Punk Rock Poetry Corner: Haikus 2009 (By Don Hargraves)

<Haikus 2009>

Goodbye to the year

    that never should have become

        the year we went through:

The Stock Market Dropped

    and a woman's life turned into

        noisy agony

    and is now held together

        by Valium Eucharists

Jobs came and jobs left.

    I held onto mine closely

        As millions lost theirs…

    My wages didn't move down

        For which I am SO grateful…

Promises were made

    which in the end were better

        left aside broken

    but pride forces shit along

        that should never have been done.

Deaths came fast and thick

    as the year came to an end;

        ugliness followed:

    One came with middle fingers

        another: bad memories.

And through all of it

    a striving that seemed finished

        only to cut off:

    I watched the rich hoard like hell

        and the poor were forced to pay

So I say goodbye

    to a year that should never

        be mentioned again...

                    --Don Hargraves

Punk Rock Poetry Corner: The People's Haikus #3: Shootout At The Dream Factory

<TAKE I: THE INDUSTRY>

Note to authors: want

Royalties? Go see the queen

of England, not me.

Celebrity book
deals reign supreme: it's a small world,

dude, who needs you?

First novel doesn't
sell? Better luck next time, kid.
Show us your platform!

Your cupboard feeling

cold & clammy? Better talk with

my assistant, friend:

Hey, I'm your agent!
I meant what I said (at the

time that I said it).

 

<TAKE II: THE TALENT>

"Wait a minute," I

demand, "not so fast...sure, cream

rises. So does crap."

On the horizon,

I smell puffs of mutiny,

DIY cries ringing free

Spreading our stories

via the blog or handheld

reader (making us 

all town criers (no

longer selling works for hire,

always & forever):

this deal sounds better:

high time for a shootout at

...the dream factory.

<TAKE III: THE OUTCOME>

So where's the grapeshot?

The whiff of gunpowder has

never smelled sweeter

than it does here &

so, forgive me, if I want

the taste in my mouth

to linger just a

little bit longer, since cream

rises (remember)?

                          <The Reckoner>

Punk Rock Poetry Corner: The People's Haikus #2: (For Freelancers & Journalists)

Newspapers folding
At dizzying speeds: have empire,
must now work for food.

I spent 20 years
reheating meals, losing sleep:
I lost my job anyway.

Fend for yourself now
Amid the wreckage: no prospects,
hell...no benefits.

Dear Freelancer: your

pay is due for an increase (when

Hell freezes over).

What is the essence

of a correspondent?

Rhymes with..."despondent."

Shareholders swarm

like locusts, leaving nothing

but dreams in pieces.

As newsrooms topple

Like dominoes nationwide,

one thought has struck me:

Here is our downfall,

In 25 words or less...we

missed so many hints.

• The Reckoner

Punk Rock Poetry Corner: The People's Haikus

Congressman Scrooge: run

that "Surplus Population 

Joke" by me once more.

Scrooge replies: people

suck up to you around here...

God, I love this place!

Great Elevator

Speech...you're over 40?

We hired someone else.

Take a pay cut, grin

through your boss's jokes..ah, Stockholm

Syndrome in Action.

Executive Blues

skimming paychecks is hard work...

tax exile awaits.

A conspiracy

of stocks speaks louder than guns

drop the greenmail bombs.

Your pension blows up,

you won't work till you drop?

only when pigs fly.

My dreams ran aground:

this scratch off ticket netted

me...only 5 bucks.

Lobbying: my way 

of saying..."It's return

on investment time."

The poor grow poorer,

because...you cannot feast on 

air and promises.

Class warfare, you say?

true enough: why rock your boat

when I can sink it?

Hey Mr. Banker:

Remember...As long as I breathe,

my hope burns bright!

-----The Reckoner