marlene mountain
one-line linked haiku
1999

marlene mountain    michelle v lohnes

around a tree

rescuer: baby curled around a tree her little face in the mud
grass stained knees weeding done for today
company coming no idea how a clean-up begins in such crone digs
the antique store closes door chimes echo behind me
in a wrinkled shirt with a couple of buttons the new bamboo
waffle cone drips from double scoop of chocolate swirl

gold candy wrapper tangled amid the hotel's dirty sheets
the thousands on borders who live in tents if 'lucky'
last log on the bonfire sharing ghost stories and a tin cup
kids with several mothers fathers grandparents and halves
each segment of grapefruit topped with sugar and puckered lips
her voice harsher as she cuts back on prozac
we walk in bitter wind his football shoulders blocking for me
run-down both my squeaky pickup and its owner
the middle stair always announces comings and goings
just that a fleeting idea for a painting series
monarch butterfly brief quiver over unplayed piano keys
transplanted may apple semi-guilt

what i wanted yesterday all i can find in today's rummagings
folding his baby clothes packed box for the needy
every detail exploited for ratings 'wounded student update'
final report card summer begins with sigh of relief
indifference to an editor's yes/no the poem already written
after the ink dries fresh frame of mind
the pond rain-clean a warm-bodied timidity keeps me on edge
fourth grade outing empty juice box filled with polliwogs
hey 'potatoe' guy do your family values thing in a spelling bee
pressed between pages with zap and zebu a red maple leaf
i forget this is the information age forget to search the web
mid sentence to realize beginning is lost

rusty hinges brown streaks flow down the door jamb
old story dumb dumber dumbest running the world
distorting history with humour artist rendition in caricature
nature just nature vs competition as -ologies preach
east coast rocks tar forms a jagged profile of an elder
the heat clothes huddled on the washer drying