A few years ago I tried Dry January. While I miss my martinis, not so much as I’d expected, and haven’t gotten “wet” since. This year I thought I might take leave of my social media habit. For me, this meant signing off of Instagram, having left Twitter years ago and Facebook years before that. I’ve always been a social media lurker, and had found myself using Instagram to “fill time” more and more often. With some reluctance, I put down my app much in the same way I put down my cocktail shaker – in a 31-day experiment.
But what to fill in the fill-in time with? As a shock to no one here, I read, and listened. And I wrote. Which I hadn’t for a while.
“What have been writing?”, you might ask. Or not. But I’ll tell you, anyway: haiku
Very, very, VERY bad haiku, if I do say so myself. And, OK, not actually haiku. Senryu is technically the form, for the most part, largely because the focus of my “poetry” is not primarily nature. Though nature certainly comes into things, as you’ll see. Because much like Vogon poetry (boy, howdy, could we use Douglas Adams right about now), its impact is amplified when shared. So, read on if you like, and don’t if you don’t!
Jan 1
New Year’s Day, again
Time to start something new, or…
Not the boss of you
Jan 2
The dark clown prances
And shouts “All the world’s my stage!”
Beware the audience
Jan 3
A gray (grey?) late start
Coffee? Yes. Could have been worse.
The morning puzzles?
Jan 4
The morning dishes?
Done. Coffee? Please. Black. Honey.
And now? The laundry.
Jan5
And so it begins
The emails, invites, reviews
The new (SE) year
Jan6
New year’s first commute
Seems some things will never change
Brake lights and red lights
Jan7
The end of NATO?
To quote one Michael Wilbon,
“Hocus-pocus junk!”
Jan8
Sam is coming home
Was it a long week? We’ll see
Expecting laundry!
Jan9
Is it Friday yet?
Everyone always asking.
Yes. Now please shut up.
Jan10
Rainy Saturday
So we walk, and talk, decide
World’s problems all solved
Jan11
Shadows zebra stripe
A well-known, travelled roadway
To our doom, or brunch?
Jan12
The low hum of trucks
Crack through the windows and doors
Early signs of Spring?
Jan13
Let’s go for a walk
She says, sipping her coffee
Can we go at noon?
Jan14
I don’t understand
I find myself repeating
Must. Stop. Reading. News.
Jan15
Coffee with Stephen
The best start to any day
Good friend and chin wag
Jan16
Performance Review
The season I love and loathe
Admin beats success
Jan17
Snow and rain and sun
The day’s a wintery mix
And I’m wearing shorts
Jan18
Eggs, bacon, toast, coffee
Futsal, basketball, swimming
Seven-year old’s day
Jan19
Her birthday starts clear
But I’m away, watching
And waiting, hoping
Jan20
Start: Eighteen degrees
Don’t care if you think other
Eighteen degrees: COLD
Jan21
Morning commute: done
Hot chocolate day! Coffee!
And a new boss starts
Jan22
Winter whites today
Have me smiling even more
Than I’ve a right to
Jan23
Well, that was a late
Night spent with mother and child
Hospitals, you know?
Jan24
Today, the best part?
Discovering it’s only
Saturday winning
Jan25
Sunday snow and sleet
The best part of all this is
Neighbor’s snowblower
Jan26
A frigid Monday
Coffee and English muffins
Make it all better
Jan27
Snow and ice layers
An unfun non-birthday cake
Driveway enemy
Jan28
Winter slumbering
Clearly now over, and sales
Awake, hustling
Jan29
And so it begins
Harassing, haranguing
Arbitrariness
Jan30
The annual review
The prep, the demos, the calls
A day in the life
Jan31
Birdsong I can’t hear
Scraping shovel that I can
Day’s motivations