Wednesday, December 30, 2009,10:40 PM
a lone tree
We find our self alone, my cello and I. No distracting noise, no audience. I open "book one" for beginners. Not too hard. I stumble through the first ten pages, but that's enough for now. My eyes are already tired.

Now I just run the bow from one string to the next. Slowly and softly, from C to G to D to A, back and forth. Ending on the low C, continuing it, not wanting to leave it, leaning my head against the scroll feeling the overtones.

I then realize that this is the voice that I've been looking for for more than 30 years. How fitting, though, that we find each other at the same level- stuttering, looking for the right sound, having to relearn from the beginning.

At this point I'm not playing it, it's playing me....



a lone tree
dances silently-
winter wind

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Sunday, September 20, 2009,8:49 PM
a cricket
Sitting outside at night. Not saying a word, but talking to people all over the world on the internet. Happiness, sadness, indifference. Suddenly I realize- I'm never alone...
.
a cricket
sings to the moon-
september breeze

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Sunday, July 13, 2008,9:22 PM
the sun falls
Holding him in the chair, feeling the warmth in his shoulders even though he had died minutes ago. My brain spins like a top, wondering when the ambulance will get here, how he's the last of ten children, how he won't see my speech tomorrow morning, on and on......
.
the sun falls
while I'm not looking-
cicadas begin

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Tuesday, June 17, 2008,9:56 PM
unable to hide
We lost power Sunday night and got it back tonight. Trees all over the town were torn down, some on houses. It's going to take a long time to have this cleaned. I'm exhausted...
.
unable to hide,
the signs of age on my face-
bright full moon
.
(pictures can be seen on Present Tense)

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Wednesday, June 04, 2008,4:01 PM
day after the last
DSC00220
day after the last-
walls still vibrate with the sounds
of children

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Monday, June 02, 2008,5:29 PM
fireflies
70 mph wind, heavy rain and lightning. All of them leave the neighborhood powerless. Trees have snapped and some lay across the roads.
Now at midnight, the cloudy sky is pitch black. No sign of human life....
.
fireflies
flicker around me-
dark mood

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Friday, April 18, 2008,11:33 PM
sleeping bags
My older daughter is having a sleep over for her 7th birthday. All together there are 10 girls here. Most of them are from my school, so I'm known as Mr. Lockhart. :)
My wife is staying out with them in the other half of the house. I'm getting ready to crawl up the steps to my bed and call it a day. I'll do my visiting tomorrow....
.
.
sleeping bags
squirm on the floor like worms-
giggling

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Thursday, April 10, 2008,11:04 PM
cicada songs
The storms are gone now. A few blocks down from me I see house after house with broken windows. Three schools here are damaged, too. what's needed the most is a night of good sleep....
.
.
cicada songs
heard through broken windows-
aftermath

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Monday, October 01, 2007,12:13 AM
soft sound (haibun)
DSC03872
My wife and I had to be there early - in separate vehicles. Our oldest child is going to perform with his junior high band before the high school football game. He wants to stay and see the half-time show and as much of the game as he can. Not a great idea to me, though, so I offered to go early and take care of the other kids.
.
It's been more than twenty years since I've walked into Blakemore Field. That was in my first two years of college. I came here to see the high school band, still having some of the people that I had been in band with. (The real reason was to impress them, wearing my red Razorback Band jacket.)
.
noticing dust
on the piano~
autumn sunset
.
Walking through the gate, I'm amazed by the newness of the place. The bleachers have been re-built, making them huge compared to the ones from the past. The bright green everywhere.
.
The bands from the high school and both junior high schools fill the field. We walk through to the far end so we can see our son. The only people that call my name are my students. The only name I hear is Mr. Lockhart. Hearing, actually, is difficult tonight. Even with my hearing aid there's too much background noise. My wife says something to me and I have to lean all the way to her face to understand the words.
.
soft sound
of fluttering wings~
monarch
.
After the opening show we walk down the bleachers to meet our son. I have to go slowly and hold on to the rail. I've had problems recently with steps.
.
We meet him and tell him we enjoyed the performance. He's excited, this being his first time to play on that field. I tell my wife that the grandparents probably need some relief, so I'll go on home.
.
I walk slowly through the crowd, out the gate, and through the dark to my car - deciding to go for a drive.... a long drive.
.
an old book
I've never read~
second chance

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Sunday, September 23, 2007,12:43 AM
a lost letter
On our way to yet another Saturday track meet. Same as the last one, it's another hour north of home. The shortest distance to this one, though, sends us up H59. I haven't gone this way for at least fifteen years.
Before I540 was finished, this was the easiest way to anything north. I always enjoyed the drive and the scenery. Not this time.
One curve after another on the two lane road with the speed limit of 55mph. Once we get farther north, we run into line after line of orange barrels, making it even more difficult.
After the meet I'm going to take the extra time to go east until I run into I540 south. I have no desire to go back home on this road.
.
a lost letter
found in a wooden box-
faded love

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Wednesday, August 15, 2007,12:20 AM
shadows spread
Do you remember the night in the park, years ago, when our futures took a different direction? We saw the moon, the one I see now, look down at us. Even though its shape and color has changed so many times, its real face never has - nor have ours...
.
shadows spread
from the old oak tree~
summer night

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Friday, July 13, 2007,11:29 PM
lonesome thoughts
Just hours ago I was looking out at the bare, colorless mountains. The dry heat, more than 110 degrees, felt so good. My joints soaked it in, washing away the familiar ache.
Our flight to Tulsa was delayed, due to the storms there. On the way, I looked down and saw the ground slowly turn green.
Driving home from Tulsa, going south, I noticed how much is hidden by trees and green fields.
Sitting outside now, late at night, the sounds of the cicadas, frogs and crickets are deafening. It's amazing what you can forget in one week.
.
lonesome thoughts
hang in the humid air~
cloudy summer night

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Tuesday, June 19, 2007,12:02 AM
a handmade card
One hour from home, driving way too fast. Far from the footstools of the Ozarks, now looking at a hint of the delta. She's asleep- at least she looks that way. He's staring out his window. I wonder if he's as nervous as I am....
.
a handmade card
for my birthday years ago
found in my closet
.
.
(rest of the story: We took our older son to his first time at band camp at Arkansas Tech. this morning. He has played the tuba for six months and has gotten pretty good. He's had lessons from a teacher from Juilliard and form me, of course.
My first year of band camp was at the University of Arkansas in 1979. I ended up first chair/first band playing the euphonium. I was hoping the same for him, but I didn't push it.
When we got there, we found out that there were 29 tuba players for 8 bands!
I wrote this haibun after we got back home. In a few hours, I got the call from him --- he got first chair/first band. I can finally breath.)

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Friday, June 08, 2007,12:12 AM
rose petal
I've said it many times, but today, for the first time I understand the magnitude of it; I'll never again bring a new life into the world. For more than 20 years we have spent hundreds of times talking about what ifs, how manys, boy or girls, etc. Four times we have been up, far before dawn, giggling while looking at a pregnancy test result.
While watching you sleep, I turn the last page of the chapter for the last time, thinking of the ones we have left.


rose petal
falls softly to the ground~
moonlight



powered by ODEO

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Tuesday, April 17, 2007,12:54 AM
butterflies
Tossing my jacket to the back seat. Unable to hide the smile as I walk to the door. The first morning without stiff joints since early autumn. My pulse speeds as I think about what's ahead. Warmth.... finally.
.
butterflies
dance in the clover~
april breeze

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Monday, April 16, 2007,12:11 AM
bells heard
As the sun rises the eyelids sink. A night that never seemed to end is finally leaving. Why is that? The way that minds seem to stretch beyond reality, resting in a secret place, well aware of the busy day ahead. The clock forgotten, the sun is the only referee that ends the game. Life goes on....
.
hearing bells
from the catholic church~
monday morning

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Wednesday, February 07, 2007,12:21 AM
good news
Tonight, I signed a contract with a publishing company to have my first book published. It begins with a story of my life and what has happened to me, and is followed with a seasonal setting of a lot of my haiku and tanka. It will be in book and audio book. It will be processed into a distributor system, making it available for ordering at more than 25,000 bookstores worldwide. It will also be on the Internet at Amazon, Barns and Noble, Wal Mart and others. The audio book will also be at Audible.com and iTunes.
There's a lot of work now, but I think it's going to be a lot of fun. :)

sun rises-
sound of newborn birds
from spring trees

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