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why
write bike haiku?
perhaps your bike got stolen at poetry class? |
mike
kruger
|
CYCLING
IN SEVENTEEN SYLLABLES
haiku
submission form and checklist
We can't
really answer Mike's question, posed to us the day after we opened BR to your
verse,
but the fact that he asked it the way he did shows how irresistible is the
urge to roadtest 5-7-5.
There's
more to haiku than squeezing the right number of syllables into three lines
(see
notes on 5-7-5 and
The Evolution of Haiku).
Or as Michael Rasmussen, one of our
contributors, put it, 'Dried rice rolls does not sushi make'. However, this
is a humble page,
charged with the simple yet ambitious task of harvesting short poems from
a fleeting audience:
we thought it best to keep to the format most of us are probably familiar
with,
and go from there.
bicycle
haiku
ride across america go easy, look hard |
kevin
kelly
selections from his book |
I
want to ride my
bicycle I want to ride my bike. (thank you queen) |
farrokh
bulsara
|
a
rabbit runs out
then retreats while I ride on part of the landscape |
mike
dennison
|
wind
pushes into me
I am a sail for the wrong direction - headwind --- downhill bicycling forty, fifty miles per hour should have fixed brakes --- in the town line sprint my bicycle is last, is first I'm racing alone --- riding through spring time peach orchards - imagine a world of pink popcorn |
jonathan
neske (www.neske.biz)
|
fixed
gear juggernaut
relentless in my progress through the sultry day --- miles disappearing with the wavering cadence of one cog one ring |
rl
canon
|
the
road goes upwards
conversation stops, puff, pant the silence of hills --- Paris-Brest-Paris all-time fixed wheel challenge pain, but the glory --- legs spinning madly the constant fluid movement pedalling nonstop |
steve
airey
|
steady
rolling now.
cars very close, much too close -- I will keep riding |
frank
mcintosh
|
phone
rings, girl punctured
ride to her aid, love my job! she smiles, rides away |
the
bikerescue man
|
stupid
bus driver!
now too much adrenaline read haiku, now calm --- green raleigh, four speed just ripe for restoration dynohub. superbe. --- eight years old, just learned, moulton mini, single speed, ten miles, with proud mum |
andy scaife
|
fixed
gear, seductive
from my geared bike you lure me to sweet pain I'm drawn |
rlcanon
|
clean
frosty sunlight
breezy coastal cycle trip; feel very alive |
pablo cruz
|
I
spin cranks smoothly
wheels roll forward straight and true burrito after |
bill "sorni" sornson
|
country
roads, scenic
mile afer mile after mile my own l.s.d. |
dale hartzler (aka mr long slow distance)
|
the
answer my friend
is not blowing in the wind - it's riding a bike |
jaberwock
|
visualised
pint
realised as promised but bum too sore to sit |
miles
|
my
schwinn has left me
for another bicycle it'll never work |
taylor
|
war
day morn $9 mil
of cars passed by biker to misguided DC |
jose
|
shadow
emerges
cool morning soft light sharpens chase myself westward --- rain darkens short days beam past mourners of sun heat cycling brightens life |
michael rasmussen
|
cold
morning, red route.
flat tyre! gears bite finger, electric tape mends. |
giolla decair
|
one
speed, no coasting,
the fixed gear teaches quickly: not pedaling hurts |
chip haynes
|
bum
sore legs leaden
goggles misted heart warmed ah! the spring is come |
mike dennison
|
britain
end to end
land's end to john o'groats. for purists, dunnet head |
BR
|
if
my wheels were square
or triangles; trapezoids; life would be harder --- too many gears now cannot decide which to use always a split vote --- click creak squeak rattle diagnosis: noisy bike unhappy camper |
quetzalcoatl
|
riding
in the dark
a car, I swerve, he misses why do I have lights? |
tim hall
|
february
ends
dread month of gloom and twilight now come the march winds --- weatherman says rain wind-empowered clouds scudding some will not cycle --- clear winter sunshine driver sees me but does not care cyclist must bail out |
guy chapman (chapmancentral.co.uk)
|
critically
massed cars
beep their silly horns at me think I'm in the way |
sharon w
|
very
dangerous,
bicycles and poetry - someone could get hurt |
905
|
I
cleaned my cassette
and stained the kitchen sink some; boy, the wife got pissed! |
dave
|
campagnolo
schmidt
busch and muller cateye SRAM shimano stronglight --- flashing lights are banned government is consulting cock-up expected |
guy chapman (chapmancentral.co.uk)
|
muscle
in motion
and the bliss of solitude what could be better |
martin newstead (m series)
|
annoying
cyclist
two wheels don't make you better you are your own law --- deadly motorist owns all before the windshield speed and impatience --- pedestrian, you never look where you're going endangered species |
helen shapiro
|
slurpy
mudstuck tyres
knobbly teeth bite the brown earth my smile is dirty --- we just got married singletrack courtship so fine we made it legal |
brian goode
|
my
bike folds in half
but it didn't come that way; thank you white van man |
s taylor
|
I
sail down the road
wind at my back, pushing hard there's no turning back |
kath
|
check-list
for take-off:
tires are pumped - so is rider fuel in back pocket |
richard
|
I
took it apart
it won't go back together I'm no mechanic |
charlie
|
my
bike is heavy
a ponderous thing with wheels; rolls to stop downhill --- I bought a new bike carbon, ti, magnesium - tether it down nights |
ivan the terribly polite
|
fixed
gear project stalled
damn dropouts end just too short who stocks a fifteen? |
jmedgar
|
a
haiku poem
so tempting to let it rhyme just put anything --- long distance audax I must qualify not fail p.b.p. the goal --- cycle lane blocked ignorant driver again hit his wing mirror |
steve
airey
|
SON
hub dynamo
light comes from my own movement no need to recharge |
guy
chapman (chapmancentral.co.uk)
|
haiku's
anything
you feel something about, steve even block-ed lanes --- world spins round its hub dynamo keeps the SON lit stars twinkle like spokes |
BR
|
lever,
a slight nudge -
chain, sensing my hand and will noiselessly climbs cog |
bob
g
|
sly
tectonic shifts
yesterday there was no hill in front of my house |
duffy
|
black
ice, cyclist down
gravity and momentum handmaidens to hurt --- numb fingers and toes; possibly a nose still sits on my frigid face --- since when has the wind considered its means and ends it just really blows |
andrew
walker
|
your
carriage awaits
cromoly beast snorts and bucks impatient trackstand |
carrie
|
aerodynamic
slice through the wind in a crouch then stop for red light |
benjamin
|
tyre
patch glue sniffer
swerves to hit brambles and nails he can't help himself |
les
wilson
|
I
copy coppi -
drink from my water bottle to shed weight on climb --- fighting resistance look down momentarily thoughts of grit and teeth |
scarlett
parker
|
studded
tires buzzing
cycle to work all year, I see stupid people |
steeve@oneguycoding.com
|
with
tears of joy, pain
harmonic gears resonate unfurling soul's wings |
mike
elkink
|
close
eyes and focus
mustn't let burning legs stop finally, hill's crown |
kirsten
marquez
|
fool!
at sub-zero?
windbreaker magic layer commute's sweaty end |
jose
|
smiling
schadenfreude
the parking warden works hard but ignores my bike --- more reason to ride pedal-powered haste makes sweat not a heart attack |
moz
'schadenfreude' is 4 syllables pointing this out brings us no pleasure |
'look!'
mother chides child
'what you're doing to your bike!' fledglings early flights --- dark winter cyclist, no lights! skulking in gutter! is your life that bad? |
giolla
decair
|
snow
salt ice darkness
no wimps in january. bike chicago now! |
mike
kruger
|
a
turn of the crank
is all that you need to start a revolution |
scarlett
parker
|
the
new sky of dawn
an orange glow, frozen breath quick steel bike humming |
kangstank
|
air
leaks out my tire
where a thoughtless snake bit it he had no manners |
andrew
|
fifteen
miles each day
twisting narrow country roads still quicker by bike --- riding recumbent gives life a new perspective makes one more laid back |
guy
chapman (www.chapmancentral.co.uk)
|
recumbent
riders;
gravity has squashed them flat yet their legs still move |
BR
|
crunchy
towpath frost
inky water foggy morn no bell yell 'haiku!' |
clwydian
|
sleet
and ice descend.
or wind plows, frosty, frigid. alas, I'm a wimp --- climbing reddish knob insects buzzing, breeze blowing but no other sound |
dale
hartzler
|
bikes
in newfoundland
vibrations wind potholes road - our broken-off lights |
marek
w. & sheila miguez
|
pedal,
pedal, go!
pedal, pedal, pedal, go! i love to cycle --- i like to cycle. but i do not write poems. not usually. |
james,
to whom we're giving the benefit of the doubt |
li'l
stardust rider
swaying with each pedal stroke six year old freedom --- rotten opossum squashed snake, beloved family pet - all lie still by road --- camelback water, vanilla gu shot, clif bar, fierce lime gatorade |
claire
petersky
|
two
multiplies nine
grimace of pain defines us win above all else |
john
kemp
|
summer
bike ride slows
nature's beauty takes my gaze - bright moon in your eyes |
marco
|
rain
pounds grounds soggy
gear melts, miles pass under wheels winter makes spring thoughts |
jmedgar
|
ride
to work today
challenge oppressive powers and survive the fray |
lindsay
|
keep
on pedaling
through the muck and the mire to make room for beer |
mike
mcdougal
|
formerly
fat guy
astride a gleaming machine fueled by sweat alone --- cannondale trek schwinn litespeed lemond giant merckx raleigh specialized |
lou
plummer
|
wheels
glide over ice
dynamo whines gleefully it's freezing out here |
richard
|
mountain
bikes in leeds
have deep springs but no mudguards they swerve for puddles |
david
golding
|
wheels
spinning around
flying past automobiles the bike is freedom |
nicole
mcmorrow
|