Ten Haiku Poems by David Hoppe

 

Ten Haiku Poems

 

Six-foot waves white caps

filling dreams with caresses

bird’s wing brushing cheek 

 

Alan Ladd stood 5’6”

Veronica Lake was 4’11”

Hollywood glamour 

 

Our bed all tangled

with humidity and dreams

a wet frog croaking 

 

Checking the weather

looking into the future

blue jay crying thief 

 

Hole torn in curtain

makes an image of landscape

as breeze blows through it 

 

We don’t know ourselves

staring back from the mirror

a tree without birds 

 

Sleeping with a gun

anything is possible

stubborn fear hoards night 

 

Children of empire

going wherever they like

handing stray dogs treats 

 

Under sedation

nurse assures me I earned this

empty space between 

 

Cutting cottonwoods

Great trees terrorized by men

pissing on their shoes

David Hoppe’s writing explores the intersection of politics, culture and community. His most recent book, Mondo POTUS: An American Love Story, is a satirical novel that writer Susan Neville has called a “smart and hilarious tour-de-force” with “humour reminiscent of Vonnegut.” Hoppe’s other books include Letters from Michiana, about life on Lake Michigan’s southern shore and Midcentury Boy, a memoir about growing up in a Chicago suburb during the 1950’s and early ‘60s. His work for the stage includes After Paul McCartney; Our Experiences During the First Days of Alligators and Sacred Sands: A Play for Voices, an audio version of which has been installed at the Indiana Dunes National Park. Hoppe graduated from Macalester College and holds graduate degrees from the University of Minnesota and Bennington College. He lives in Long Beach, IN.