Syllable Soliloquies

Reading Time: < 1 minute

I have enjoyEd documenting the occasional moment or observation in the form of Haiku.

Haikus are poems that follow a strict, concise three-line format. They appear simple on the surface, but there is always a challenge to capture the essence of something in 17 syllables. No more, no less.

I’ve brought here the ones I published on Twitter over the years, and hope to return to the practice.

On my 47th birthday:

 The day of my birth
As old as I’ve ever been
A number only.
(07/05/2024)

Haikus make you count
Each and every syllable
One, two, three, four, five

(25/08/2011)
Taking her for wees
She takes minutes or seconds
Depending on rain.
(02/12/2019)
A tiny kitten
She prances so joyfully
Sadly on a road.
(27/09/2013)

Watching a cat pee,
I realise I meditate
So very poorly.

(23/08/2018)
Cold and wet with fog
Two pidgeons enjoy cover
A black cat observes.
(08/02/2018)

Eucalyptus tree
A rare treat here in Dubai
Squeezed leaves smell like home.

(12/10/2018, may have inspired my return to Australia)
Computer keyboard
An ant is walking
Next stop "Esc" key.
(05/11/2015)
A man got married
Got divorced, met a new girl
More trouble ahead
(03/02/2012, I picked it - a former colleague’s unfortunate fate)

Destroyed someone’s home.
Disabled a hunter’s trap.
Goodbye spiderweb.

(31/01/2020)
A troop of kangaroos
They reveal themselves to me
Hopping in tall wheat.
(29/11/2019, I was the only commuter watching this spectacle on a busy regional train into Melbourne)

Sleeping on a train,
Argument lost by old man.
I’m happy to stand.

(17/01/2023, content that I gave my seat to another passenger – who was clearly very tired)

A long day

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Marvelling at the Sun’s beauty again, I realise, my commute extended from dawn til dusk.

With a 7am departure, a peaking sliver of pink peach rose to my right. Along the journey, a tall sky inhaled it up to a full circle of orange.

My 8pm return, the same peach – once more on my right – descending and nestling into slumber.

13 hours have passed, and I’m satisfied. I have done all I could for this day.

Information poetry

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I never thought a poem would appeal to me as an information architect. I thought this unknown fuzzy discipline is buried too heavily in business data and technology to enjoy something designed for pleasure purposes alone. Never in my wildest dreams did I think the information domain would be so clearly understood by someone other than an information manager, let alone a children’s author.

Michael Rosen changed this though. Myles had to watch his performance of We’re Going On A Bear hunt as part of his home work. My curiosity took me to his web site where I found a fantastic bit of prose, called

Words Are Ours:

In the beginning was the word
and the word is ours:
the names of places,
the names of flowers,
the names of names,
words are ours.
Page-turners
for early-learners
How to boil an egg
or mend a leg
Words are ours
Wall-charts
Love hearts
Sports reports
Short retorts
Jam-jar labels
Timetables
Words are ours
Following the instructions
for furniture constructions
Ancient mythologies
Online anthologies
Who she wrote for
Who to vote for
Joke collections
Results of elections
Words are ours
The tale’s got you gripped
Have you learned your script?
The method of an Experiment
Ingredients for merriment
W8n 4ur txt
Re: whts nxt
Print media
Wikipedia
Words are ours
Sub-titles on TV
Details on your cv
Book of great speeches
Guide to the best beaches
Looking for chapters
on velociraptors
Words are ours
The mystery of history
The history of mystery
The views of news
The news of views
Words to explain
the words for pain.
doing geography
Autobiography
What to do in pay-phones
Goodbyes on gravestones
Words are ours.
Source: http://www.michaelrosen.co.uk/poems_wordsareours.html, accessed 20 October 2010