Another type of post:

I've decided to try, besides doing Haiku as a writing exercise, to try doing list poems on occasion. The idea I have now is to do an "ecstasy of the day," and see how far I can get with it. There is just so much to write about, when you set your mind to observation and memory. For yesterday, 8/8/2010, the ecstasy of the day was rhythm. And I only just got started:

Ecstasy of the Day 8/8/10
Rhythm
-the rapid trill of the cicada, coming at uncertain intervals
-spoke clusters and alternating leaves and branches of weeds in the rock garden
-footfalls on the gravel bed, trudging, stopping, trudging, stopping, the movement of the small stones.
-Lurid beeps of a teenager's video game
-thrumming baritone of air conditioners outside
-the rattle of rubber tires on pavement down the block
-the calls of birds, their meanings to each other
-our daily awakenings and sleeps
-our own language, the buzzing, gymnastic throatiness of it.
-the intervals between trees in the forest, the asynchronous peeling of paint on old furniture
-the stretching of moving muscles and firing nerves, the impulses in my brain.
-the pattern of raindrops spotting the windshield and stippling the puddles. The rhythm of my car's wipers, turn signal, swaying keychain, all on different periods.
-my own tires on the pavement seams, other cars' tires.
-My mind making choices, addressing fears, coming home to ecstasy.
-Losing things, then finding them again, like my courage, my dignity, my second favorite kitchen knife that fell under the dish drain for two months. The game of hide and seek that the universe plays with us.
-the sound of waistbands and hems and zippers hitting the fins in the dryer as it tumbles.
-The whistling tea kettle whose cry rises as an uncertain spiral rather than a steady blast.
-the fact of washing dishes another day. The clatter as dishes drop upon their fellows in the cupboard.

Sometimes a love poem
Is not its opposite, but
An infinity.

Haiku Diem:

On facebook, there's this page called Haiku Diem, where somebody is posting a Haiku per day. Inspiring, and not too intimidating, in terms of volume, to post a 5-7-5 syllable verse based on a day's observations or experience. Perfect bite-sized piece of writing. I'm taking up the habit. Here's today's:

Doves sit as wire knots--
Staccato signpost up there,
Tails directing breeze.