Ten Short Form Poems
“on receiving a job promotion”
boss asks, “do you own
anything other than jeans?”
I laugh, then say “no”
“the reality of the situation”
big job promotion—
now I write haikus
on a higher salary
“an endearing threat from my favourite patient of all time”
my mom called in
a sicilian pie for us...
get it or i’ll kill you!
“loaded reading poems in the dark”
i read poetry
and laugh at shifting shadows
as the hours drain on
“future plans”
cold rainy night—
let's kiss and draw straws on who will
catch pneumonia first
“on telling Joseph Fulkerson about receiving scathing rejections because I title my haikus”
he says, of course people
are upset, tohm… you're
challenging tradition
“i am the protitle haiku master”
fuck tradition, fuck rules—
seventeen syllables and
always titled
“coldblooded prophets”
speeding home i pass a turtle
holding the universe
inside its shell
“distracted by everything”
an egret glides overhead—
my watch is at home,
i wish for autumn
“they know no laws”
sparrows refuse adhering
to red traffic signals
they keep flying
Tohm Bakelas is a social worker in a psychiatric hospital. He was born in New Jersey, resides there, and will die there. His poems have been printed widely in journals, zines, and online publications all over the world.
He has authored twenty-five chapbooks and several collections of poetry, including Cleaning the Gutters of Hell (Zeitgeist Press, 2023). As editor of Between Shadows Press, he’s curated two editions of the notorious journal, “Haikus, Nearkus, Fauxkus, Fuckyous.”
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