Thanksgiving

Senryu

wire-frame Santa
lighting up someone's yard
on Thanksgiving night
~
Halloween treat
for Thanksgiving dinner:
jack-o'-lantern pie
~
Thanksgiving Friday
sinks and countertop littered
with dirty dishes
~
the 19-year-old
finally graduating
to adult's table
~
only serious
cooking I've done all year
on Thanksgiving
~
c lovepat press 2009

In response to Dot Hatfield's latest blog entry

FOR ME?

The pickup's tires
scrunched
on the gravel
driveway.
He pulled
the dull metal
frame,
sparse as a skeleton,
from the truck bed
bouncing the tiny tires.

Sans rubber
hand and pedal grips,
worn dry and brittle
till they fell off,
the way retreads
split off semis,
still
it was beautiful.

Dared I hope?
'Oh, daddy,
thank you!'
I jumped on his neck.
It would be
the last time
I ever kissed him.

c 10/18/97 lovepat press

Haiku for mid-November

Nov 9

scored high in listening
now the child hears monsters
under his bed
~
even the stamps match
the burnt orange cover
of the fall issue

Nov 10

the first frost
home-run ball lost in the weeds
now visible
~
first frost
the coarse-weave blanket
holding my warmth
~
the delicate peach
a girl child in the family
after fifty years

Nov 11

visit to vets' home
the child asking
"Where are the snacks?"
~
crisp autumn winds~
praise all veterans who fought
for our liberty
~
the little girl
and her doll
among the veterans
~
from November Nuggets (2003), at the sound of geese (2006), before the frost (2005), c by Pat Laster