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f/k/a archives . . . real opinions & real haiku

October 25, 2005

a quick haiku break with john and yu (and Edith)

Filed under: pre-06-2006 — David Giacalone @ 3:53 pm

How do you wile away your time in medical waiting rooms?  This

morning, I was lucky enough to remember to bring the newest edition

of Upstate Dim Sum (2005/II), the journal of the Route 9 Haiku Group

here in Upstate New York.   While I work up a hospital-gown senryu

or two, here are a pair each from John Stevenson and Yu Chang for

all of you impatient for your f/k/a haiku fix:

 

 




sting

of the old man’s

fastball

 

 

 

 

at bat neg 

 

 




eightieth birthday

still playing

the numbers

 

 

 







 

 

 

 

 







French Open

a couch potato

pumps his fist

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

evergreens

a long walk

with an old friend

 

 

 

 

 



 

 

afterwords (5 PM):  I just discovered a small cache of tiny poems by

Edith Wharton, thanks to a post at George Wallace’s Fool in the Forest.

George reproduces a half dozen examples “of imagism or semi-haiku,”

that had been published in the January 1920 issue of the Yale

Review. They appear in a brand new American Poet’s Project 

volume of Wharton’s poetry.  Here are two of her short pieces:



    I
    My little dog:
A heart-beat
At my feet.


 . . .


    III  Friendship
The silence of midnight,
A dying fire,
And the best unsaid. . . .



 

p.s. George, Now that you’ve met him, would you say

Martin Grace favors Mr. Spacely or Mr. Slater?

 


 


 





  • by dagosan                                               









first snow this year —

strangers in hospital gowns

talk weather

 

 

 

   [Oct. 25, 2005]







– speaking of old men, betting, psyched fans, etc.,  umpireG

our baseball haiku page is always in season, and

especially during the World Series.

 

5 Comments

  1. Martin is a Professor, and therefore knows whereof he speaks: He is a much closer match for his self-description as “a taller Mr. Spacely” than he is to Mr. Slate, and he has rather more hair — atop his head and on his chin — than either of them.

    As for your continuing obsession over these Flintson/Jetstone issues, all I can advise, in the words of my namesake George Jetson, is: Stop this Crazy Thing!

    Comment by George Wallace — October 25, 2005 @ 6:45 pm

  2. Martin is a Professor, and therefore knows whereof he speaks: He is a much closer match for his self-description as “a taller Mr. Spacely” than he is to Mr. Slate, and he has rather more hair — atop his head and on his chin — than either of them.

    As for your continuing obsession over these Flintson/Jetstone issues, all I can advise, in the words of my namesake George Jetson, is: Stop this Crazy Thing!

    Comment by George Wallace — October 25, 2005 @ 6:45 pm

  3. Geez, George, don’t get all exorcized over this.   I must admit that my memory of what Mr. Slate and Mr. Spacely look like is rather dim — and I only have that one photo of Prof. Grace for comparison.
    Your use of the word “namesake” reminds me how confusingly we use that word.  Is a namesake the person for whom you are named (as the American Heritage Dictionary states), or the person who was named for you?  The OneLook Dictionary “quick definition” says it’s merely a person with the same name as another; and Merriam-Webster gives all three definitions.  The Online Etymology Dictionary says, as the source of “namesake”:  “1646, “person named for the sake of someone” is probably originally (for the) name’s sake.”  Ah, a new tangent for your Humble Editor.

    Comment by David Giacalone — October 25, 2005 @ 8:40 pm

  4. Geez, George, don’t get all exorcized over this.   I must admit that my memory of what Mr. Slate and Mr. Spacely look like is rather dim — and I only have that one photo of Prof. Grace for comparison.
    Your use of the word “namesake” reminds me how confusingly we use that word.  Is a namesake the person for whom you are named (as the American Heritage Dictionary states), or the person who was named for you?  The OneLook Dictionary “quick definition” says it’s merely a person with the same name as another; and Merriam-Webster gives all three definitions.  The Online Etymology Dictionary says, as the source of “namesake”:  “1646, “person named for the sake of someone” is probably originally (for the) name’s sake.”  Ah, a new tangent for your Humble Editor.

    Comment by David Giacalone — October 25, 2005 @ 8:40 pm

  5. I like Mr. Slate, but Mr. Spacely is very more funnie. But, the two bosses are very hilarious! Fred and George are two goofies. :)

    Comment by Sávio Morais Cristofoletti — July 22, 2006 @ 7:49 pm

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