Salt Lick barbecue

Vegans, stay away,
lest your firm resolve melt from
tender smoked brisket.

Visiting colleges

Muddy quads, walls bare
of ivy still inspire awe.
Can we get in?

Why I’ve been absent

Haiku, like bonsai,
needs care and pruning. A mind
unfocused kills both.

For whom the bell tolls

From an estate sale –
pendulum clock. Westminster
chimes now count my days.

I’ve lied to you

A haiku a day?
Not quite. Some days the tap runs,
some days it’s bone dry.

Ides of March

‘Beware!’ Caesar was
told. Like teens in horror films
he didn’t listen.

In like a lion, out like a lamb

What’s that mean? That spring’s
a dominatrix, whipping
March ’til it submits?

Last lines

for jem who says, “it’s your last lines that get me everytime.

I’d like to think of
myself as the O. Henry
of the haiku form.

Leap year day

Secretive. Works for
the CIA. Won’t say where
it’s been for four years.

WV Oscar night tradition

They walk the carpet.
We eat takeout Chinese and
scream for our favorites.