The guru tells us
we should set our intentions
and then forget them.

At first I did not understand what he meant; it seemed confusing.
Now I think he was encouraging us to know what we want,
and to recognize why we want or need that,
but not to be consumed by our desire to get what we want, or reach what we seek.

Still it is hard to wait. To just sit and be open to “letting it happen.”

When we have everything except the one missing partner, or situation or satisfaction,
we become anxious and desperate to reach it;
Love, Meaning, Intimacy, Recognition or enough Wealth.

The tools that we used to get us to “here”, cannot get us “there.”

We need a new way.
I need a new window to fly through.

The Haiku for Hopefuls writer on the Seattle Missed Connections only occasionally added photos to their posts. Sometimes, it would be a photo of the mountains or woods, but my favorites were always ones of the little dog (shown above). I don’t know if the haiku posts helped our poet to “find true love” but having a dog to walk and take to the park certainly helps.

Pirates and lassies
camping with tents and coolers?
The Renaissance Faire!

Aarrrggh ! Ahoy mateys. You can be sure my little dog and I will be there for the festivities and merriment.

I may even teach him to wear a bandanna and an eye patch for Pirate week. (And he’s getting some awesome wings for Fairies week. Shhhhh.)

There’s always something rare about hanging out with people (and dogs) in costumes with swords, that brings out the buccaneer in all of us, right?

I’m sure I’ll be easy to spot. How many pirates are going to be flying the fearsome Haiku Flag?

So cast off, and head for adventure. There’s plenty of room, me Buccos.

Late summer brings Renaissance Faires to every wooded region throughout the country. Even though this haiku was posted to the Seattle Missed Connections years ago, it seems “fairly” relevant right now. I wonder if our former Haiku-er is out in the northwestern wilderness drinking mead, swinging swords and eating without utensils?

work

It’s hard to focus
on anything about work
when we have a date.

Oh, I do have plenty of work to do.
It’s not that.

And it’s the same kind of work I do every day.
I just can’t get much accomplished.

What makes this day different from other days?
Happy Hour together.

Or should I say, “Happy Hours?”
since it lasts the whole time you are near.

I should just concentrate on my papers and email and schedule,
but I can’t.

Instead I’m (dreaming of) sipping wine, walking side-by-side,
and watching the sunset.

It’s a beautiful afternoon, and the weather is perfect.
Why can’t the day pass more quickly?

Please?

The original Haiku for Hopefuls postings on Seattle’s Missed Connections were undoubtedly my favorites, but I often wondered why the title changed after the first year. Did another writer take over? Had the original writer entered a new chapter in their life that prompted a change? The mysteries of Craigslist!

Walk

Let’s take a long walk,
so we can feel the sunset.
Then, ice cream calls us.

There! There’s two more things we can share, that I want to last a long time.

A walk in the late-day heat, and golden glow of the (only recently present) sun warms our skin and our hearts.
And our conversation can wander as freely as our feet do, as we take a few steps and then forget to step in the middle of the next sentence.

It’s harder to walk next to you than you think.

I am so mesmerized watching your lips and mouth as you speak, that I already have to quickly repeat what I hear, and translate what you say to myself like a foreign film without subtitles.

How can I see where we are walking if my eyes are fixed on yours?

At least we can sit down when we eat, right?

The original Haiku for Hopefuls (and many of the haiku spin-offs that followed) frequently included a third character – food.