Haiku 15
April 15, 2025
Heavy with hurry
Rush hour on the river
Rowers catch and stroke
Haiku 15 — April 15, 2025
Haiku 14 — April 14, 2025
The news is overwhelming today. It is so hard to believe that so many people — so many people with power and privilege — are unwilling to speak up for what’s right.
Haiku 14
April 14
Shadows build a fence,
revealing what’s in the way —
An absence of light
Haiku 13 — April 13, 2025
An attack on libraries is an attack on free, unfettered access to information, an attack on literacy and lifelong learning, an attack on personal and community vitality, an attack on democracy, an attack on art, an attack on truth, an attack on human joy and connection.
It is bad enough that we (in the U.S.) saw more than 10,000 books banned during the 2023-24 school year, and that the federal government is dismantling the Institute of Museum and Library Services. Tomorrow, the Texas House of Representatives State Affairs Committee will debate HB3225, a mind-boggling piece of legislation that cracks down on access to (and the content within) public libraries.
In wild overreach, HB3225 fails to clearly define ‘sexually explicit,’ fails to differentiate between 3 and 13 and 16 year olds, and fails to offer parents an opt in or opt out option. HB3225 would force public libraries to surveill their entire collections and keep young people out of whole sections of every library in the state.
I remember when my girls got their library cards, and how proud they were, carrying the tall, wobbly stacks of books that they’d sound out, share, re-read and fall in love with. Those cards — those books — are part of the people they’ve become. Each generation of kids deserves that same head start, that same empowerment, that same thrill.
Haiku 13
April 13, 2025
The doors wide open,
stacks alive and generous:
we all belong here
Haiku 12 — April 12, 2025
Haiku 12
April 12, 2025
Leather coat, pink throat,
aggressive gym bro push-ups?
He’s a real stand-out!
Haiku 10 — April 10, 2025
Well, y’all, I am beside myself. An owl arrived in our owl box today! We’ve had a box for five or six years, and this is our third owl; in other words, the odds are good but not at all guaranteed.
These are brave and curious little Eastern Screech-Owls. They look like tree bark, only cuter (sorry, trees) and they’re out surveying the place at daybreak and dusk. When the sun’s high, they sleep inside the box, and when it’s nearly dark, they take off, looking for love.
Here’s how I know Owl 3.0 arrived just today: I never (and I mean never, not even during owl off-season) get out of my car without looking up at the box. Just in case. And this evening, I pulled into the driveway, opened my door, swung my left leg out and looked up. Behold!!
Haiku 10
April 10, 2025
He’s waiting, alert
like the flag on a mailbox
I feign nonchalance
Haiku 9 — April 9, 2025
I love games, from dominoes to cards to Pictionary. When we were kids, my cousins and I spent a zillion summer hours playing Kick-the-Can, Sardines, Spoons and — my ultimate favorite — Hearts. I remember a particular vacation with my in-laws completely dominated by an intensely competitive Spite-and-Malice bracket. And even now, my husband and I almost always keep up a running gin tournament while traveling.
I’m not saying I’m a professional or anything, but I’ve had practice and I like to think that I usually get the rules and the strategies and… the point. Well, y’all? Last night, I began the process of learning Mahjong, and I Am Humbled. The sweet, patient woman teaching us kept saying things like, “It’s ok if you don’t understand this yet” and … um… thank you!
Still, by the end of the night I could imagine how a person might get good and hooked. Not saying that I am or will be, but the beauty of the tiles, the movement around the table, the building of a perfectly prescribed line? Definitely worth another night of it, at least.
Haiku 9
April 9, 2025
Tiles clack like birds
wing-to-wing along a wall
singing krak, dot, bam
Haiku 8 — April 8, 2025
A year or so ago, my pal Marla started sharing the sweetest, brightest #minibouquets in her Instagram stories.
They struck a chord. Other people started sharing theirs and tagging her. (Including me.) But then an election happened. And winter came. Hurricanes and fires. Book bans, logging on public lands, measles outbreaks, deportations, tariffs. Overwhelm is understandable.
And yet… And still…
Spring.
Haiku 8
April 8, 2025
Pistils, petals, stems
Darlings at the dance dip, curtsy
And say yes again
Haiku 7 — April 7, 2025
Before I say what I’m going to say: Yes, I know that wild turkeys live in central Texas. I have google. But y’all? I have never seen one here. And more importantly, I’ve never seen one marching around my house into my own backyard. But today I did.
This is what qualifies as a high point in my book. I was going to say “these days,” but honestly, seeing a wild turkey, curious but nonchalant, making her way into my backyard to see what’s what is just good news full stop. Don’t you think?
P.S. I don’t want to get all woo woo conspiracy theory here, but I don’t think it’s out of the realm of possibility that she arrived with the specific intention of being featured in an April haiku.
Haiku 7
April 7, 2025
I track her, agog
Turkey in her high pink boots
Like she owns the place
Haiku 6 — April 6, 2025
44 degrees may not sound chilly to you, but in Austin, in April, it is indeed chilly. It’s a welcome chill, the last chance we’ve got to wear jeans and a sweater, to wrap hands around mugs, and make a giant pot of soup.
Summer’s coming. But for now? This.
Haiku 6
April 6, 2025
Unseasonable
Morning glories stay wrapped tight
Our blanket is wool
Haiku 5 — April 5, 2025
This morning, my friend Lara and I went bird watching with the good folks from the Travis County Audubon Society. The first bird we saw (um, make that heard) was a red-shouldered hawk, with its insistent, shrieking call.
This afternoon, I joined thousands of my friends up at the Texas State Capital. We carried signs and kicked up a fuss and made our presence known as best and beautifully as we could.
Haiku 5
April 5, 2025
Like red shouldered hawks
We cry out, sound the alarm
Claim territory
