Pocket-Sized Pieces + Poems

A couple of weeks ago, mixed-media artist and good friend Liz Gardner debuted the first eight months of her Pocket-Sized Pieces series at the Hobbs Building open studios event. Basically, Liz is creating a small piece of artwork (roughly 3x3 inches, give or take) for every single day of this year, using thread, watercolors, ink, clear plastic, scraps of magazines and a variety of other materials.

While scanning in her pieces over the summer, I began writing accompanying poems in haiku form (technically, many of them should be called senryū) inspired directly or indirectly by each of her pocket-sized pieces, or PSPs. The poems are not intended to tie the PSPs to any specific interpretation, but rather to present some of the countless ways in which each piece can be considered.

The following is a sampling of PSPs from February, March and April and their accompanying poems. The goal is to put some kind of book or calendar together once they are all complete, in addition to an exhibit. If you like what you see here, be sure to check Liz's Web site to see some more examples of her art and keep up on upcoming events. Enjoy!

(Click on each piece to enlarge)

4/4

the rarest of birds
emerges through a red shroud
silently cooing

4/30

a golden collar
for the kitten with green eyes
and nine hundred lives

4/28

drink carafes of wine
find peace at the piazza
lazy Firenze

4/26

the heart of a dog
is easier to read than
the heart of a man

4/25

angry lover leaves
his laundry basket behind
on Liberty street

4/10

home appliances
forging dark alliances
in my new kitchen

4/12

social networking
interconnected lines show
just how I know you

4/1

vaginal machines
drones bearing pheromones in
service of the queen

3/9

glaciers on the go
projected trajectories
away from the poles

3/8

am Kurfürstendamm
returning from KDW
Kaufhaus des Westens

3/7

composition marked
by a lack of violins
but she still hears them

3/28

attention shoppers:
The Great Shopping Cart Face-Off
is about to start

3/26

escaped from the farm
a sentimental rooster
remembers childhood

3/22

following the flag
undaunted until you fall
off a precipice

3/19

rainbow rivulets
racing to the finish line
to snap the ribbon

3/18

ladies of the night
make a different kind of call
by the light of day

3/15

Earth's out of orbit
all the people in China
jumped at the same time

3/12

spin straw into gold
tell your secrets to no one
but the campfire

3/10

Cinderella team
searches for the right fit for
the silver sneaker

2/26

fair for the veggies
celebration of being
fare for the veggies

2/19

a square of lace torn
from the scrapbook of your past
life as a cherub

2/4

dismembered mallard
Nintendo's not innocent
for Duck Hunt victims

2/13

bloody sea serpent
what did you eat for breakfast?
anyone I knew?

2/15

your heart-shaped glasses
tinted windows to the soul
of a hot summer

2/20

seashells behind glass
tiny turrets, sea torches
on the diamond shores

2/2

swallow a snow globe
then get an X-Ray taken
it will look like this

2/28

mating rituals
between super guys and girls
involve lightning bolts

2/22

echolocations
leading to baroque caverns
black and red flowers

more information, videos and PSPs from January at www.lizgardner.com

Poems from Outer Space

Some people say I've taken the whole haiku thing too far. Others say I haven't taken it far enough. I've decided to err on the side of adventure and take the haiku writing all the way to outer space.

The choice to write in haiku is one of practicality as much as aesthetics. As lovely as it would be to present the planets in sestina, sonnet or villanelle form, haikus are much easier to radio in using lucubrations.net's sophisticated network of interplanetary baby monitors. With an ode, you risk losing a verse without knowing the difference, but the short, consistent syllable count of a haiku increases the chance of successful broadcast.

The poem cycle begins and ends on a terrestrial level, moving on to explore each planet and encounter other celestial activity along the way. Collectively, I like to call these poems "the solar system."

The astronomical art above was skillfully rendered and graciously shared by Mr. Dave Coates.

I hope you enjoy.

HAIKU SOLAR SYSTEM

the moon is rising
I am climbing up a hill
who will get their first?

planetarium
amid star clusters and moons
nine planets appear

Mercury I've heard
conspiracies to melt you
into tooth fillings

fireballs will fall
on the roof of our skylab
head to the spacement

morning and evening
star seductress Venus is
lust of the planets

dark side of the moon
Astronauts who go AWOL
like to gather here

Earth try as I might
I can't manage to escape
your troubled surface

satellite shot down
by Orion the Hunter
with his mighty bow

Red planet promise
Mars Rover Mars Rover I'm
flying right over

in space debris I
find the perfect metaphor
for my mental state

eye of Jupiter
unblinking and shot through with
thunder and lightning

Ganymede the Moon
kidnapped by the Planet King
to be cupbearer

Saturn's rings spin on
in solar Saturnalia
dance of 60 moons

if you get this far
life in outer space is a
Gas Giant party

Uranus you is
the punchline of schoolyard jokes
about anuses

far-reaching orbits
when will I see you again?
moons ask each other

Neptune is a sea
where Neptunians sing tunes
cool blue and distant

dwarf planets hitchhike
a ride on Haley's comet
past the asteroids

Pluto you are still
a part of the family
for kids in Kansas

drink a glass of stars
swallow a constellation
hiccup a pulsar

sun is coming up
I am on the path back home
pass it on the way

thursday tracks and photo retrospective

Above is a picture Jennifer took of our porch at Warwickshire. It's three stories up and covered in trees. At night I'll sit out there, sip summer brew and listen to music for hours. If you'd like to hear some of the music I've been playing lately, you can drop by the the lukebox. And if you're not familiar with this so-called perpetual mixtape, this post from a few weeks back will explain its origins and how to download these tracks in iTunes.

Now I know most of you visit this site to read my long-winded rants and to see the latest photos from miss brothers, but today I'm going to post a few photos of my own, part of a recent flickr set culled from past trips to Berlin, Barcelona, Dubuque, New York, Lawrence, Hamburg and down the street. Here goes, with a wee bit of haiku accompaniment:


Kermit and Peanut
at Hell's Kitchen Flea Market
discussing their lives


aboard the Twilight
The ancient deckhand stares down
the Mississippi


sticker removal
my sunburst telecaster
with a tiny star


swimming skeleton
Berlin's famous decadence
has caught up to him


Eppendorfer Park
Till woke up to discover
he'd aged sixty years


Laura makes a mess
covering the counter in
chocolate syrup swirls


At my uncle's ranch
I trail behind the horses
on the four wheeler


she used to live in
the Valentine neighborhood
but she moved away


trees hills ruins trees
we've got everything you need
to build dead cities

If you'd like to see more pictures, you can go to my flickr at www.flickr.com/photos/lukasfotos to see the rest of the 40 or so pics from the past 2 years that I just put up. Or check out this digital pinhole set by Tara Sloan. It's pretty cool, as you can see below. Thanks for reading and have a splendid day.

Hamburg Haiku and Foto Journey

Upon seeing my 100 Haikus about Bonn, my friend Moritz scoffed that he could not believe I hadn't written at least 10 about Hamburg, my second town of residence in Germany. I've finally prepared a few dozen to share, though they are in some cases little more than captions to some photos from 2004-2006. Photos are by me and a few by Jenn unless otherwise noted. Thanks to Hamburg friends for the inspiration and encouragement. Please let me know of any mistakes you might see.


Boats on the harbor
take tourists between barges
and through the canals


woman is free but
everywhere she is in chains
clamped on golden calves


The beckoning blue
guides you to the U-bahn stop
at Landungsbruecken


Hopes of the squatters
are shripwrecked at the shores of
the Hafentreppe

(Hafentreppe = harbor steps)


the Hafentreppe
a gateway to the harbor
you can buy drugs here


The protestors shout
"Kein Hotel im Wasserturm!"
but to no avail



These are the green vines
that cling to the old brick walls
of the post office


bin viel geschwommen
unter die gruene Lichte
am Holthusenbad


Weinachtsmann of Wurst
slings his Christmas sausage links
to winter shoppers


the Rote Flora
rock shows and vegan dinners
for the anarchists


graffiti dreamland
an activist jungle gym
behind the theatre


Philosophenturm
"tower of philosophy"
I had class here once


Pfanner Gruener Tee
is the elixir of life
drink it by the box


altes und neues
stehen gegeneinander
Kirche und Hochaus


Koenig der Loewen
shuttles the theatergoers
to the musical


steht auf dem klingel
"auf zwei raedern bleibt man jung"
bikeride and believe


pedal past chapels
and the fields of soldier's graves
nameless in the sun


the grabengel weeps
and lingers on the headstone
of her dead husband


all the ice-skaters
skate along to the sounds of
Harry's Eisdisco


Elbetelescop
see across the galaxy
for just 50 cents


alte Elbtunnel
surrealistic frisbee
und lichtenspiele


once you've hacky-sacked
in the bowels of the earth
you can not go back


at the Hafenklang
you never go home alone
der Rhythmus kommt mit


Susannenstrasse
where the Sternschanze starlets
go to drink coffee


wall of astronauts
who have ventured into space
and brought back new sounds


back when I was young
me and Susi had fun at
the Crocodile rock


St. Pauli Fussball
Pirates drunk in the floodlights
nachts am Millerntor

(photo by Ayla Kiran)


at the Grey Havens
bid farewell and chart a course
to Undying Lands

(and a few I don't have photos up for yet)

Every weekend night
prostitutes in puffy coats
line the streets of Kiez

red retro ballroom
ascend velvet rolltreppe
to Revolver Club

Zardos is the place
to drink a cappucino
and buy some records

riding around the
Stadtpark Planetarium
on my bike at night

Auf der Reeperbahn
the spirit of Hans Albers
sings a festive tune


when it's time to leave
I board my private shuttle
to the USA