LNH: Haiku Gorilla # 65: New Storyline, New Thread!
Tom Russell
even with one hand
the Peril Room cleared with ease
a lion swatting ants
ULTIMATE NINJA (c) wReam.
(C) COPYRIGHT 2006 TOM RUSSELL.
__________________________________________________
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Tom Russell
there are three of him
cubs only need one mother
one, two tops: why three?
Tom Russell
"Someone to see you."
UN sets his thoughts aside
like buried acorns
Tom Russell
Briefcase-Eater Lad!
claims he's reformed, wants to join
indian summer
ULTIMATE NINJA (C) wReam.
BRIEFCASE-EATER LAD (C) Jamie Rosen.
Tom Russell
"After my defeat
I pondered my wasted life."
ninja bush ready
Tom Russell
"Found my opponent
seated 'neath cherry blossoms.
I apologized."
Tom Russell
"I asked his advice:
how can I redeem myself?"
bush returned to pouch
Tom Russell
" your sharp teeth rend flesh
starve! chew only for others
sainted mama bird "
Tom Russell
"I'll trust you-- for now.
Take me to him," says UN.
after the dark: dawn
Tom Russell
Haiku Gorilla
amidst a thousand petals
magnolia weeping
Tom Russell
Haiku Gorilla
amidst a thousand petals
magnolia weeping
ULTIMATE NINJA (C) wReam.
Tom Russell
a hundred pilgrims
they sit like silent saplings
"Why are they waiting?"
"He'll only answer
questions posed in haiku form."
sit on the petals
Tom Russell
some find answers wrapt
in their questions: take your leave,
enlightened chip-monks!
Tom Russell
"I love her, but can't
forget his socks, white like snow,
draped o'er my pillow."
Tom Russell
" trust not memory
it is too-long lived winter
you said, you love her "
Tom Russell
"My wife loved the spring.
Wish she'd seen it one last time.
I have no words left."
Tom Russell
" the dead weep for us
the living will never touch
it is always spring "
Tom Russell
the cuckold forgives
widower: in maple's shade
and the Ninja speaks
Tom Russell
"I am a general,
a father: I am tired.
Sailing without wind."
Tom Russell
" nothing so sad as
a frog refusing to jump
be the thing you are "
Tom Russell
"Thanks, o wisened ape!
It's that simple: spring is spring,
and I am Ninja."
Tom Russell
" I only rephrased
your question as an answer
the tree knows its bark "
Tom Russell
"Lazy afternoons
pass quicker with tea and friends.
Blossoms softly dead."
Tom Russell
HAIKU GORILLA # 87
" only another
unloved skunk sees its virtues
tea and friendship? yes! "
Tom Russell
tea date tomorrow
back to LNHHQ
fragrant ninja bush!
Tom Russell
HAIKU GORILLA # 89
"I'm Pants Rabbit Lad.
I'll show you around, newbie."
crabs etched in black earth
Tom Russell
their greetings rebuffed
sickly chick pushed out of nest
"Story of my life."
Tom Russell
BEL offers
friendship: a manly embrace
ugly ducklings waltz
Tom Russell
next stop, trophy room
casually: "Where's the pinecone?"
fresh Cauliflower
BRIEFCASE-EATER LAD (C) Jamie Rosen.
PINECONE (C) Arthur "could do with less Haiku Gorilla,
though" Spitzer
Tom Russell
duplicate pinecone
honouring a friend's twilight
hall of lost heroes
BRIEFCASE-EATER LAD (C) Jamie Rosen.
PINECONE (C) Arthur "are you pacing this for the trade?" Spitzer
Tom Russell
newbies not allowed
"I'd really love to see it..."
ominous turkeys
BRIEFCASE-EATER LAD (C) Jamie Rosen.
PINECONE (C) Arthur "what the hell does that mean?" Spitzer
Tom Russell
"Well, since you're my friend...
I'll sneak you in tomorrow."
twigs bend in the wind
BRIEFCASE-EATER LAD (C) Jamie Rosen.
PINECONE (C) Arthur "insert quote here" Spitzer
Tom Russell
"Well, since you're my friend...
I'll sneak you in tomorrow."
twigs bend in the wind
BRIEFCASE-EATER LAD (C) Jamie Rosen.
PINECONE (C) Arthur "insert quote here" Spitzer
Tom Russell
"Thanks, Pants Rabbit Lad!
Well, gotta make a phone call."
ocean lullaby
BRIEFCASE-EATER LAD (C) Jamie Rosen.
PINECONE (C) Arthur "fourteen years and counting, bay-be" Spitzer
Tom Russell
"Hello, you've reached the
Church of the Miracle Pooch."
congealing autumn
BRIEFCASE-EATER LAD (C) Jamie Rosen.
PINECONE (C) Arthur "created the Church of the Miracle Pooch, also"
Tom Russell
Ninja's tea garden
his gorilla guest welcomed
sweet maple saplings
ULTIMATE NINJA (C) wReam.
Tom Russell
"Could you pour my tea?...
(may I call you Haiku?) Thanks.
Duck with broken wing."
Tom Russell
" excuse me, UN
I have some... ninja business
cat coughing: feathers "
first door on the left
brown kittens born, blind, thrashing
soap like coconut
meanwhile, BEL
seeks Cauliflower's pinecone
crabs waltzing gayly
ULTIMATE NINJA (C) wReam.
BRIEFCASE-EATER LAD (C) Jamie Rosen.
PINECONE (C) Arthur "ninja business?" Spitzer
Adrian James McClure
Tom Russell
Scary Ghost Lass: sheet
clippings from Fuzzboy's afro
only crack'd egg shells
BRIEFCASE-EATER LAD (C) Jamie Rosen.
PINECONE (C) Arthur "JII had a high body count, didn't it?" Spitzer
Tom Russell
the pinecone rests near
Giwack's silk udder-cozy
never trust a fox
BRIEFCASE-EATER LAD (C) Jamie Rosen.
PINECONE (C) Arthur "this story is udderly gripping" Spitzer
Tom Russell
IN REMEMBRANCE OF
CAULIFLOWER, THE CHRISTMAS
MIRACLE POOCH, WHO
TAUGHT US ITS MEANING,
AND IN HONOUR OF THOSE WHO
TRIED TO SAVE HIM. (snow)
BRIEFCASE-EATER LAD (C) Jamie Rosen.
PINECONE (C) Arthur "I guess 'christmas' constitutes a winter kigo"
Tom Russell
his only friend: pooch
"... til you, B." crab's lonely song
"You're my best friend."
BRIEFCASE-EATER LAD (C) Jamie Rosen.
PINECONE (C) Arthur "actually, Cauliflower didn't like him, either"
Tom Russell
embrace me, judas
sleep tucked inside a syringe
twister's treachery
BRIEFCASE-EATER LAD (C) Jamie Rosen.
PINECONE (C) Arthur "twist and shout" Spitzer
Tom Russell
pinecone absconded
the dead sound their alarums
the stag's frenzied flight
BRIEFCASE-EATER LAD (C) Jamie Rosen.
PINECONE (C) Arthur "glorious summer by this sun of York" Spitzer
Tom Russell
Haiku Gorilla
snowflake surprised: sudden spring:
... Briefcase-Eater Lad!
BRIEFCASE-EATER LAD (C) Jamie Rosen.
PINECONE (C) Arthur "talking gorilla/briefcase-eating net.ahuman
smack down 2006" Spitzer
Tom Russell
"Out of my way, ape!
The dead dog's pinecone is mine!
Green pastures, ahoy!"
BRIEFCASE-EATER LAD (C) Jamie Rosen.
PINECONE (C) Arthur "just a duplicate pinecone, the original is in
the corpse" Spitzer
Tom Russell
" dare you steal from ghosts ?
thou persnickety buzzard !
fear the frost: wraith-wrath "
BRIEFCASE-EATER LAD (C) Jamie Rosen.
PINECONE (C) Arthur "persnicket" Spitzer
Tom Russell
"I'll put lillies on
his grave 'fore I piss on it!
Now-- move it! ... or else!"
BRIEFCASE-EATER LAD (C) Jamie Rosen.
PINECONE (C) Arthur "you crossed the line, BEL-- it's on!"
Tom Russell
HAIKU GORILLA # 111
" o peerless vulture
I shall never let you pass
don't sing it, bring it ! "
BRIEFCASE-EATER LAD (C) Jamie Rosen.
PINECONE (C) Arthur "that's what I'm talking about" Spitzer
Tom Russell
"Consider it brought!"
the arch-fiend leaps forth, then stops
his marshlands on fire
BRIEFCASE-EATER LAD (C) Jamie Rosen.
PINECONE (C) Arthur "marshlands?" Spitzer
Tom Russell
hand down his trousers
scratching, the brush fire raging
he crumbles, screaming
BRIEFCASE-EATER LAD (C) Jamie Rosen.
PINECONE (C) Arthur "ohhhh.... *marshlands*..." Spitzer
Tom Russell
HAIKU GORILLA # 114
villain arrested
pinecone returned, the day saved
winter yields to spring
PINECONE (C) Arthur "I'm out of here" Spitzer
BRIEFCASE-EATER LAD (C) Jamie Rosen "me too"
Adrian James McClure
For me to keep up with though,
Worth it, like, um, spring.
Tom Russell
Pants Rabbit Lad wakes
celebrated and friendless:
a cold, bitter wind
Tom Russell
"Mighty gorilla,
you came for tea: will you stay?
the triumphant gull!"
ULTIMATE NINJA (C) wReam.
(C) COPYRIGHT 2006 TOM RUSSELL.
SENRYU-KEN!
Dear Senryu-Ken!,
You're posting too fast
For me to keep up with though,
Worth it, like, um, spring.
--Adrian McClure
Dear Adrian,
It's true, we have gotten a little hog-wild with the last fifteen
episodes or so. But that's because there's a fire in our brain: we're
in the zone, the muse is guiding us, we are being compelled to write,
write, write!
Often we get that way, and some of our best writing comes flying
out. Speak!, for example, was written with this incredible fire, like
we had to hurry and catch that mind-lightning in a bottle!
The problem here is two-fold but with one root: haikus!
It's not until one has tried that they realize that it's somewhat
difficult to tell a narrative story in seventeen syllable installments.
It's especially hard trying to get complex emotional ideas across.
For example, # 76--
some find answers wrapt
in their questions: take your leave,
enlightened chip-monks!
-- went through many, many drafts. The idea we were trying to get
across was that, in trying to boil their problems down to haiku form,
the people seeking Haiku Gorilla's advice often find the solution to
their problems. When you take away all the extraneous stuff, and
concentrate only on the things that are important, often no question at
all is necessary. And so, having found the answer themselves, they do
not ask their question but leave.
We're still not sure if all that, or just most of it, gets across--
but there was enough where we felt confident posting it. We don't care
if you've heard that the reason these get written so quickly is because
we just toss them off: constrained writing is constraining, man. No
tossing off about it. So when you get inspiration-- when you've got
that fire in your brain-- you just got to go, go, go!
Which brings us to our other problem: when that fire hit us during
Speak!, we would sit down and write most of an issue over the course of
a few hours, trying to exorise the thing in our brain. Pages would
pour out-- pages that would be cut and culled and mercilessly harvested
later on. Reams of text. Okay, well, maybe not reams.
But with a haiku, you can't really pour out some pages and then
distill it. Distillation is part of the process from step one. And
so, you're going to get more installments when you're inspired if your
installments are seventeen syllables a piece, then if your installments
are seven to ten pages.
Now, as to why we referred to ourselves in plural here, we have no
idea. :-P
Tom Russell
" proudly I accept
and shall join your honoured ranks
a contented owl "
Tom Russell
as they celebrate
Pants Rabbit Lad scuttles 'way
unnoticed beetle
Tom Russell
he reaches the roof
watches his last orange sun down
duck with broken wings
Tom Russell
he kept to himself
no one knows why he did it
snow in the garden
Tom Russell
"Thought he was happy.
He'd finally proved himself.
Rainbow without rain."
ULTIMATE NINJA (C) wReam.
Tom Russell
" pain without comfort
I sing both of his and yours
the moon's watchful eye "
Tom Russell
beloved blossoms
his short black curls hang in the
hall of lost heroes
~ FOR M. G. ~
(C) COPYRIGHT 2006 TOM RUSSELL.
SENRYU-KEN!
... and that takes us up to the end of 2005 and this storyline.
Haiku Gorilla's next appearance, in story chronology, is JUST
IMAGINE 2 # 2-- which is also his first actual appearance. In that
story, he is murdered by the Weevil Mastermind.
Needless to say, he gets better. :-)
Expect to see H. G. in an Adrian McClure-penned story for LNH vol.
2, as well as a Tom Russell penned LNH vol. 2 Annual. (And, if anyone
wants to help write that massive story, let me know. I'm going to
spill any plot details here, but if you like my LNH writing and would
like to collaborate, drop me a line.)
After that Annual, the Haiku Gorilla series will start up again--
taking things in a bold new direction!
If you'd like to use Haiku Gorilla in a story, feel free to ask me.
I'll have a How-to-Write Guide available for Haiku Gorilla, and also
WikiBoy, sometime in the near future.
--Tom
martin...@yahoo.com
If twenty-five posts altogether
Appear on one page
Martin