Once upon a time
There was a girl called Karen
She liked to party
Haiku Short Story
Author: Ian Hunter
I retired from the energy business in 2014 and started writing poetry. At first I shared my writing with family and friends. Then I set myself a challenge to write a poem every day for a year. After meeting that goal I just kept going and started this blog in 2021. I hope you enjoy reading my poems. Remember happiness is just a state of mind and poetry is great nourishment.
The ballerinas exit stage left
the marsh is wearing its spring green colors
early morning sunlight falls on the bay
shimmering ripples explode in unison
flickering over the surface in the cool breeze
millions of tiny ballerinas enter stage left
all clad in silver to reflect the sunlight
dancing over the water for the sheer joy
of being alive on this beautiful spring day
its an amazing spectacle
the marsh is mesmerized
a passing cloud rudely interrupts the dance
the ballerinas exit stage left
marsh dwellers whisper in unison
encore encore encore
the sun brushes the cloud aside
the ballerinas enter stage left
magical dancing continues until the sun gets up high
the ballerinas exit stage left
silent applause erupts over the marsh
bravo bravo bravo
we all patiently await tomorrow’s performance
Er
Forever ruler
Accomplished fooler
Pathetic tooler
Forever crueler
Standing stooler
Pathetic pooler
Somatic smooler
Samalic drooler
demonistic disemboweler
Drunken pooler
Googalistic doer
Fabulastic booler
Nabulistick brewer
Wordalistic doer
Twisting screwer
Ballistic mooer
Mystic construer
Religious doer
Deniably bluer
irresistibly erer
er er er er erer
No more ice skating
It was a small mistake
His partner an accomplice
He could have fixed it
Chose to ignore it
Time rolled on
Partnership ended
Mistake compounded
No longer a small fix
Mistake frozen solid over time
Cloud hanging over him
Hoping it would go unnoticed
More time passed
Mistake back to haunt him
In a way he never imagined
Ex partner blackmailing
Now skating on thin ice
Offered a difficult choice
Do nothing and be exposed
Pay ransom and be compromised
It was an agonizing choice
He rejected them both
Opted to confess
Pay penalties for mistake
He bit the bullet
New partner supportive
Medicine tasted sour
He took it well
Long recovery
Mistake finally resolved
Ex partner big loser
He moved forward
No cloud hanging over him
Ice of his mistake finally melted
Forming a beautiful lake
He built a boat
Sailed away on lake
With new partner
Bright future
No more ice skating
Thanks to the turkey vultures
I stood on my balcony waiting for sunrise
A huge group of turkey vultures were soaring nearby
There must have been more than a hundred
The sky was almost back with them
Huge birds with a six foot wingspan
Playing in the early morning thermals
Taking spiral rides upwards
Breaking off to dive down again
Enjoying the invisible fairground rides
Swooping between buildings
Some came really close to my balcony
So close that we made eye contact
I wondered if they were checking me out
As a potential food source
I waved to them in defiance
Sorry guys I am not dead yet
The message spread fast and they moved on
Soon the skies were clear again
How odd that it took a bunch of vultures
To remind me that I am still alive and well
Not that I had forgotten about my existence
Its just that I had not been thinking about it recently
Those birds did me a huge favor today
I will cherish every moment that passes
My senses will be super sharp all day
Sunrise came and the clouds lit up bright pink
The colors seemed much more vibrant than usual
The flavors in my breakfast shake were divine
I can feel the energy flowing through my veins
Time to pump up the tires for a long bike ride
Its going to be one of those banner days
Thanks to the turkey vultures
Dancing with the parking ticket devil
(Inspired by and dedicated to Robin and Susan Shelley)
My car is my friend
He takes me to any place I want to go
He never complains
As long as I feed him fuel
And service him occasionally
He sleeps at my home most nights
Safe and sound
But sometimes we take risks
Parking in places where we have to pay
When we go to dinner or to an event
The clock is then ticking loudly in my mind
Making it hard to enjoy myself
Knowing that my rented parking time is running out
I never want to waste my parking fee
So I try to get back to the car just before it expires
When I get back a little late
The thrill of going over time
Is reward by the lack of a parking ticket
We all like to dodge a bullet
It does not always work out that way
As I frantically run back to my car
Believing that all will be fine
I can see from a distance
Something is not right
The dreaded ticket is sitting there on my windshield
Held in place by my wipers
They are supposed to protect me by cleaning away rain
But today they are guarding a parking ticket
What traitors
I run out of expletives when I read it
The fine is many times more than the parking fee
With serious penalties if I do not pay
I pay the fine and decide I will never to do so ever again
Vowing to forever overload my parking prepayment
To be sure I never get another ticket
It works out fine
For a while
Then I slip back into my just-in-time parking fee mode
Dancing with the parking ticket devil
Most times I win that dance with glee
Doing a jig next to my car whenever it works out
Until the devil has his way
He dances when I pay the parking ticket fine
Seeing how the other half live
She switched on the vacuum robot
Then left the house for the day
The robot glided over the floor
While sweeping and suctioning
He sped towards the dining area
Bumping into a dining chair
Watch were you are going yelled the chair
The robot ignored the protests and kept sweeping under the table
Banging into every leg of the table and the chairs
He wandered off into the kitchen and kept bumping into the dishwasher
Back off yelled the dishwasher
The robot ignored all complaints
As he terrorized everything in the house
The sofa called a house meeting
All the other furniture huddled round
The appliances listened in
They all agreed that the delinquent robot had to go
They devised a plan
The carpet threw out a loose thread from a seam
Like a fisherman laying a line
The robot ran over the thread which quickly jammed his rollers
The robot was stuck on the edge of the carpet
Coughing and spluttering to try and dislodge the swallowed thread
The chair ran over and kicked the stalled robot in the back
He shot across the room and crashed into a wall
The stool ran over and flipped the robot onto his back
The trash can spilled his contents all around the robot.
His wheels kept spinning until he ran out of battery
The owners returned a while later
They were shocked to find dents in the walls and trash everywhere
They blamed the robot
He was unplugged and put in a box
That night the sofa called a house meeting
Good job everybody and hopefully they will bring back the maid
She was much more fun to hang with said the TV
The robot sat in his box fuming
The maid showed up the next day when the owners were out
She thanked all the furniture and appliances
Then she put the box with the robot out with the trash
She made herself a stiff drink and turned on the TV
What would you like to watch she asked then couch
Lets see HGTV please he answered
I like to see how the other half live said the chair
Cheeky Monkey Mischief
The sun came up today but Cheeky Monkey sent the poem out the bright sun yesterday
Enjoy the sun
enjoy the poem
stay cheeky
Bright sun
Bright sun
No shade
Searing heat
No relief
Clear skies
No breeze
Humid air
No escape
Burning skin
No hydration
Heat exhaustion
No hope
Heat stroke
No sweating
Failing fast
No breathing
Lost consciousness
No life
Bright sun
No tomorrow
Becalmed
The lone sailor
Round the world voyage
Becalmed in the Pacific Ocean
Away from all shipping lanes
Far from any land
No wind in his sails
Drifting aimlessly
The days became endless
Fishing for fresh food
Cooking for one
Talking to himself over dinner
Praying for some wind
He became depressed
Uncertain of his future
Late in the afternoon
Spotted a small craft
Decided to run the engine
In order to make contact
Tied up alongside
A small sailing boat
Nobody aboard
He was worried
Did the sailor fall overboard
Then he heard a splash
A woman was surfacing
She had been diving with a spear gun
Roped to the boat for safety
She threw a large fish onto the deck
Before climbing onto the stern
She was very attractive
Smiled at him and said
I saw you approaching
So I decided to catch us dinner
Will you join me she said smiling
Of course he responded
They spent hours talking
Found they had so much in common
Decided to complete their voyages side by side
Rafting together daily
They fell in love
He combined their two journals
Wrote a book about their adventures
Emailed it to his agent
Received a huge advance from a publisher
They gave up solo voyaging
Sold their small boats
Bought a larger boat for them both to live on
No more lone sailing
Book was a best seller
Married at sea
The wind blew every day
Cheeky Monkey Poetry 