f/k/a archives . . . real opinions & real haiku

In thirteen ten eight hours, the First Presidential Debate may or may not be held at Ole Miss.  Whether both candidates will be on stage tonight for this high-stakes event is still uncertain. 

3 PM update: The Associated Press has reported that John McCain is going to attend the debate this evening.   Nonetheless, the f/k/a Gang advises that you keep your options open, and continue reading this posting, which might just come in handy again before the election.

Rather than leave your Friday night plans unsettled, we suggest

Plan B: Hold your own Presidential Debate — and give the candidate of your choice the finger — with these lifelike Finger Puppets from Fold US Candidate (in pdf. format for print-out; via Don Weeks and Cory Doctorow):

.. Obama & McCain on hand for the debates  ..

candidate
debate  –
my middle finger twitches

… by dagosan

update (Sept. 26, 2008): Thanks to a reminder from Anne Skove from Court-o-rama that sock-puppets could also work rather well for staging the debate, Prof. Yabut remembered that an appropriately-clenched fist could also be used to quickly create a hand-puppet like those made by Señor Wences, our old favorite from the Ed Sullivan Show (poster and bio here).  Since it’s John McCain who is threatening not to show up tonight, it’s fun to recall that Wences’ most famous fist-puppet was named Johnny.

afterwords (September 27, 2008): See our follow-up “presidential debate redux: a puppet postscript.”

As expected, a few of our haijin friends are on hand for the debate party:

this summer night—
she lets the firefly glow
through the cage of her fingers

no place
to hide my hands
the rain begins

raspberries in season– 
all day I’ve needed
my hands

in both hands–
the water she carries
from the ocean

…. by Gary Hotham from breathmarks: haiku to read in the dark

clouding sky
my finger
on the bear track

………by Michael Dylan Welch – Shiki Haikusphere 10th Anniversary Anthology (2007)

on my finger
the firefly
puts out its light

………….. by Roberta Beary – Shiki Internet Kukai

writing with a finger
in the clear blue sky…
“autumn dusk”

lion puppet at the gate–
from his mouth
plum blossoms

…… by Kobayashi Issa, translated by David G. Lanoue

harvest festival 
small fingers trace
a saint’s name in slate

puppet show ~
an accordianist’s music
shows in his face

summer’s end
a gap-toothed kid
shows me the finger

blackberry picking ~
a pricked finger runs
into the stain

………………… by matt morden – Morden Haiku

sculpting cloud peaks
from shampoo suds –
crooked fingers

hard-to-peel
tangerine –
her citrus-scented fingers

… by David Giacalone
“sculpting cloud peaks” – Clouds Peak #1 (July 2006)
hard-to-peel” –  XXIX: 2 (2006)

snow shoveled on top of snow –
she breathes slowly
on her fingers

. . . by Gary Hotham – “Footprints & Fingerprints” (Lilliput Review,  1999)