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

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)

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

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

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.