Haiku by Johnette Downing

New Orleanian Johnette Downing is a multi-award winning singer, songwriter, musician and poet. Her original compositions and gifts of song have garnered national & international critical acclaim for more than a decade. Downing given keynotes and educator workshops in Egypt, Morocco, Kuwait, Bahrain, United Arab Emirates, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Panama, Puerto Rico and throughout the United States. She is dedicated to sharing her Louisiana musical and literary heritage from the roots up with children. Downing's poems have appeared in numerous magazines, anthologies, books & journals including YAWP: a Journal of Poetry & Art. Downing is co-founder of the New Orleans Haiku Society.

 

Haiku

 

flight of the magpie
I inherit
Mother's silver

 

jazz concert
children dance
between the notes

 

old stone fence
the ripest fig
out of reach

 

dolphin massacre
on foreign television
I order vegetables

 

bubble bath
snow melt
on twin peaks

 

unfolding
her kimono
moth

 

open bathroom window
cat calls
from a gecko

 

between the lanterns
flicker
of a cat's tail

 

light breeze
his break up letter ends
with love

 

no one spared
water line
on tombs

 

estate sale
her life
on a table

 

fishing pier
net
of the spider

 

meditation
the baby's cry
leaves the temple

 

temple steps
my shoes
with laces

 

Sunday morning
a praying
mantis