In Memory of the American Haiku Master, Raymond Roseliep

Photo from the cover of A Roseliep Retrospective (Alembic Press, 1980), edited by David Dayton

bark chip flipped over
aha! sowbugs conspiring
and nowhere to run

bees bounce off
my lily-white sneakers
blooming in clover

a swallow swoops close
my eyes crash land in a ditch
heap of feathers, ash

Sobi-Shi at dusk
holds fireflies in a jar
waits for the moonrise

Ray’s eyes graze poems
watching a mosquito dance
the cat in his lap

he trims his toenails
stares at his foot in profile
such sensuous curves

full moon, Sobi-Shi
pointed brush over white paper
black ink tracing light