (Susan’s parents) in 1985 and 2003,
6609 Garnett, Shawnee, Kansas
25 July 2023
Legacies Die Too
death’s specter nears,
I’ve kicked my can down the road
two generations
years or decades more?
I may live another day,
but brute fact remains:
my checklist of done-that’s,
once carefully curated,
must fade from time’s plan
vain fantasies dwell
in skeptics’ void afterlife,
memoir’s futile myth
legacies die, too,
I sigh in meek surrender
‘til my next haiku
23 July 2023
Dennis the Menace
Charismatically Quirky
how many can say
“we met in Antarctica”
hey, how cool is that!
huckster of heirlooms,
antiquities kahuna,
tycoon of old stuff
beat-up pick-up truck
equipped with hot traffic cones
to park wherever
Woodstock-bound hippie
told my highway toke-up tale
—would Judge Gill jail me?
mediators’ bond
keeps old friends on common ground
—Birthday Boy’s surprise
On the party boat, Port of Miami
7 July 2023
Betty Boop
soaring through eighth floor
of life’s relentless high-rise
with class, grace, and style
Oklahoma girl
follows her father’s wisdom:
“Roll with the punches”
veteran artiste,
poet, playwright, performer,
a one-woman show
plays avant-garde roles
on doyenne’s star-studded stage
to hearty applause
carrot-topped diva,
HUSBAY’s own movie maestra,
our beloved friend
A birthday tribute from her Sarasota humanist friends
7 July 2023
Alzheimer’s Dream
we were traveling
got separated, somehow
I asked directions
but took a wrong turn
forgot where he said to go
I’m getting worried
I am so confused
this place is unfamiliar
I can’t find my phone
where could she have gone?
I hope she’s looking for me
I want to be home
suddenly, I wake
relieved it was just a dream
felt so damned real
Post-dream slumber, 7:49 am
27 June 2023
Slavery’s Stain
Blacks wear their Blackness
as badge of fierce survival,
strength under the whip
Whites wear their Whiteness
as badge of vain privilege,
unearned advantage
fragile bridges burn,
no sooner built than destroyed
by arsonists’ hate
demagogues enflame,
lighting the way to darkness
with torches blazing
America’s crime,
self-inflicted mortal wound,
shamelessly displayed
White nationalist rally, Charlottesville, Virginia, August 11, 2017 (CNN)
24 June 2023
Is It Any Wonder?
from birth we’re fed bunk:
Sky Daddy is watching us,
then, eternal bliss
God’s messengers preach
bizarre fictions as pure truth
in straight-faced belief
loving parents teach
what their own parents taught them,
pretending wisdom
we crave safe harbor
from life’s Great Unknowns lurking
our dark, worried nights
so, it’s no wonder
conspiracy theories thrive
in this moonstruck world
13 June 2023
Three Mothers
A Mother’s Day Retrospective
mothers I’ve held close,
blundering through love and lust
in youth and beyond
by love-blind choices
I’ve complicated your lives
with good intentions:
(1) I helped you escape
before we had wings to fly
life’s uncharted skies
(2) I helped you rebound
but failed to take all of you,
a part of your heart
(3) then, I helped you find
what we both were looking for,
at last together
1 May 2023
My Sell-by Date
when will I have reached
memory’s slippery slope?
are there clear signposts?
point of no return,
death’s door of choice will slam shut,
I’ll lose exit’s key
as sell-by date nears,
or if hers precedes my own,
we may share the plunge
I forget friends’ names,
new games’ rules befuddle me,
I repeat myself,
I like “the old way,”
I reveal more than I should,
as in this haiku
Thinking mortal thoughts at age 77
17 April 2023
Haiku’s Homeland
what thread might there be
tying Basho’s verse to mine,
bridging then and now?
a mystic calling?
did haiku’s homeland beckon
by some astral gong?
“Zen and the Art of …”
swept through sixties’ campus for
fans of Alan Watts
spry mental gymnasts
play fun metaphysics in
Jung’s psychic dreamland
no Shinto woo-woo
links this land to my hobby
—just coincidence
Lake Hamana, Shizuoka, Japan, 2005. I wrote my first haiku in 2019.
6 April 2023
Falling
at my last check-up,
my pee-doc’s question caught me,
“have you fallen yet?”
what a strange question!
a urologic concern?
“nah,” my glib reply
next day, I stumbled
on a sidewalk’s hairline crack,
nearly crashed and burned
friends glumly concur
that it’s a routine question
for our age cohort
stay alert, old pals
a new predator’s afoot,
so keep looking down
24 March 2023
Les Downing
1941-2023
so much to discuss:
lifetimes of deep reflection
beyond ivy walls,
our midwestern roots,
academic scholarship
founded in reason,
how we met our mates,
our psychological art,
our humanist speech,
peppermint ice cream,
a guilty pleasure no more,
we’ve set ourselves free
we tilled our friendship
in New Year’s fresh, fertile soil
… but ran out of time
January 1, 2023, a hazy day on Sarasota Bay, the very view shared with Les and Holly as our dinner guests that evening.
18 March 2023
Post-op
eyes opening now,
propofol performed its task,
staff are doing theirs
pacemaker’s in place,
protecting my heart and life,
for years to come
a man lies wounded
on Czar Putin’s killing field,
protecting Ukraine
his body shattered
by war-crime machinery,
maimed…if he survives
I’ll be home by noon,
recovering in comfort
—his pain’s just begun
I began mentally composing this haiku while in post-surgical recovery yesterday morning, 15 March 2023, at Sarasota Memorial Hospital.
16 March 2023
in this life I’ve seen:
South Africa, Vietnam,
Japan, Honduras,
Peru, Uruguay,
Antarctica, Uganda,
Ukraine, Panama,
Israel, Qatar,
Lebanon, Ghana, Fiji,
Kenya, Korea,
Latvia, Hong Kong,
Australia, Brazil, Cuba,
and most of Europe
why list these far lands*?
I simply want you to know
I got off the farm
* More than 85 to date
Image source: Nations Online
“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness.”
—Mark Twain
14 March 2023
Manatee
large, slow, peaceful beasts
prefer to swim with other
large, slow, peaceful beasts
you are my escort
for these precious few minutes
in your hydrous home
in calming silence
you’re minding your own business,
as you wish of me
I hear you munching
your endless lunch of seagrass,
doing no one harm
as stewards of Earth,
I wish we humans would be
rather more like you
Crystal River, Florida, 9 March 2023 (photo credit: Plantation Manatee)
11 March 2023
My Deathbed
I’ll die in this bed
if my life ends as I hope:
calmly, peacefully
days are not numbered,
circumstances aren’t yet known,
blind corners remain
my legacy’s cast,
books* known to all I have loved,
read by all who care
when pain exceeds joy,
may no law trespass this right:
my death is my choice
in life-partner’s pact,
we may both take this bold leap,
love shared to its end
* Memoir, A Life Mostly Lived, and other volumes
Home
7 March 2023
Beneath These Words
less is more, sometimes
I write short, but not shallow
my muse helps me pack
the haiku quintet’s
my chosen beast of burden
she’s small but sturdy
icebergs hide their depth,
untold riches lurk below
where words cannot reach
that unlit region
holds unmeasured luminance
for wide-open eyes
this tiny vessel
carries cargo found mainly
in Dear Reader’s mind
Image source: wallpaper
6 March 2023
Christian Cosmologists
that most odd creature,
the “Christian Cosmologist,”
should now be extinct
but specimens live,
defying laws of physics,
though sightings are rare
perhaps they possess
supernatural power
over reason’s rules?
I’m a stern skeptic
of my own cozy beliefs,
self-deception’s tricks
as a scientist*
I ask, where’s the evidence?
show me it’s not myth
* I’m a curious hobbyist, not a practicing researcher.
![The Reason Revolution: Atheism, Secular Humanism, and the Collapse of Religion by [Dan Dana]](MyLastHaikuFINAL.fld/image067.jpg)
This 2014 e-book asks professional clergy, of any doctrine, to explain how their particular faith reconciles settled (i.e., noncontroversial) science with the basic tenets of religion (i.e., supernatural deities and immaterial afterlife)—no response but “faith.” I conclude that one can either hold religious belief or accept the confirmed findings of science, but not both.
24 February 2023
Snowbirds from Kansas and Chicago
Sarasota Bay
mangrove tunnel kayakers
watching for dolphins
dead fish funerals
sand in all the wrong places
seashell-stuffed pockets
wagon-load of toys
sunken boat mast mystery
top-deck sunset cruise
petting stingrays’ wings
manatees munching lettuce
turtle lego art
memory-snips of
Florida family fun
will last a lifetime
Natalie, Simon, Emmitt, Dayton, and their support staff on Lido Beach, Sarasota, February 19, 2023
22 February 2023
Postcards
Dad’s weekly postcards
carried love’s fierce devotion
to stay connected
across miles and years,
she stacked them in shoeboxes,
gathering time’s dust
Papi’s weekly texts,
snapshots of loving moments
to stay connected
across miles and years,
e-postcards filed in folders
in digital clouds
I send this memoir,
postcards from my afterlife,
to stay connected
22 February 2023
1924 — 2024
my stint in D.C.
as a young mediator
was in Carter’s term
I taught his methods
that shaped Camp David’s accord
in conflict classes
Begin and Sadat
sought peace for their grandchildren,
their firm common ground
human rights hero,
his loss to Trickle-down Ron
sped nation’s descent
his gentle soul fell
victim to the piranhas
in Washington’s swamp
21 February 2023
Cyborg
my heart skips some beats,
not in a romantic way,
as aging proceeds
born nearly perfect,
but years take their blasted toll
—it’s time for repairs
my Linq snitched on me,
told my cardiologist
I need more implants
stuffed with devices,
my body’s just partly mine
—I’m a cyborg now
my new prognosis:
I should live forevermore
—thanks, Dr Eckart
|
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Linq cardiac monitor (left) was first implanted in June 2017, Watchman stroke prevention device in March 2020, and pacemaker in March 2023.
18 February 2023
Femininity
your sniffable neck
fragrant female pheromones
my breakfast bouquet
your nuclear touch
electrons desire protons
charged ions snuggle
male seeking female
so glad you reciprocate
this force of nature
primal energy
exquisite polarity
magnetic allure
could I resist your
lovely feminine power?
probably, … but why?
Object of my heart’s desire
15 February 2023
No Van Gogh
I am no Van Gogh
brushing oils on blank canvas
his muse sang through him
mine comes at sunset
or in my morning shower
at curious times
Vincent had talent
far beyond my meager skills
I dare not compare
impressionism
on a different canvas
is our only link
he did not succumb
to his critics in his day
nor do I in mine
I audaciously describe my art as “poetic impressionism by curious wordcraft.”
11 February 2023
Gazing for Truth
we live trapped between
quantum and galactic realms
in myopic bliss
navel-gazing probes
psyche’s button-fuzz for truth
of my inner world
star-gazing probes sky
beyond spacetime’s horizon
for truth of cosmos
from reason’s trash bin
of false certainties, fool’s gold
beckons from both sides
aging’s dimming gaze
sorts through pet pearls of wisdom
cast off through the years
7 February 2023
What Is Nothing?
does spacetime exist
if there is no “stuff” in it?
—I’m just wondering …
if there is no “here”
where could “there” possibly be?
—no distance between
if there is no “now”
when could “then” possibly be?
—no future, no past
what might it “look” like
if no photons bring to light
the absent matter?
if all “things” vanished,
if the Universe were null,
what’s left behind?
The null set symbol in mathematics, containing nothing, not even zero
These questions might appear frivolous, even silly. But “What is nothing?” is perhaps the most fundamental and perplexing question in cosmology.
30 January 2023
Reciprocity
that glue that joins us:
reciprocity’s soft nudge,
your kind act’s applause
“I hear you, my friend
I accept your outstretched hand
I’m here in your world”
but in reply’s void,
the sound of one hand clapping,
what am I to hear?
no answer … I wait …
nature abhors a vacuum*
assumptions rush in
we hear each other,
we accept the outstretched hand,
we’re here in our world
* A concept attributed to Aristotle
26 January 2023
Bittersweet Gimlet
tart Bombay gimlet,
sun touches Amazon’s sheen,
John strums Elton John
mood-soothing sky-scene,
sweet Susan smiles beside me
in Viking Sea’s lounge
capture fading light
sweet muse, fail me not again,
guide me to fresh words
heed my fervent plea:
bottle this moment’s spirit
to sip tomorrow
still, you refuse me
here-and-now is all I have
life’s bittersweet grog
Last sunset on the Amazon, viewed as I wrote this haiku, 17 January 2023, Manaus, Brazil
23 January 2023
Fixer-Upper
it seems I’m due for
some repairs and improvements
I’m unaware of
nose hair needs trimming,
comfy draw-string shorts are stained
(list more eyesores here)
I’m snug in her nest,
but need constant attention
—a fixer-upper
is she tending to
her investment property
that’s losing value?
or is she simply
tending to my self-neglect
because she loves me?
22 January 2023
Rivers
tossed a bottled note
into my youth’s big river
off Lexington bridge
four-day canoe float
broke free of writer’s block in
dissertation year
Mekong, Danube, Nile
transported my wonderment
on mythic waters
Mother Amazon
apex nourisher of Earth
broadened my world view
eight decades adrift
my life’s river, long and deep,
approaching the sea
On the Amazon near Santarém, Brazil
First and second stanzas refer to the Missouri River (1955 and 1977).
20 January 2023
Amazon
left as mere trickle
of high Andes’ glacial melt
some two years ago
fell twelve thousand feet,
flowed four thousand winding miles,
giving life to Earth
countless new species,
our family of cousins
draw breath from your floods
if life be thought good,
you’re a god of genesis,
if bad, the devil
will your handiwork
survive mankind’s blind mayhem?
our children shall see
On the Amazon near Macapá, Brazil
15 January 2023
You Are Beautiful to Me
out there or in here?
where lies your beauty’s lodestar?
in you or in me?
my admiring eye
quaffs your soothing countenance,
quenching my heart’s thirst
our charmed alchemy,
a master chef’s concoction
so sweet to my taste
lovers’ featured asset,
poets’ raw material
since millennia
words cannot capture
this art we draw together
by haiku’s frail hand
A cross-table dinnertime photo study at sea, southeast of Barbados
10 January 2023
Springtime
Up North, snowmelt lets
dandelions thrust skyward,
taking early lead
lawn mowers emerge
from dank musty garages,
reluctant to start
farmers plant their corn,
hoping for a banner year,
dreading flood and drought
Down Here, snowbirds fly,
their invasion is over,
we get our town back
Ringling Bridge is clear,
we’ll reach Anna Maria
in time to do lunch
Kansas dandelions, photo by Susan
31 December 2022
Nature’s Killing Machine
being begets pain,
our planet hosts misery,
birth damns us to life
food animals live
lives of torture and torment,
endless holocaust
human hierarchies
bring wars, tyrants, hunger, death,
flying nations’ flags
I’m a tiny cog
in nature’s killing machine,
evolution’s craft
do few’s sparse pleasures
outweigh global suffering
on life’s balance scale?
All sentient creatures, their suffering, and their remorseless exploitations, occur on the thin veneer of our planet, a global killing field.
28 December 2022
The Most Moral Choice
most living things die
by being eaten alive
by a predator
“selfish genes” don’t care
about individuals,
only their species
pain evolved to serve
the survival of our breed
at each one’s expense
what is life’s virtue
if its cost is agony
of sentient creatures?
our most moral choice:
bring no new life to the world,
prevent suffering
Image source: Tamil Antinatalism
17 December 2022
This Is What I Do
I no longer teach,
I am extremely retired,
I can pay my bills
career consumed me,
work’s existential purpose
left whimsy no time
now, I write haiku
whenever my muse dangles
a shiny object
observing my mind,
nature’s awesome creation,
writing’s basic tool
my pointless pastime
pacifies my restless soul
—this is what I do
The haikuist at work
16 December 2022
Descendancy
I fathered one child,
she has birthed two more new lives,
when will my line end?
if it continues,
descendants may witness our
planet’s final days
my heirs will suffer
Earth’s certain calamities
through millennia
more mass extinctions
will spawn subspecies of us
—life will find a way
countless known unknowns
await the hapless creatures
I caused to exist
Image source: Science Magazine
15 December 2022
Palimpsest
boats lie at anchor,
palm fronds sway in morning breeze
this present moment
seas will rise and fall,
the landscape I view today
is a palimpsest
asteroids will strike,
ice ages, cataclysms span
geologic time
Earth will vaporize
as swelling sun consumes us
five billion years hence
as species evolve,
today’s far future will be
their present moment
An ordinary Sarasota morning, 29 April 2016
14 December 2022
Paul
his tears spoke volumes
over goulash and salad;
we listened, entranced
tender child of eight
survived Budapest ghetto’s
merciless Nazis
ninety starving Jews
stuffed in freezing two-room flat,
slept while standing up
winter without shoes,
people robbed of their clothing
on the streets at night
lions kill to eat,
but wild beasts are not cruel
—that’s a human thing
Paul at our dinner table
11 December 2022
Unprepared
I was not ready
for first grade and long bus rides,
I’d been “mama’s boy”
puddles on the floor
beneath my school desk displayed
liquid evidence
my grape was not ripe,
needing more time on the vine
to mature further
lingering self-doubt
has lurked in the shadows
behind my success
from this distant peak
I can see more clearly now
my long bumpy road
Woodson Elementary School, Richmond, Missouri, circa 1951
9 December 2022
Yesterchristmas
in the old jeep we
cut a scruffy cedar sprout
from the south pasture
motley ornaments
brought down from stuffy attic,
frayed treetop angel
new caterpillar,
last year’s wore out building roads
under lilac bush
candy canes, Lincoln
Logs, Tinker Toys, paper dolls
—Santa had found us
life’s morning was bright
in our bustling home back then
—we five seemed timeless
In the yard of our home near Knoxville, Missouri, circa 1950
4 December 2022
Happy Holidays
it’s Solstice, earthlings!
winter holidays’ mother
foresees longer days
Christmas, Hanukkah,
Kwanzaa … also Festivus
for the rest of us
in science predawn
ancients tried to make sense by
magical thinking
inventors of faiths,
authors of holy books lived
north of equator
Earth’s axial tilt
from solar orbital plane
is magic enough!
Visiting Stonehenge with my gene pool (2014)
7 December 2022
How to Choose a Spouse
answer four questions,
find your shared lives rewarding,
or a pail of tears:
~ can we be best friends?
mutual respect, liking,
trust in guilelessness
~ does sex work for us?
we are natural creatures
beneath cosmetics
~ are our wants in sync?
lifestyle preferences are
in the same ballpark
~ can we talk it out?
partners’ primary task is
communication
Photo: “An unusual angle,” Montecristi, Ecuador (2016)
This haiku is distilled from a document I wrote in 1994 titled “Compatibility Factors” in my quest for a life-partner. The rest is history.
29 November 2022
An Endless Ocean of Objects
South Dakota’s sky
could not contain the wonder
of this sixth-grade girl
one bleak snowy day
Miss Ronshaugen’s class sparked her
imagination:
what is forever?
what’s beyond those twinkling stars?
what shore could there be?
her school report: “An
Endless Ocean of Objects”
— child’s wonder took flight
life brought her children,
grown-up’s toil, nurse’s duties
— but still, she wonders
The wonderer, circa 1958
28 November 2022
A Quirk of Fate
as a kid, I thought
my life would last forever,
death hid behind Now
grown, in the abstract,
I understood I will die
—a distant specter
now nearing eighty,
as my life’s been mostly lived,
death’s shroud is slipping
my mom, at ninety,
murmured “It went by so fast!”
she died the next day
on cosmic scale, I
accept my existence as
a quirk of fate
Ultra Deep Field by NASA’s Webb Telescope. Most dots are one of the two trillion galaxies in the observable universe, up to 13.2 billion lightyears away in spacetime. Our Milky Way galaxy contains 400 billion stars. Our sun is one ordinary star. Do the math.
28 November 2022
Mashed Potatoes in My Ear
we were good brothers,
did not fight as others did,
you were my hero
but we did battle
over our mom’s fried chicken,
prized above veggies
I grabbed for “my share”
—mashed potatoes in my ear
was my punishment
who now knows the truth?
after countless retellings
and playful debates
a moment of pique
produced decades of laughter
and brotherly love
Family lore has it that Jon stuffed potatoes in my ear because I was unfairly gorging on chicken, eschewing spuds (circa 1952). I plead the Fifth. Photo: With Sis, July 2019
25 November 2022
Statement of Purpose
on our balcony
on Calle Jacaranda
twelve hard years ago
your wailing grief surged
from depths only mothers know
—I would be your rock
rising from within,
my raison d'être came clear
in fifteen plain words:
“My life has no higher purpose
than to contribute to the
quality of your life”
may these words of love
hold you above lashing waves,
steady as a rock
My 15-word Statement of Purpose found voice on the day Susan received news of son Tyghe’s unsurvivable cancer in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, 2010. He died 2015. Photo 2018.
24 November 2022
Recall Is Overrated
many retired friends
fret that they can’t remember
what they just now read
they highlight key points,
they jot notes in the margins
to aid memory
but we’re not in school!
when is the final exam?
who will grade our work?
I do not study,
I read for the fun of it
—that’s purpose enough
let my mind roam free,
recall is overrated,
now is all there is
23 November 2022
I’ve Lost My Balance
“I live on the bridge,
I’m a man of the middle,
not of either shore
I can hear both sides
—on a perfectly clear day
I see myself there”
such was me back when
I taught viewing conflict through
psychology’s lens
but with age I’ve lost
my balance on that fraught span
as the world’s gone mad
we’ve lurched to the Right
where Reason is forsaken,
where Humanism dies
Ringling Bridge from my Sarasota perch, a handy metaphor
My career was in mediation, where all sides deserve equal hearing. I no longer pretend the role of cultural relativist. I’m retired now.
21 November 2022
Around the World in 48 Years
Saigon to Saigon
beaucoup side trips on the way
spaghetti-pile route
a youth-blind soldier
westbound over Pacific
guest of Uncle Sam
eastbound final leg
what’s changed these decades later?
what was left behind?
if life is a trip,
what’s my real destination?
and … am I there yet?
bucket trek’s checked off
that pesky itch has been scratched
I’ll stay home awhile
Seatback route map, 13 April 2015.
I was sent to Vietnam in 1967. Susan and I returned by choice in 2015.
17 November 2022
Ravi Shankar
what’s he doing here?
far from his Srinagar home
rare chance, cheap tickets
did a friend tell me?
or fellow English teacher?
or a hippie pal?
plucking his sitar
rhythmic tabla by his side
stirred savory sounds
masala curry
flavored good Norwegian Wood
infused Woodstock stew
this long-slumbering
memory’s been awakened
by my friend Aroon
I saw Ravi Shankar at Woodstock, August 1969, and again at a concert in Bogotá, Colombia, in 1972. Photo: CNN
15 November 2022
Glidepath
descending apace,
no refueling allowed,
no airport’s ahead
at my window seat
between clouds of denial
I glimpse rising ground
writing haiku is
free inflight entertainment,
a fun distraction
if life is well planned,
remaining time and money
end on the same day
a painless crash, I hope
enjoy what’s left of this trip
‘til the lights go out
Near Washington Dulles Airport
14 November 2022
I Walk Funny
watching from behind,
Susan says I walk funny,
listing to starboard
but she agrees I’m
an upright human being
in most other ways
I got orthotics
as a jogger long ago
—shoe soles do not lie
I’m out of kilter;
left leg’s shorter than the right
by a mere hair’s breadth
I shall limp onward,
cheerily oblivious
to walking funny
Out for a walk in Sarasota’s Bayfront Park
4 November 2022
Who Were You?
my young fingers rub
where yours rubbed so long ago,
reaching back to you
what was your name?
you lived and died before me,
some lifetimes ago
were you a young boy
like me, spending this new coin
to buy special treats?
did you stack your coins,
as I am doing just now,
hefting their weight?
did you think of me,
a boy thinking about you,
in your far future?
My mother was treasurer of our little church in Knoxville, Missouri. I used my weekly $1 allowance to trade for coins from the collection plate each Sunday. These are a few of my boyhood treasures, now passed on to my grandchildren . . . and beyond?
31 October 2022
What Is Gravity?
we’re waiting in line
to see the leaning tower
where science was done
I’m wondering how
my feet press firmly down on
the Earth pushing up
young Galileo’s
hungry mind, too, wondered here:
“What is gravity?”
compared speed of fall
of balls of differing mass
from tower’s same height
is it knowable
only but through metaphor,
like curve of spacetime?
Pisa, Italy (2018)
“What is gravity?” is still unanswered by science.
17 October 2022
As We Are Told
he dropped fiery death
on Japan’s powerless pawns,
as Truman ordered
he showered vile gas
on trainloads of marked scapegoats,
as the Fuhrer wished
he launched cruise missiles
striking hospitals and schools,
as Putin desired
Members cast floor votes
to rescind democracy,
as Trump demanded
whether we believe
our duties serve greater good,
we do as we’re told
Smithsonian Museum, Chantilly, Virginia (2022)
The Enola Gay delivered “Little Boy” to Hiroshima.
16 October 2022
Hear The Other Side
in comfy silos
we hear only our echoes,
muting others’ sides
our firm opinions
rest on facts we choose to hear,
not heard from your side
we do not convict
people we accuse of crimes
‘til we hear their side
when trapped in conflict
there is only one escape:
hear the other’s side
from ancient wisdom:
audi alteram partem*
“hear the other side”
* A Latin phrase originating in Greek drama, a maxim in English law, and a truism in mediation
Image source: meka
August 26, 2022
Mormons
Mormons are nice folks,
sister-missionary pairs
strolling Temple Square
one week in Salt Lake
—no scientific study,
just first impression
every smiling face
tells us “you are welcome here”
—kindness invites trust
courtesy abounds,
even drivers are polite,
no rude honks or shouts
Mormons are nice folks,
like secular humanists,
but with religion
Susan with a pair of sister-missionaries in Temple Square, Salt Lake City
19 May 2022
Why Does Anything Exist?
how come existence?
the ultimate mystery,
yet we're here to ask
something from nothing?
why not just void empty space?
or not even that?
if god, then whence god?
prescience mystics conjured
weird supernature
whence mathematics?
universe without numbers,
with nothing to count?
our sheer existence,
absent reason, may falsely
imply creation
Translation: Could the infinite universe (“all that exists”) have been a null set containing no elements (matter, energy, time, mathematics, even empty space itself)? The religious resort to supernaturalism for answers.
4 April 2022
Staring into the Abyss
once upon a time
we had a chance to change course
but skipped the off-ramp
warm water expands,
ice sheets melt into the sea,
coastal cities flood
half of world’s people,
escaping to higher ground,
crowd their new neighbors
this train cannot stop,
planet’s sixth mass extinction
is well underway
my fellow lemmings,
staring into the abyss,
what can we do now?
Image source unknown
1 March 2022
Lived Experience
I know what it’s like
to grow up a straight white male
in an intact home
but I do not know
the lived experience of
women, Blacks, gay men,
abuse survivors,
refugees, homeless addicts,
pregnant teens, paupers
so, I should not make
decisions about how best
to solve their problems
but, they are humans
who feel feelings, much like mine
—therein lies a clue
Photo source: happymag
30 January 2022
we privileged few
by race, place, parental genes,
accidents of birth
hordes on leaky boats
face fear, hunger, pain, scorn, hell,
unfair privation
think of world’s oppressed,
think of Afghan refugees,
and those left behind
unthinkable grief
beyond our playground’s border
—what can just one do?
at least we can be
kind, generous, meek, grateful
—don’t whine on the yacht
Image source: unsplash
6 January 2022
to the check-out clerk
at your local grocery,
paid minimum wage
to the stressed server
at your favorite café,
who must keep smiling
to the clinic nurse
who’s braving the pandemic,
exhausted as hell
to the poll worker
who makes democracy work,
despite all the risks
with our masks in place
let’s remember to say
“Thank you for working”
Image source: Supermarket News
2 January 2022
Joan Didion
1934 - 2021
of gray California dreams
on storied canvas
like a rainbow trout
gliding ‘neath translucent ice
watching our shoe-soles
like a muscle man
reading Roth on Venice Beach
as tidal wave hits
like a suntanned girl
nursing a Virginia Slim
trying to look cool
all in a language
I wrongly thought I write well
—you take me away
After reading The White Album
Photo credit: New York Times
27 December 2021
forecasting our fate,
worried nation’s conjectures
foretell hopes and fears:
~ hordes flee flooded coasts?
~ civil war haunts our split land?
~ parched cities go dry?
~ seawater is tapped?
~ fossil fuels stay unburned?
~ renewables found?
~ unjust wealth gap bridged?
~ cruel pronatalism reversed?
~ science supplants myth?
~ democracy’s hacked?
~ toxic partisans make us
an ex-republic?
Driftwood Beach, Jekyll Island, Georgia
28 November 2021
Pick Your Holiday
hail, winter solstice!
northern earthlings’ shortest day,
axis’ greatest tilt
let us celebrate
our Neolithic forebears’
Sun God’s next rebirth
or Stonehenge pagans’
Alban Arthan, Korochun
—noble traditions
Hanukkah, Christmas,
Roman Saturnalia’s heirs
suit latter-day tastes
or, let us join hands
around godless Festivus
—be kind and have fun!
Solstice sunset, 12/21/2020, Sarasota
7 November 2021
About me:
I am a retired mediator, psychologist, and educator living with wife Susan Moore Dana in Sarasota, Florida. Born in 1945 on a family farm in Missouri, I served, reluctantly, in the U.S. Army in Vietnam (non-combat) and Panama Canal Zone (1966-1968). Holding a PhD in psychology from University of Missouri (1977), I taught conflict management and mediation from 1978 until retirement. I founded Mediation Training Institute in 1985, acquired by Eckerd College in 2012. I have authored three books on mediation, one on secular humanism, and several volumes of haiku quintets. Five Palms Press, named for my perch overlooking Sarasota Bay, was created to share my poetic handiwork in retirement. I am the father of one and grandfather of two. Drawing on nearly eight decades of life's experiences and misadventures, these haiku quintets may be viewed collectively as an autobiography, of sorts.
Other books—view at dandana.us/fivepalms
Available at Amazon.com and other booksellers
Post-retirement:
· Love, Death, Humanism: Practical Philosophy in Verse
· Diary of a Young Man: 1968-1969: Coming of Age at a Cultural Crossroads
· A Life Mostly Lived: True Stories in 85 Syllables
· Haiku Quintets
· Songs of the Pandemic: World Haiku
· Science and Secularism: Haiku Quintets and Other Musings
· Common Ground: Haiku, Mediation, and Police Reform
· Resisting Trumpism: Haiku Quintets
· The Reason Revolution: Atheism, Secular Humanism, and the Collapse of Religion
Pre-retirement
· Managing Differences: How to Build Better Relationships at Work and Home (MTI Publications), in seven languages
· Conflict Resolution: Mediation Tools for Everyday Worklife (McGraw-Hill), in multiple languages
· Talk It Out: 4 Steps to Managing People Problems in Your Organization (Kogan Page)
Acknowledgements
Even one’s memoir cannot be written alone.
Several friends among Lakewood Ranch Scribes and Humanists of Sarasota Bay have helped—you know who you are. Special nods to Patricia O’Conner, Stewart Kellerman, Claire Matturro, and Arvind Rajan.
Several other friends and family have shared their time and expertise—you know who you are.
And, of course, Susan—my muse in the flesh.