After the recent outburst of poetry, I thought I would offer my
Rehabilitation Haika. It is a work in progress (what rehab project
isn't?); it sits on the computer at home, and a verse will be added from
time to time. Something will happen to spur a memory or a mood will be
moved, or whatever. Anyway, here's where it stands; who know what it
will become. About the only thing fixed about it is the hokku.

REHABILITATION HAIKA

Money, supplies, sweat,
Twenty seasons slowly change--
House becomes the home.

Stroller roller fun
Wizened woman squints on porch:
Waves and smiles exchanged.

Strobing red lights stop;
Neighbors shiver, van leaves slow
Only lonely porch.

Letter phone call hi
Nephew worries; promise made:
Honor memory.

Champagne and wicker
Toddler rambles all about;
Picnic on the lawn.

Torch cuts metal stair
Termite hotel wobble wall--
Nobody is hurt.

Brick veneer must go:
Smote chisel cleaves the mortar
Buzzing wasp annoys.

Crimson leaf drifts by--
Wire cutter snips the nail head
Asbestos sheet slips.

Shovels slice the earth
Cold rain sludges the footing:
Concrete is delayed.

Shovels scrape footing
Rain scrape rain water freezes:
Footing scraped again.

Icy rain fills hole
Drudgery sludgery gone:
Sunshine dries the soil.

Hole swallows concrete
Low sun brightens smiling face--
Mason happy man.

Chilly brick goes up--
Mighty footing won't go down
Plaster will not crack.

Sitting and thinking
Eiffel Tower far away;
Bathroom floor is hexed.

Torch softens putty;
Frozen glass warms and stretches
Crack races zig zag.

Trencher cuts for pipe
Spring rains surprise pipe install:
Muddy shoes tamp soil

Pollen settles down--
painters scrape sand tack wipe roof
Forest green blanket.

Wizened brother stops:
Wheezing slowly looks around
Honored memory.

--
To terminate puerile preservation prattling among pals and the
uncoffee-ed, or to change your settings, go to:
<http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/bullamanka-pinheads.html>