10/18/2013

Guyku, GEICO, let's call the whole thing off!

skin of my teeth
nick of time
final notice
hanging by a thread
down to the wire
eleventh hour
not a moment to spare
cutting it close
typing two carbons footnotes required
ball about to drop
a gecko's sticky toes
haiku's on first?


And yes, the car insurance payment is due. Printing out the liability proof while my sticky toes grasp the window screen.

Excited about a zen reptile discovery in my incorporating-poetry-into-art-class search! Check out Guyku : A Year of Haiku for Boys, by Bob Raczka; illustrated by Peter H. Reynolds. It is almost as fun for girls as for guys, and extra chuckles for MOBOs (mothers of boys only). These are my favorites:  


With the ember end
Of my long marshmallow stick,
I draw on the dark.

Hey, who turned off all
The crickets?  I’m not ready
For summer to end.

Winter must be here.
Every time I open my
Mouth, a cloud comes out.


The website www.GuykuHaiku.com has projects, activities, and free stuff for teachers:

Haiku is not an activity.  
Haiku is a way of seeing the world.

Guyku are haiku,
always in the present tense.
Like these instructions.






 © 2013 Nancy L. Ruder

2 comments:

seana graham said...

"Haiku is not an activity. Haiku is a way of seeing the world." Love that.

Are you familiar with the book Haiku Apprentice by Abigail Friedman? As an American diplomat in Japan, she inadvertently got hooked by haiku. American earnestness meets Japanese aesthetics. It's quite charming.

Collagemama said...

Seana--Loved that quote from the website. I will look for the book.