Mainly works of Haiku, (but some other works also) by Mark Shean- New page under ‘construction’ as I transfer poems from my note book, (the kind with actual paper in it) to my lap top. My rss feed is https://mafirearmsafety.com/feed/ for any updates to this site. M.S.

INTRODUCTION:

I was introduced to Haiku when I was in the third grade by a Mrs. Hanna, one of those rare teachers that make a lasting impression, from then to now I have been ‘hooked’ on the simplicity as well as the depth of Haiku.

We can define/breakdown HAIKU in this way:

HAIKU (hi’koo) A major form of Japanese verse, written in 17 syllables, divided into three horizontal, (English style) lines of 5, 7 and 5 syllables, (Japanese style is vertical)  employing highly evocative allusions and comparisons.

Evoke (i vok’) To call up, produce, or suggest (memories, feelings, etc.) to elicit or draw forth: ‘the music evoked the mood of spring’.

Allusion (e loo’ zhen) n. A passing or casual  reference; an incidental mention: an allusion to Shakespeare. A metaphor, to allude to.

Metaphor (met’ e for’) The application of a word or phrase to an object or concept it does not literally denote, in order to suggest comparison with another object or concept, as in (“A mighty fortress is our God”).

Mine for the most part is not purely traditional Japanese Haiku in any strict sense. I have made a point of not reading published poets Haiku so as to be original, and without influence from them in creating my own thoughts and style. I think of my ‘style’ as American Haiku, I touch on many things including politics, I claim in my Haiku an ample touch of  ‘poetic license’ as is the right of any poet at heart.

My  ‘American Style’ Haiku, Objective; To create an image or scene from each line, to tie together and start you on a quest to complete a scene/story from these fragments in your minds eye, to stir the imagination in a few short lines.

The following Haiku are the sole creation and property of Mark Shean, and cannot be reproduced without his explicit permission. These Haiku are dedicated to my beautiful wife Diane : )

Brite hazel-blue eyes

happy,  pretty Autumn soul

My hearts desire

__________________________________________________________________________________________

Imagination

From seventeen syllables

A story is wrest

___________________________________________________________________________________________

To link with the old

Common thread, with modern thoughts

Times, climate of world

___________________________________________________________________________________________

1.

Small town, baseball game

Apple pie set out on sills

Porch swings, light laughter

__________________________________________________________________________________________

2.

Green, orange and brown

Sentrys to dusty dirt roads

Wild black eyed susans

__________________________________________________________________________________________

3.

Children run and hide

all-ee  all-ee, in come free !

Parents remember

_________________________________________________________________________________________

4.

Good memories, bad

Lifes experience, minds eye

Times past, subtle change

__________________________________________________________________________________________

5.

Deep grey mornings dawn

Ominous, swift, snow chilled clouds

Winters pending storm

_________________________________________________________________________________________

6.

Mighty soaring wings

Diving death, a rabbits cry

Eagle nest, young’s kill

___________________________________________________________________________________________

7.

Veiled sun straining

Grey day waits

December marches on

_______________________________________________________________________________________

8.

White, colorful orbs

Watching changes in the world

Your souls reflection

__________________________________________________________________________________________

9.

Forever the night

Interpreting life’s bounty

Intricate textures

__________________________________________________________________________________________

10.

Some people will say

True loves feeling comes but once

Hear only your heart

___________________________________________________________________________________________

11.

Idle day, cane pole

Drifting bobber, gentle tug

Happy lads blue-gill

__________________________________________________________________________________________

12.

Wild windswept whitecaps

Stormy clouds racing onward

Gulls erratic flight

___________________________________________________________________________________________

13.

Agile, wary prey

Nervous nibbles, twitching ears

Fleet hooves, steady fear

___________________________________________________________________________________________

14.

Tree buds hardy growth

Forest branches reaching out

Springs boundless promise

___________________________________________________________________________________________

15.

Tranquil harbor waits

Jetty, protective sentinel

Oceans moody whims

___________________________________________________________________________________________

16.

Full moons blue haze cast

A snow-scapes reflective glow

Clear, crisp winters eve

________________________________________________________________________________________

17.

Grass, glimmering dew

Early morning, night retreats

Wrens melodious song

________________________________________________________________________________________

18.

Minnows reflection

Survivals unending play

Great Blue Heron’s eye

_________________________________________________________________________________________

19.

Gale driven crystals

Sanctuary nature seeks

Forest’s straining boughs

__________________________________________________________________________________________

20.

A young pilot dies

Country’s reflective sorrow

Parents dream, high cost

___________________________________________________________________________________________

21.

Stormy day, plane crash

Lofty goals, now such a loss

Prayers sent to Heaven

_________________________________________________________________________________________

22.

Shadows lengthening

Steadily ascending moon

Night creatures stirring

_________________________________________________________________________________________

23.

Night’s promise of snow

Moon’s encircling halo

Dawns cold, telling flakes

___________________________________________________________________________________________24.

24.

Deep forest shadows

Murmuring brook, speckled trout

Natures solitude

___________________________________________________________________________________________

25.

Peepers incessant calling

A footfall

Silence

__________________________________________________________________________________________

26.

Passing chill, Springs warmth

Natures fragrant scents waken

Budding new life stirs

__________________________________________________________________________________________

27.

Softly falling snow

Mesmerizing danger illuminated

A nights traversed road

__________________________________________________________________________________________

28.

Churning depths assault

Breached jetty’s futile battle

Sea’s harsh endeavors

__________________________________________________________________________________________

29.

Bright hazel-blue eyes

Her happy lighthearted soul

My hearts desire

__________________________________________________________________________________________

30.

Wide cool blue ocean

Sands shimmering heat mirage

Tan, relaxed bodies

__________________________________________________________________________________________

31.

Warm breeze, swaying hay

Clear sky above amber plains

Whispering beauty

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

32.

Sea’s treacherous reef

Flashing beacon, ships warning

Graveyards looming hulls

______________________________________________________________________________________

34.

Bare limbs intertwined

Warm shuddering, sweet release

Soft sighs subsiding

______________________________________________________________________

35.

Angry windswept sea

Racing clipper, soaring hearts

Billowing canvas

______________________________________________________________________

36.

Great fog shrouded lake

Birch canoe’s silent progress

Hawk feathers, war paint

_________________________________________________________________

37.

Lusts ageless calling

Rhythmically rising, falling

Youth’s forceful yearning

_____________________________________________________________________

38.

Mid June summers night

Young couple, back seat romance

Chevy’s squeaky springs

_________________________________________________________________________________

39.

Tulip fields, windmills

Ox drawn barge’s, long canals

Friendly folks, wood shoes

_________________________________________________________________________________________

40.

Young lovers hiking

Rain, a tent hastily pitched

Pleasures warmth within

__________________________________________________________________________________

41.

Warm Hawaiian night

Inhibitions abandoned

Splashing, laughing, love

_____________________________________________________________________________________

42.

Children’s bobbing fun

Rainbow colors tug on strings

Balloons in the park

______________________________________________________________________________

43.

Joyful memories

Children skipping, London Bridge!

Youthful wonderment

_______________________________________________________________________

44.

Happy playground sounds

Adventure rides, shiny slide

Childhood fantasies

******************************************************************************************

45. to 56 Dedicated to September 11, 2001 Lest we forget.

Bound in infamy

Winged evil and innocence

A shocked nation mourns

****************************************************************************************

46.

Selfless courage

Unparalleled moral strength

The flight of ’93’

*************************************************************************************

47.

               Flame, billowing smoke

Softened steel, cascading glass

The hellish descent

*********************************************************************************

48.

Scarred, surging workforce

Individual courage

Many the brave soul

************************************************************************************

49.

Duties valiant call

Responders courageous toil

Big ‘A’s bravest fall

************************************************************************************

50.

Frantic families

Scant success, few miracles

Forlorn they linger……….

*******************************************************************************************

51.

Charred rubble, grim crop

Volunteers searching, weeping

Drastically changed world

**************************************************************************************

52.

Honest, steeled resolve

“Your with us or against us”

Countries on notice

*********************************************************************************************

53.

A Speech to Endure

Hushed, and attentive Congress

Emerging leader

************************************************************************************

54.

An angry nation

Sharpen the swords, beat the drum!

Righteous call to arms

****************************************************************************************

55.

Family, loved ones

Red white and blue Patriots

Thoughts of what matter

******************************************************************************************

56.

Congress reminded

Honor the Constitution

Uphold and Defend!

We Will Never Forget 9-11

*************************************************************************************************

57.

Evening, fading light

An angler casts out his bait

The surfs gentle lull

_________________________________________________________________

58.

Squirrels nervous chatter

Forest creatures warning knell

Predator stalking

___________________________________________________________________________________

59.

Lions rush, wild fear

Success not, another night

Hungers agony

___________________________________________________________________________________

60.

Calm surface facade

Abyss, darkest mysteries

Vastly unknown world

_________________________________________________________________

61.

Battles swirling smoke

Young men aged from death and strife

Old veterans mourn

______________________________________________________________________________

62.

Morning dove in flight

On high, speeding talons plunge

Blood falling to earth

______________________________________________________________________________________

63.

Silky satin sheets

Inviting lovers pleasure

Sensual, joined bliss

______________________________________________________________________________________

64.

Carelessly tossed stone

Serene pond’s disturbed surface

Rings reaching outward

_____________________________________________________________________________________

65.

Sun sparkled fair sea

Albatross, white wake churning

Merchant ship, steam on!

__________________________________________________________________________________________

66.

Watchful amber eyes

Patient, powerful puma

Acute senses probe

____________________________________________________________________________________

67.

Faded vanities

Flowing time, forgotten names

Fame’s fleeting moment

_________________________________________________________________________________________

68.

Tandem swans in flight

Till deaths parting, natures bond

Loyal, steady course

_________________________________________________________________________________________

69.

High meadow, dawns light

Shimmering alpine flowers

Natures velvet dance

____________________________________________________________________________

70.

Mothers diversion

Padded death swiftly passing

Fawns instinctive fright

_____________________________________________________________________________________

71.

Coma mind, trapped soul

Muted cry to be set free

Hopeful prayers, cold fear

_______________________________________________________________________________

72.

Days dawn, flashing hues

Many throated melody

Feathered harmony

____________________________________________________________________________

73.

Deadly shoals, ships plight

Heaving sea, windswept fury

Waves crash, lights warning

________________________________________________________________________________

74.

Time silenced ego’s

Mortality once realized

Melancholy thoughts

______________________________________________________________________________________

75.

Wild eyes, nostrils flared

Gate opens, bolts, mane whipping

Hooves flash, pounding heart!

__________________________________________________________________________________

76.

Vast covering clouds

Suns filtered beams, darkened days

Woodland paths cold way

___________________________________________________________________________

77.

Circled stars with stripes

Liberties toll, freedoms cost

Country’s Bill of Rights

_________________________________________________________________________________________

78.

Guard well your loved ones

Through deeds and prayer, evil heaved

Thy Lord will guide thee

_______________________________________________________________________________________

79.

Fear not the darkness

Thy Lords light shall guide brightly

the pathway to love

_____________________________________________________________________________

80.

Sorrow not of death

Brief life, fleeting memory

God’s eternal joy

________________________________________________________________________________

81.

Smitten loyalties

Seek in prayer the Lord to guide

Prosper in HIS love

___________________________________________________________________________________

82.

United Nations

Overrun Constitution

Presidential nod?

________________________________________________________________________________

83.

Struggling workforce

Corporate greed taken hold

America torn

_____________________________________________________________________________________

84.

Special interest groups

Overlooked constituents

Priorities bought

_______________________________________________________________________________________

85.

Politicians scheme

Handouts, to keep people down

Progressives welfare

___________________________________________________________________________________

86.

Police the worlds wrongs

Ignore America’s throngs

Misled ambitions

_____________________________________________________________________________________

87.

Taxation’s bondage

Five months of year, slavery

Congress, apathy

_______________________________________________________________________________________

88.

Your tax for worlds sake

Constituents frustration

Congress, arrogance

_______________________________________________________________________________________

89.

Money sent abroad

An ungrateful, sponging world

Middle class, awake!

_____________________________________________________________________________________

90.

Fragile peace and hope

Explosion, death, martyrdom

Nations in mourning

___________________________________________________________________________________

91.

Rockets deadly route

Big guns rising to answer

Israel’s lost peace

______________________________________________________________________________________

92.

Grief of families

Long Island, fiery death

Questions unanswered

______________________________________________________________________________________

93.

New seeds of peace sown

Many nations steadfast hope

Growing peace or strife?

_____________________________________________________________________________________

94.

Peace, prayer, hope, bonded

Slim bridge spanning wide chasm

First steps, faith, courage

___________________________________________________________________________________

95.

Young children dying

Despair, Chernobyl’s legacy

Nuclear warning

______________________________________________________________________________________

96.

Fishing plug taunting

Quiet solitude, calm lake

Fisherman’s day dream

____________________________________________________________________________________

97.

Happy abandon

Scruffy bug-eyed doggy love

Unconditional

________________________________________________________________________________________

98.

Delicate winged flight

Impulses, flames obsession

Fatal attractions

_________________________________________________________________________________-

99.

Collect, long distance

Youths desperate, hopeful call

Parents prayer fulfilled

____________________________________________________________________________________

100.

History unfurled

Tall masts, billowing canvas

Freedoms sentinel

_____________________________________________________________________________________

101.

Ye ole Iron-sides

Freedoms stalwart guardian

A grateful country

___________________________________________________________________________________

102.

Growth, steady, subtle

Natures winter weathered glen

Springtime’s bold promise

_____________________________________________________________________________________

103.

Lone markers vigil

Times weather worn epithet

Visitors no more

______________________________________________________________________________________

104.

Golden quake, white bark

Colored tapestry, chill wind

Dormant winter nears

_____________________________________________________________________________________

105.

Deep churning waters

Black orb, primitive white death

Great shadow cast down

____________________________________________________________________________________

106.

Hazy blue sky

Diamonds sparkle on the bay

Slight breeze, tide recedes

_____________________________________________________________________________________

107.

Life’s observations

Shadowed opportunities

Pleasures reminisced

______________________________________________________________________________________

108.

Breezy, poplars sway

Like fluttering butterfly’s

Leaves dancing shadows

_____________________________________________________________________________________

109.

Deep woods predator

Solitary aloof air

A deadly purpose

_____________________________________________________________________________________

110.

In pursuit of prey

Paths cross under snowy boughs

Cautiously watching

_____________________________________________________________________________________

111.

Solitary course

Devil of the northern woods

Scourge of the trap line

__________________________________________________________________________________

112.

Snow flurries bluster

January’s cold herald

Winter gray, warm hearth

________________________________________________________________________________________

113.

Swift mirrored movements

Etched silhouettes, twilight flight

Feathered synchrony

______________________________________________________________________________________

114.

Autumn frost forming

Shimmering crimson and gold

Landlocked in beauty

_____________________________________________________________________________________

115.

Pointer senses peaked

Camouflaged partridge tenses

Whirring rush to flight

_______________________________________________________________________________________

116.

Sulfurs pungent smell

Plumage exploding outward

Soft mouthed retrieval

_______________________________________________________________________________________

117.

Crystal woods beauty

Balsam dew, sparkling hues

Prisms star-fired glint

________________________________________________________________________________

118.

Wander o’er the globe

Dirt, cobblestone or paved way

All paths lead back home

____________________________________________________________________________________

119.

Coming storm, still air

So subtle natures warning

Funnels roar, black shroud

______________________________________________________________________________________

120.

Fury, strength, fang, claw

Evolution’s dynamo

Fearful of nothing

____________________________________________________________________________________

121.

Eagle poised once more

A defiant tyrant taunts

History repeats?

______________________________________________________________________

122.

French, cringing cowards

Short memories, ungrateful

Beneath our contempt

__________________________________________________________________________________

123.

U.N., impotent

‘Allies’ paid to help U.S.

Utterly shameful

______________________________________________________________________________________

124.

Welcome undeserved

‘Boot’ U.N. America

Treacherous leeches!

____________________________________________________________________________________

125.

Subtle changing hues

Turning seasons slowly grind

Feathers flowing south

____________________________________________________________________________________

126.

Natures solitude

Yesteryear’s beauty preserved

Artistry’s canvas

_____________________________________________________________________________________

127.

Wintry doldrums

Scarlet feathers, holly tree

natures flighty gift

________________________________________________________________________________________

128.

Canvas reflections

Window through anothers eye

Interpretations

_______________________________________________________________________________________

129.

Conception entwined

Movements rhythmically joined

Threshold of new life

_______________________________________________________________________________________

130.

Shades of green and blue

Moody unsettled ocean

March turns to April

____________________________________________________________________________________

131.

Patch’s of dawn’s light

Gull’s careening silhouettes

Shimmering ripples

______________________________________________________________________________________

132.

Time’s, very precious

Many lives weave through them

Eternal endings

_______________________________________________________________________________________

133.

Whispering breeze’s

Creaky cemetary gate

Earthen resting place

___________________________________________________________________________________

134.

Shadow’s spooky shapes

dead tree, owl’s silhouett

Black cat -a- slinking

________________________________________________________________________________________

135.

Cycling phases

Shifting tides, moody changes

Clestial sphere

_____________________________________________________________________________________

136.

Wicked witch, full moon

Ghoulies, goblins, scarey sounds

Pumkin patch, dark fears

______________________________________________________________________________________

137.

Leaves swirling at feet

We spy a jack-o-lantern

Trick or treat! retreat!

________________________________________________________________________________________

138.

Storms fury without

Sweetheart’s rhythmical union

Blissfully bedded

________________________________________________________________________________________

 

The pinnacle of all our achivements may

also be the sum of all our fears.

_________________________________________________________________________________________

The  wisper of change, the promise of rain in darkened clouds,

the wonder and beauty of earth, signs shifting to new seasons.

All things in the natural evolution of time. A blue sky’s deception that all fares well,

natures twists that belay the false notion.

Spring’s battle to wrest itself  from Old Man Winter’s grasp.

________________________________________________________________________________________

People share laughs and sorrow,

people wed, make love and try,

people live, languish then die,

people will wonder of the ‘why’,

life is only made up of what we want

from our tomorrows.

______________________________________________________________________________________

It is better to be thought an idiot in a fools eyes,

than to be the fool who thinks he is wise……

____________________________________________________________________________________

Ridicule often is the flattery of  jealousy