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Haiku by Jon Tarnoc (1964-)
Haiku in Hungarian
http://www.jontarnoc.com

Haiku

Your face — imprinted
light in my mind, anchor thrown
deep into the sea.

Midnight, Window Press, Toronto, 1992.

 

Cockleshell

1

Lack of inspiration
being born,
keep on dying.

2

Upside down:
as above
so below.

3

How ugly
is the most
beautiful.

 

Visual Haikus 1

the spiritual movers
outside the words inside
the mouth of Rilke

some others just quit
cowardly hate for indifference
dead souls they are

balance is hard to find
when the pressure pushes one
low mouth full of sand

there’s the soul to
protect ‘til the time of release
touches down enough

 

Visual Haikus 2

let me go sweetie
let me go there where
there’s no rain

or a song instead
a word falling inside
time’s throat

let me stay here
let me sit in the armchair
and watch TV tonight

channel four i like
the movie about the man
who cannot die

 

Visual Haikus 3

i’m rooting the soul in
the flesh on Ben Yehuda Street
the best place for such things

enjoy my presence dear
as i dig yours i’m really happy
when you’re at home with me

i hope that guy who
called is not your boyfriend
i would be jealous

get me rooted in your flesh
walking on Ben Yehuda Street
with you i make sense

 

Visual Haikus 4

crystal clear the sound
as the Bach invention merges
with the Family Frost signal

a pure soul touched me
letting my head slip away
on thin ice

klipot
aeons floating in the air
in confusion

human building
divine being
the temple

Encyclopaedia MERZ (in preparation)
MERZ, Spaletta, Toronto, Budapest, Tel Aviv, 2000.

L'Age d'or

28 Haiku
for Gabor Terebess

Spring

City-mountainside.
Windows. Beneath my sunlit
forehead: blinded eyes.

 

City
for Vesna

Concrete-hard surface.
Walking machines, talking heads.
Melancholy wine.

 

Film

What I would like and
what there is: the difference
is a state of mind.

 

Parád

Mist in the garden.
Thoughts afloat meditation
- invisible buds.

 

Evolution

Pigeons fighting for
the food they can never share -
equillibrium.

 

Livy

The fanatic hand
of Mucius Scaevola -
Etruria burned.

 

Trees
for my father

Beech grove with hornbeams.
Patches of snow underneath,
budding twigs high up.

 

Metropolis
after Basho

How I long to see
among cars and factories
God's face in the crowd.

 

Miracle

Long awaited rain.
The iron tears of churchbells
falling on the ground.

 

L'Age d'or
for Dali

dream: the boy's closed eyes
acorns planted in the sky
- flower unicorn

 

Kindergarten

Daddy, Daddy - the
happy face of my daughter -
I can walk backwards!

 

Prayer

Rain. Ocean
roars in pelting drops.
Upper waters.

 

Complaint

Betrayal-anger.
Simultaneous orgasm
never to be shared?

 

Union

coffee milk and wine
gipsy spring upon us
blood mixes with sperm

 

Dew

Pesach-moisture: land
rejuvenated, the dead
resuscitated.

 

Desire

living mental life -
pale-faced mornings follow nights
of masturbation

 

Cartoon

The dangling halo
of poverty above your
head: your art's glory.

 

Character

The man whose eyes were
filled with death on the river
Danube's lap gave birth.

 

Blessing

Fragrance of lilacs
in a manager's office.
Beautiful morning.

 

Vision

The day begins with
floods: oil-poisoned waters,
headstrong motorists.

 

Concert

from circle to square
alternative redemptions
triangle doubles

 

Noon

Chirping birds above
Gul Baba's grave, rejoicing
in the mid-day sun.

 

Season

City-park flower
scent, wet leaves, shivering ground.
So ephemeral.

 

Hope

underground below
the pipe-system waiting for
instant redemption

 

Journey

Getting out of town.
Railway station - runway, I
lift off from platform.

 

Repose

Ferryboat crossing
at Visegrád-Nagymaros.
Which side are you on?

 

Hike

Wild-flowers at large.
Summer heat pouring on my
head, restless mountain.

 

How?

Money-sick mankind!
Flowers wither in our homes,
when we need to be.

Budapest, 2005. March 19. - May 30.