Saturday, August 25, 2007

sherku: Sorcerer's Stone (Harry Potter #1)

Life starts at 11, Hogwarts
calls, Sorting Hat sorts
Harry becomes seeker


A short form book review of the first Harry Potter story, The Sorcerer's Stone by JK Rowling

sherku: Neuromancer (William Gibson)

Where do we draw the line
'tween real and AI?
Trust Wintermute or Molly?


Written upon re-reading William Gibson's Neuromancer prior to reading his latest Spook Country

Sunday, August 19, 2007

sherku squared: Niagara Falls

I did not see the Titanic
movie, I mean the boat sank
what's the fuss

drop 35 million gallons
per minute hundreds of years
see what you get


a new creation, a double sherku; a form of call and response on this thought stream

sherku: trail blazed

deep dark trail blazed
mossy sponge underfoot
mountain laurel sheds its glory


also found in my notebook from my week at Weikert earlier this summer (July 2007)

sherku: new world

creek rushes deciduous
trees dappled with sunlight
book opens to new world



found in my notebook from the week at Weikert earlier this summer (July 2007)

Monday, August 13, 2007

sherku: deer crossing

my dear love's smile lights up her
eyes, leaving me stunned
deer crossing, 25 years



for Dolores

sherku: play list 2

her play list tunes memories
footloose, passionate kisses
and "I got you babe"



for Carolyn

sherku: play list 1

her play list makes our way
tunes memories of
footloose, passionate kisses


for Carolyn

Friday, August 10, 2007

sherku: bing cherry

Luscious bing cherry rolled
twixt teeth, tongue; separating meat
from pit, left to split





What is a sherku?

sherku instructions

It is easy enough to start

You are out somewhere

Wherever something catches your eye

You take a picture

Frame it in your mind’s eye

Then begin the

Linguistic gymnastics

You have trained for since birth

Take your pen

Dip it into the dictionary

Find the word

Just that shade

Just that luster

Just that sound

So that when they open the book

Turn to this page

Read these words aloud

They step into the frame

Feel the breeze on their arm

In the shade of the hemlock grove

Hear the hissing along the trail

And stop

To see the snapping turtle

sherku: two conversations

double D underwire
C front clasp, Mr Garter's
slither changed topics

sherku: Weikert Scrabble

mosquitoes screened out
white moth light enchanted
summer breeze plays triple word score

sherku: Baslock's Garter

amidst wood pile garter
slithers, pauses, sunlight
basks in Baslock's attention

sherku: Hand Cranked Ice Cream

ready the crank in Weikert
the ice man cometh
July 3rd for Walt's birthday




The Bastian's have a tradition of hand cranking a batch of home made ice cream on Doug's father's birthday.

Coming home from Weikert 2 years ago, we bought our own ice cream maker and have put it to good use for some family gatherings. The time was for Carolyn's birthday in 2005.

sherku: entry mat


everything has its place
this carpet segment tells
a story of the time ...

sherku: Weikert Breakfast

storied fire circle
yesterday's embers bring
today's Weikert breakfast flame



This marks one of our camping and now Weikert traditions. We take it as a challenge to not use a match to start the fire for breakfast preferring to kindle one from the previous night's embers.

sherku: The Tenth Circle (Jodi Picoult)

spiral inward, thoughts become
words, words become deeds
be careful what you wish for



A short form book review of The Tenth Circle by Jodi Picoult


Once upon a time I found that Patti Digh did haiku book reviews and thought that a wonderful idea. I have since created sherku and almost spun off "booku" as those specifically for books but decided not to...

sherku: Halley's Comet

Maybe 'cuz I held Allie
in '86, every time
Mary sings, I cry



It's when I hear Mary Chapin Carpenter sing "Halley Came to Jackson" originally from "Shooting Straight in the Dark"


Halley Came To Jackson  (Mary Chapin Carpenter)

Late one night when the wind was still
Daddy brought the baby to the window sill
To see a bit of heaven shoot across the sky
The one and only time Daddy saw it fly
It came from the east just as bright as a torch
The neighbors had a party on their porch
Daddy rocked the baby, Mother said "amen"
When Halley came to visit in nineteen ten
Now back then Jackson was a real small town
And it's not every night a comet comes around
It was almost eighty years since its last time through
So I bet your mother would've said "amen" too
As its tail stretched out like a stardust streak
The papers wrote about it every day for a week
They wondered where it's going and where it's been
When Halley came to Jackson in 1910
Now Daddy told the baby sleeping in his arms
To dream a little dream of a comet's charms
And he made a little wish as she slept so sound
In nineteen eighty-six that wish came 'round
It came from the east, just as bright as a torch
She saw it in the sky from her daddy's porch
As heavenly sent as it was back then
When Halley came to Jackson in nineteen ten
Late one night when the wind was still

sherku: Promised Land

How far is too far? To get
Away, can't go there
Four hours to Promised Land




Promised Land State Park, a frequented destination of the Baslocks, is only four hours drive from Franklin, MA.

sherku: For Dolores

scribing sherku notes she's
laughing at my humming
good thing I love her dearly

sherku: wordsmithing

took fifty miles to
workout the image of three
seconds on the highway




sherku: Amanda Beard

Amanda reveals a nip
no tuck, she bares her breast
stroking for Playboy gold





Yes, Amanda Beard, the 14 year old teddy bear clutching teen who first took medals in the 1996 Olympics has grown up.

The ESPN reaction to her Playboy article.

Amanda's own website can be found here.

sherku: Route 84 Traffic



traffic follows the curve
en mass, crotch rocket jockey
huddled, waits, shoots the gap

Saturday, August 04, 2007

sherku: LJ's Shameless Lion

strong forward stride, manely eyes
lion hearted words crafted
springs poetic pride



What is a sherku?

In response to LJ Cohen's challenge.

For LJ Cohen who writes at Once Upon a Blue Muse

sherku: The Sundering

swords clash, Darkhaven blood flows
bane wreckers sundered
derivative fantasy



a short form book review of Jacqueline Carey's The Sundering


What is a sherku?

sherku: What is GEL?

What is GEL?

New York springs gellin'
food spirited conversations
good experience live



What is a sherku?

For other writings on GEL 2007, GEL 2006, GEL 2005

The podcast version of this can be found here

sherku: Franklin override


Layoff books, Spanish, Music
Springs passionate discourse
Override votes town



What is a sherku?


Other writing on the May 22 Override vote that Franklin passed


The podcast version can be found here

Advent VII

Mother,
This Advent
You gave us your final lesson.
A lesson that began
On the day each of us
Came into life.

A lesson in how to live,
A lesson in
The will to live.
A lesson that
Ended with
Your passing.

You will be remembered.
Your lesson will be followed,
As we continue to live,
Continue to prepare
For His coming
This Advent.





In memoriam
Rita Sherlock
11/26/1983

The Scorecard

It's my father's fault.
answers to math questions in an instant
Cost accountant, meticulous rows of figures

kept score for the family card games
columns of names and numbers
tallied for the winners and players

diabetic diary, daily food intake
peanut butter toast, mashed potatoes
dog eared book, calories for each

so I'm at the festival
scribbling who spoke in order
what poem was read

can go back to 2004, 2002 even
words, images, scenes called forth
and the festivals come alive

Bly on the mound, Barks at bat,
Paul Winter on deck, early morning Rumi
the pitch, and it's a home run!



For Gerald Sherlock


The audio version of this can be found here

Waterloo sherku (Edmund)

sandaled wanderer
coupling poetry with voice
giving creates a tension


for Edmund

The audio version of this can be found here

Waterloo sherku (LJ Cohen)

Waterloo watershed
internet trail connected
once in a Blue Muse


for LJCohen

The audio version of this can be found here

Waterloo sherku (Lori Cotler and Glen Velez)


giving rhythm voice
bright mums awakening
kindred spirits ta da le in

For Lori Cotler and Glen Velez


The audio (podcast) version can be found here

Waterloo sherku

haiku lowku
what was said to the rose
along Waterloo Road


The audio (podcast) version of this can be found here

Waterloo sherku

Candace dances
Musconetcong flows
didn't eat for days


for Candace


The audio (podcast) version of this can be found here

What was said to the rose

What was said to the rose that made it open?
I am jealous of the chrysanthemums lining the stage
no wonder they are increasing in bloom and color


The audio version of this can be found here



What is

A TV show without commercials

A full day whether daylight saved or not

Time again for that time of the month, that period

Almost 6 months

Our married life together

No, we are not in jeopardy
Terror is only for those who are afraid
Love provides energy to walk together into the unknown



The audio (podcast) version of this can be found here

For Dolores

At Home

with one last, last minute
thing to do completed
they scurry out of the house

with the door closing
silence settles slowly
awakening the kitchen clock

whose whirring resumes telling stories
while the radiator bubbles
and gurgles with delight

to which the faucet responds
with its monotonous drip, drip
drowned out as the

silence settles still further
and the people upstairs
begin living here


The audio (podcast) version of this can be found here.


I grew up in a five room apartment on the first floor of a three tenement house. I was the oldest of six and needless to say, the house got busy and noisy at times as we all did what we needed to do. The family was all going out but for some reason, I was being left behind, maybe I had something else to do, maybe I was sick, the circumstances were such that after the hustle and bustle of their leaving, I was left in the empty house. Except it was not really empty, as you hear in the reading, the house almost has a life of its own.

Orange Numbers

If we roll our orange round
first, it will
peel like an apple
second, so
you can give me a quarter
third, so we can
beslobber our mouths with juice
fourth, so we can have a magnificent
excuse for a kiss
sixth, and clean up our act.

Fifth, fifth, oh yes
there was a fifth
but by the time
that gets passed around
and back to us
there’ll be nothing left..

Let’s have another orange!


The audio (podcast) version of this can be found here
http://steves2cents.blogspot.com/2015/03/orange-numbers.html

For CC


This was written many years ago while I was doing my undergraduate studies at Assumption College. Both CC and I were student athletes and at a party together where there was some drinking. However, we were both in training and could not participate in that aspect of the party so we did our own thing and enjoyed a few oranges. She had not seen an orange peeled like that before so I was able to delight her with the story and then the poem later. I think I liked the fantasy part about the kissing. I recall that it was suggested, and tried, but not encouraged.