We’re way past due for haiku from attorney-haijin Roberta Beary.
Here’s her latest contribution to The Heron’s Nest (Sept. 2005):
cut grass
i sweep away
summer’s end
And, here’s a sneak peek at her winning poem — which will “Snapshots2006”
appear in February, in the Snapshots Press 2006 Haiku Calendar:
snowed in
the dog clicks
from room to room
Finally, rather than merely skimming off the concluding senryu
from Roberta’s haibun, stranger danger (Frogpond XXVIII:2, 2005),
I want to share the entire piece with you (the first haibun presented
in its entirety at f/k/a):
stranger danger
IN SCHOOL THEY WARN YOU about stranger danger beware
of all the people you don’t know don’t walk near the bushes keep
to the open street watch out for vans with sliding doors at home
keep the door locked don’t open up for strangers and they leave
out the part about the one with you in a place where no locks
can save you for years too long to count
funeral over
the deadbolt
slides into place
Robert Beary
from dagosan:
outdoor art show —
watching the people
and the river
on display:
her paintings
and her navel
[Sept. 10, 2005]
potluck
With just two sentences, an article in today’s New York Times sent a shiver
down my spine (“But I Just Want to know, where’s my baby?” Sept. 10, 2005):
On Thursday and Friday alone, the National Center for Missing and
Exploited Children received 500 new cases of parents looking for children
or vice versa, bringing the number of reports in its Hurricane Katrina
database to 1,500.
Of the center’s cases, 258 have been successfully resolved.
my Referer and Keyword Activity pages. I hope you feel the same
way. The following entries went onto the Inadvertent Searchee Page
this evening:
Sept. 10, 2005
issa blind date> I’m not sure that our beloved Kobayashi Issa ever wrote a
haiku about a blind date, but dagosan did, and it garnered the #1 spot, out of
51,000 results in a Google Search. Our post a Google blind date was the 2nd
result. As soon as David Lanoue’s Issa Website is back online — it’s on the
Xavier University webserver in New Orleans — I shall search “blind date” and
check it out. Meanwhile, f/k/a misses our frequent Issa-fixes compliments of
Prof. Lanoue.
catholic common law marriage> A post about Judge Roberts’ Catholicism landed
us the #2 result, out of about 3.5 million, in the Google Search. This is one of
those queries that makes me wonder just what the searcher was seeking. The #1
result is an excerpt by Ammon Hennacy, from his Book of Ammon, in which he
mentions once seeking annulment by the church of his common law marriage.
Hennacy was an anarchist and self-proclaimed radical follower of Christ, and the
Chapter, “On Leaving the Catholic Church” is quite interesting.
one of our posts about the Florida Bar’s battle against the 1-800-PIT BULL marketing
program is the #2 result out of 1.9 million in this Google query. Very good doggy.
Sept. 9, 2005
closed eyelids> This haiku by dagosan on Sept. 1st landed us in the #1 spot, out
of 1.9 million Google Search results:
supine under blue skies —
behind closed eyelids
a blood-red ocean
Sept. 8, 2005
Shakespeare about Lawyers> We worked hard for our #2 position, out of 1,460,000
results in this Yahoo! Search. What’s more interesting is the #1 result — which is the
instruction sheet for the law school course “Shakespeare for Lawyers,” from Prof.
Sodeman at the University of Toledo Law School. Here’s the meat of the sheet,
which raises a number of issues on a number of fronts (which I shall leave for our
readers to spot); the emphasis was in the original:
“As you read watch for three things. First, is there law in the text.
Shakespeare wrote at the time when Lord Coke was codifying English
Common Law. Shakespeare was legally adept. Second look for quotable
Shakespeare. He was adept with words as well. Adept does not do it justice.
He had genius which many wise attorneys have borrowed. Third, ask how
the play explains our [legal] world in 2004. Four hundred years after they
were written the plays still seem timeless explanations of the human condition.
“The grading! Half of the grade will be based on participation in class. It is,
after all, a theater arts class. Participation is defined here as response when
called on. Some folks are naturally outgoing and talk a lot. Others, like Justice
Thomas, do not ask many questions. Comments and discussion are always
welcome but to keep a level playing field I will base my grading on response to
my prompting. Everyone will be called on to respond. The other half of the grade
will be based on the exam. It will not be take home. There will be one essay
question. One hour will be allowed. The answer is limited to two sheets each
with 28 lines (answer sheets will be provided). You will need your copies of the
plays covered, a pen (black or blue ink) and class notes are permitted.
(just one Ed. note: “two sheets each with 28 lines”?!)
“emphasis added” +judge> We had the #1 and #2 results out of 1.9 million in this Google
search. It’s difficult to understand how we snuck in ahead of the BigBlawgers, who surely
use the keywords in question a lot — perhaps quoting Judge Posner did it.
