January

embracing
our heartbeats,
lips part


February

Daily rain--
from the deep well
this glass of water.


March

A frog floats
belly up;
dead silence.


April

A dying colleague
says goodbye--
moonless night.


May

Dead mouse
in my dog's mouth--
dark clouds.


June

Dry wind--
the sweetness
of the last cherry.


July

Flags flapping
on front porches--
the smoky smell of fireworks.

August

I sit, still.
The canyon river chants,
moving mountains.


September

Moonflowers aglow
along the lattice walls;
a candlelit porch.


October

Stone Lagoon and sky
become one--
deepening fog.

November

Meteor shower--
warmed by whiskey
we pass the night.


December

fuzzy halo
around a half moon
foggy night

The poet writes:

One of the many pleasures of semi-retirement is having a few more hours in the week to explore new and varied topics of personal interest. While creating the Spirit of Gardening website, I found many haiku and short poems that fit perfectly into the gardening and "Green Way" themes.

I began the study of Zen in 1962, and that path, undoubtedly, helped create in me a strong interest in haiku.  Correspondence with many poets, and following up on their suggestions, led me to a delightful exploration of the larger world of haiku, senryu, tanka, tercets and other short poems.   I kept my haiku research notebooks on-line, and as they expanded they became the Cuttings: Haiku and Short Poems website. 

Feedback on my poetry notebooks was positive, and I got some encouragement from Michael McClintock, Debbi Bender, Ann Gleeson and others.  Over 1.4 million webpages have been served to readers around the world from that website since March, 2000.  

In 2003, I focused more on the Cloud Hands website and numerous other web publishing projects and less on haiku.   

Mike Garofalo grew up and was educated in Los Angeles. He has worked for over 35 years as a librarian or manager. Mike and his wife, Karen, now live and work part-time in the north Sacramento Valley in California.

His interests include gardening, T'ai Chi Ch'uan, Eastern and Western philosophy, walking adventures in the northwest, natural history, and enjoying the stack of good books on his desk.

Mike has been a cyber librarian and web publisher since 1992 for Green Way Research.