haiku | abikat

< haiku

tell me how is one

"illegal" when existing

on stolen land

take care of yourselves

a sick populous cannot

resist tyranny

I do not forgive

myself nearly enough for

feeling so human

I used to rush like

rapids, or stagnate like ponds

now I want to flow

somehow I am filled

with anticipation of

something good to come

though justly angry

I know not where or at whom

to channel my ire

you're allowed to change

your mind, or to change it back,

float like a lotus

can't you understand

collective liberation

would include you too

we will have to scrape

our power from the old guard's

cold decaying fists

simply need to sink

these knuckles into earth dust

teeth into pie crust

this home is crawling

with ants and spiders and bees

does that make me queen

we slow down time as

it races us forth, with a

gentle alchemy

my body belongs

to the state, to men who would

see it torn apart

I want to give you

a bear hug and let you know

it will be okay

each thought slithers by

I blow kisses as they go

await right action

I grow weary of

men who fear their own feelings

they hold us all back

My Sunday smells like

coffee, jam, bacon grease, and

hugs from friends last night.

I know you hunger

for connection just like me

may we feast as one

'Welcome, Fool’s Spring, from

those of us with sullen hearts

faint whispers will do

The veil is thinner,

and so is the air which fills

the spaces between us

I’m only impressed

now by cis men when they are

gender affirming

My nails grow out fast

and I’m always so surprised

how they deep can cut

Every glacier has

bubbles filled with ancient air;

our past is melting.

I noticed men don’t

say I should smile more when I’m

wearing a face mask

Our history was

written by victors of wars

of power-over

I know not the names

of every leaf, pod, sprout—yet

they each speak to me.

Soft kiss of sunlight,

wink of spring air, I took her

flirting for granted.

All new things scare me

until the moment I am

thankful they happened.

We’re all flawed beings

dancing on a rock in space

to diverse rhythms.

Is this how time works?

It keeps going and we grow

Older and older?

We humans create

the delusions. Nature is

an impartial sage.

Invite your demons

to share a pumpkin latte

then to fuck right off.

To be like the birds:

greeting sunrise with joy and

daring arias.

Hello, tiny worm.

How graceful your float, down that

invisible string.

Brooding with a beer —

new modus operandi

— judging the maskless

Chose naivety,

and naively believed I

even chose to choose

Oh, how might I have

deserved a kiss on the feet

by a butterfly?

Apocalypse. Greek:

uncover, to peel away,

show what’s underneath.

To have; not to have,

an existential crisis:

that is the question.

Fury. It's okay.

Kick some dirt, scream at the sky.

Inhale. Make good art.

Murmurs of sweet joy

In celebration of spring,

sing grass covered cats

My old shoes possess

magic; for the invoke the

sister suffragettes.

Dark clouds, teasing rain
A playful film scene is Le-noir
Spring, the femme fatale

Dawn again broken,

The fauna and flora sing:

Be, rather than seem.

My neighbor's roses

Have petals to wish upon

From seeds sown with love

Cardinal, my love,

There's no way through my window,

No wings on my back.

Cardinal, would you,

Care if we switched for a day?

Made you a Facebook.

New three-hole puncher

Your magical paper dots:

Moons across my floor

Just a reminder:
your worth is a garden, you
alone may water.

Flowers remind us:

life is short and death is swift.

Nature is your guide.

In January

the first words of the year are

ones of reformed hope.

our joy is power

it can't be commodified

let us cultivate

abusers create

problems that only they have

the solutions for

why the hell do I

wait til Halloween to eat

candy for breakfast

you have fearful thoughts,

I have them too. Divine, our

commiserations.

in bittersweet awe

I behold the sensations

of being alive

may hibernation

bring revelations anew

and will to see through

I'm at peace when I

don't take it personally

even if it is

my body recalls

last spring equinox, like a

seed does a maelstrom

oppressors erase

history in order to

colonize once more

my anger, my joy,

my voice nests in this single,

defiant vessel

I refuse to be

cynical, yet hope can be

infuriating

rage can fuel passion

and a will to envision

more beautiful worlds

hungry for silence

I shall coat myself in mud

and sit still as stone

to new beginnings

and being kind to yourself

and funky ass beats

despair and delight

embrace hands like yin and yang

in death and rebirth

Oh, what joy it is

to make a new friend; on one

gets me like you do

Who among us has

not committed thirty four

counts of felony

may you do something

anti-fascist today, and

bring a friend or two

my mind lies in wait

for signs of doom; my body

writhes with reckless hope

Whether or not you

pay heed to politics

they touch those you love

My coven of cats

beckon me bathe in moonlight

hiss at whom I please

my resolution:

to resist acting out of

pure obligation

may all our troubles

be like dew on insect wings:

silver and fleeting

yet somehow the seeds

find a way to sprout and bloom

once more, by and by

Clouds move so slowly

for me but so rapidly

for the course of time.

When someone asks what

my hobby is, I reply,

“mulling things over.”

I like people who

Take young folks seriously

See hope in future

Creative block aid,

you pale liquid antidote,

repattern my thoughts.

Shift of winds, dawn light

breaking, as wolves recoil to

their caves licking wounds.

Good morning moon head,

contemplating our two worlds

the inside and out.

May we continue

to sweep our problems under

American rugs.

To let go of fear:

simply complex. A river

giving to the sea.

All is cyclical:

That which is sown: reaped, and we

witness dust to dust.

What we feed the Earth -

Homestead, Lifeblood - will affect

what the Earth feeds us.

Your soaring laughter
is a vessel of joy for
those in search of it.

Shower off the smell
of sun screen and bug spray as
the sea eats the rich.

Independence Day

atop Table Rock, the gods

sent us real fireworks

I, friend to despots
I, foe to democracy
am the new normal.

I, the narcissist
I, the manipulator
am the new hero.

The truth doesn't fade
when you kill the messengers.
Sources multiply.

What laughable words:

hamberders and covfefes;

but what distractions.

All shall be revealed.
Truth takes root, stretches its reach,
salts the earth with seeds.

Rumination is
a poison that shortens life
and kills thankfulness.

How sad it is when
morning has ended. But how
sweet, summer evenings.

Sweet chorus of birds
outside my door, shall outlast
presidential tweets.

Perfection: a lie,
a settle-less score, a stroke
against the currents.

Does the maple mourn
that its leaves are far too red?
Rather, it dances.

You are the stars and
moon. The universe is yours
and mine. Now let's jive.

Your kindness moves us

To see the good in others

Find peace in chaos.

Feed your creation:

May every beat and rhyme be

A life-giving source.

“But my life won’t come
together until I just...”
Stop. You need to eat.