Saturday, November 29, 2008

Friday, November 28, 2008

Post Thanksgiving Blessing

I cooked my turkey,
Stuffing and cranberry sauce
-lord, let me survive!

Copyright 2008

Thursday, November 27, 2008

Happy Thanksgiving!

Raindrops dripping down
From tree branches to puddles
-rings ripple outward.

Copyright 2008

Aunt Kristen
By Edward S. Gault

According to the family lore,
Aunt Kristen (six years my senior) announced
At the Thanksgiving table
That she didn’t like raisins.
I immediately stated that I too
Hated raisins.
Now Aunt Kristen did like raisins-
She simply wasn’t in the mood
For them at that time.
Up to that time,
I had liked raisins quite a bit.
But being the impressionable young lad
I then was, her statement
And my reiteration of it
Must have taken hold in my mind
Even at the neurological level.
From that time onward
I have never enjoyed raisins.
All these years later,
As the bills come each month
And pile up the way they do-
Far outstripping my ability
To pay any of them-
I wonder why Aunt Kristen
Could not simply have announced
At the Thanksgiving table
That she was going to be a millionaire
By the age of twenty.

Copyright©2008


Holiday Food
By Edward S. Gault

Holiday leftovers are a tricky business
I can never get away
With raiding the fridge at night.
So I have to wait
For all the others to leave
Before I can begin
To rustle in the fridge
To get at the Turkey.
Here is the tricky part-
How to eat just enough
So that nobody knows
That anything was ever taken out.
When supper is being prepared,
There is just enough.
Factor in that everyone in the house
Is going to be doing this
-Picking, then leaving just enough.
We had all done such a superb job of this
That when my wife pulled out the container a week later
It was still three quarters full.
The question was:
Could we still eat it?
It didn’t seem too bad-
But as I was retching over the sink
I began to pine for a coffin.

Copyright©2007



Wednesday, November 26, 2008

A Morning Matinee?

In early morning,
Movie with roll and coffee
-then train to real world.

Copyright 2008

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Time Travel

Walking Hillis Road,
After twenty years, ghosts drift
-yesterdays lifetime.

Copyright 2008

Monday, November 24, 2008

Sunday, November 23, 2008

Childhood Remembered

Little chef makes pies,
Patiently sitting and stirs
-water, sticks, and rocks.

Cassie pours herself tea,
She painted the cup herself
-"papa, want some tea?"

Copyright 2008

Ricky and Melanie
By Edward S.Gault

Each morning I watched the way
Ricky’s mother brought him out to the bus.
She held his arm as he slowly
Descended the stairs, and walked in a sort of limp.
He wore a bike helmet in case he should fall.
He wore thick glasses and a hearing aid.
He couldn’t speak.
When they got him on the bus
He would sit by the window
Of the first seat with Melanie.
It was a long ride,
So the two had a lot of time
To get to know each other.
Through reading lips or hand gestures,
Melanie came to understand him.
Over the course of the year
She sat next to him, mastering his language
-discovering who he was.
One day his mother came out of the house
And down to the bus-alone.
She told the driver Ricky was in the hospital
For a little while.
From then on Melanie sat alone in the front seat
Looking out the window on the long ride
To and from school each day.
Until one morning his mother came out again,
Said something to the driver.
Melanie began to cry,
And we understood
That we would not be seeing Ricky again.

Copyright ©2007

One Single Impression: Childhood Memories

Saturday, November 22, 2008

Friday, November 21, 2008

Murphy's Haiku #46

Waited for an hour,
Made two calls on the cell phone!
-wrong rendezvous point.

Copyright 2008

Thursday, November 20, 2008

Happy Hour?

Cafe patrons debate,
Shouting and interupting
-next: the jugular.

Copyright 2oo8

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Monday, November 17, 2008

Hope's Wings

The Dream yet so near,
And such a little window
-O to just fly through!

Copyright 2008

Sunday, November 16, 2008

Many Sides Of Courage

Flying over fires,
Spraying long streams of water
-going back again.

Entering the room,
Facing his parents on couch
-mom and dad, I'm gay.

Her best friends gathered,
Shooting up heroin and crack
-scared, she turned and left.

War Games
By Edward S. Gault

Mike had a complete arsenal in his room.
He had all kinds of machine guns,
Grenades,
xxxxxxxRifles,
xxxxxxxxxxxPistols,
And even a bazooka.
He had a camouflaged outfit,
And a green beret
That allowed him to be the Colonel
Just about all the time.
Whenever we re-enacted
The previous episode of
Combat.
He brought his stockpile to his front yard.
We would select our weapons of choice,
Then we would go through the whole battle,
Just as we had seen it on TV.
One night Mark wanted to be the Colonel.
Todd was Captain.
Mark was usually Sear gent.
I was either a Private or a Corporal at best
(When they let me play at all).
But that night Mark wanted to be the Colonel.
Mike explained all the reasons why
Mark couldn’t be the Colonel.
He owned the uniform; it wouldn’t fit him any way.
He owned all the guns.
He was a natural leader of men.
Mark said it wasn’t fair.
Mike called Mark a faggot
Then punched him in the stomach
-real hard.
Mark crumpled to the ground crying.
I could see the tears roll down his face.
I had never seen Mark cry before.
He was tough.
He would have made a good Colonel.
We didn’t have the battle that night.
As I walked home that night,
I knew I had seen war.


Copyright 2008

One Single Impression: Courage

Saturday, November 15, 2008

Going Out In Style

As leaves fall from trees,
Rain plasters them to sidewalk
-leaf collage carpet.

Copyright 2008

Friday, November 14, 2008

Thursday, November 13, 2008

Boxed In?

I am in a box,
The box keeps getting smaller
-unless I push out.

Copyright 2008

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Driving On Empty?

I travelled highway,
Passing by many exits
-where would they have lead?


Copyright 2008

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

In Honor Of Veterans

They fought in our wars,
For country and liberty
-now, Kingdom of Peace.

Copyright 2008

Monday, November 10, 2008

Sunday, November 9, 2008

Orthodoxes And Paradoxes!

Riverway Street Parallels
Photography: Edward S. Gault

Even though this verse
Has seventeen syllables
-it is not haiku.
x
I wrote half tanka
Then wrote one half the next part
Followed by next half
And continued in this way
Until I got to the en
x
Her smile was friendly,
She looked directly through me
-speaking policy.

In Congress many years,
On the ticket of Values
-feds arrested him.

Wearing a ski mask,
He killed in the name of God
-in hopes of heaven.

Copyright 2008

Saturday, November 8, 2008

Doing Time

Time goes on and on,
And all I need to do now
-finish the moment.

Copyright 2008

Friday, November 7, 2008

Another Way To Vote

Foaming at the mouth,
Radio demagogue rants
-this time, we turned dial.


Copyright 2008

Thursday, November 6, 2008

We Did It!!

From the slave galleys,
To cotton fields and Jim Crow
-to Oval Office.

Copyright 2008

Congratulations to Barrack Obama,
To the Democratic Party,
And to the Citizens of the United States!

Wednesday, November 5, 2008

No Virginia, It's Not Santa!

The horseman Plague rides,
Dispensing colds and fevers
-gifts of the season.

Copyright 2008

Tuesday, November 4, 2008

Just Vote!

I closed the curtain,
Switches down, pulled the lever
-thought of my daughter.

Copyright 2008

Monday, November 3, 2008

Counting Blessings

When she comes to me
And ask me to play with her
My answer is yes!
-even if I don't have time,
She may not always be here.

Copyright 2008

Sunday, November 2, 2008

On Things Not Being What They Seem

A city of wealth,
They built tall glass skyscrapers
And many facades;
So that when people passed by,
They wouldn't see the poor there.

Beggar approached me,
He asked for help, I gave alms
-he was an angel.


Trick or Treat she said,
Dressed as a wicked witch
-so innocent though.


Copyright 2008

One Single Impression: Disguise




Saturday, November 1, 2008

Farewell Autumn Colors

Yellow leaves resist death,
Clinging to branches, then fall
-early November.

Copyright 2008