Haiku November

11. HAIKU NOVEMBER

November 1

Dig out of this hole,
Without a shovel or pick,
Get your nails dirty.

November 2

The veil is still thin,
Between the living and dead,
Time for a party.

November 3

Woodwinds are for thoughts,
Strings help to tell the story,
Drums time, brass color.

November 4

Office doors too small,
Like stuck in a concrete pipe,
No fore, no reverse.

November 5

Breakfast with the Boss,
Don’t take more than you can eat,
Keep a happy face.

November 6

Okay, give it up,
Why bother with things so hard,
You prefer soft foods.

 

 

November 7

Tell us the bold truth,
Shock us with reality,
We can take the pain.

November 8

Humidity climbs,
Thick clouds ride up from the gulf,
We wait for cold fronts.

November 9

Stunned by miracles,
Zombie masses wake to life,
Blood courses through brains.

November 10

Round about midnight,
On lawn a doe samples grass,
And nods approval.

November 11

She lost her baby,
Before it came to her world,
But in dreams they meet.

November 12

Lost count of clock time,
Gave away a day for free,
Quite the plutocrat.

November 13

Cold front drops off Plains,
Wind moans through windows northside,
We sleep like fence posts.

November 14

Don’t worry yourself,
They treat me right in prison,
Walls don’t bother me.

 

 

November 15

Ballast in the hold,
Kept the sad freighter afloat,
Till rust ate clean through.

November 16

Chained at the ankles,
Slaves made all the food and drink,
While masters kept watch.

November 17

Time off overdue,
Staring into sunsets red,
Solitude as friend.

November 18

Sniff this live virus,
Snort it back into your head,
Fear not snot nose kids.

November 19

Great bees buzz outside,
No, they are men with blowers,
Devolving past rakes.

November 20

Is it saleable?
Brothel culture aroma?
Then it may have legs.

November 21

No call no letters,
Clouds scudded across the sky,
Something was amiss.

November 22

Break up your schedule,
Astrologer said to me,
So I stayed in bed.

 

 

November 23

First they rob our graves,
Cape Cod rain gave them a cold,
Illness filled their ship.

November 24

Black Friday it’s called,
Turkey sandwiches and gas,
Hit the malls full blast.

November 25

Stuffing news in skull,
A parade of nonsense danced,
Giving us migraines.

November 26

Three days of kindness,
No excuses time to go,
Guests must hit the trail.

November 27

She was always late,
Lost in a maze of mirrors,
But thrilled to see me.

November 28

We wait, no one speaks,
As the days count down on us,
Fourth quarter job blues.

November 29

You got a future?
People looking after you?
Take another glance.

November 30

On the dotted line,
The pirate made his black X,
Seek not the treasure.

Porno-graphy & Literature: Henry Miller Inspired Reflections

Calling Henry Miller as medium…awaken!

If etymology serves without a look up in the old dusty Websters (or a digressive search online), porno-graphy has to do with drawings or pictures of prostitutes (perhaps in action, in the trade, not sure). I think it’s fairly apparent that the relativity of definitions makes some kind of fixed basis for defining pornography rather hopeless, helpless and hapless. Maybe that’s because rules of etiquette are sought, meaning some sort of civility or kindness of intention. A steady benchmark from which precedent and deductive logic can be applied; that seems to give Western, legalistic society fodder for yet another textual industry. But again, intentions are often misread, and aggressiveness in sex for example is sometimes favored, even welcomed. The Greeks celebrated homosexual art and practice and cultivated the love of young boys who often bore the wine and food to the symposia. Arguments were made that homosexual love was the only true expression of friendship as there was no procreative relation in the mix. These are hotly debated and contentious issues today, and the practice of pedophilia acts lands one in jail. Consider the liberality of dress in Rio during Carnival! We know what Philip Roth’s character did with the liver. We’ve read Updike’s sweaty suburban scenes…his first wife commenting after Couples, “I thought I would drown in pubic hair.” Or take Norman Mailer and his fascination with anal sex as the only true empowering sex between men and women! (See the famous scene of his main character buggering the maid after tossing his wife off the condo ledge!)…or return to the steamy days of Henry Miller’s shocking of the American middle classes from his Bohemian taunts from Paris. My uncle hid his copy of Ulysses in the closet…making it that much more interesting to me. Ridiculous! Thank you to Bennet Cerf of Random House for getting the Supremen Court of the US to lift the ban on its import to this low-brow country.
My point is the simple one that relativity of cultures dominates the standards of sexual practice. As a cultural anthropologist, having at least traveled armchair wise, around the globe in many domains of curious culture, nothing surprises me anymore. I think we have to judge these behaviors in the wider, open frame, that all these behaviors however bizarre, are human, all too human. Each society must make its way as it sees fit. I’m not sure there exist universal rules of morality, only contextual interpretations.

Okay, Henry, you can go back to sleep now.

PS. See my own work of flash fiction erotica, DIFFICULT PEOPLE: