Haiku from 2017

2017 started off heading toward a major, three part, surgery that led to spending nearly half of the year under the direct care of my Stanford surgeon for complications. With a miraculous turnaround, the second half built up to peak levels of joy, struggle and health.

Many of my haiku are written in a tea house, so there are several that refer to the pu erh I was drinking that day.

The final section are the haikus I have written after reading, listening or watching something. These get posted on Twitter and Instagram @airjoshb, should you want to follow along.

January
New Year's Meng Fe Shan
Sky giving way to the sun
Some starts aren't easy

Four zero one tea
Trinity playing along
Deep warmth in the rain

The power of faith
is not in God's miracles
but in enduring

What is it you do?
Whatever is calling me,
there's so many songs

Just Unblended Brick,
only all that is and was
Merely everything.

Always deciding,
what to do or doing it.
A binary state.

Inauguration Day
I feel all of you
but my own landscape tending
Peace be to both of us

But now is different!
Though it is also the same,
if you look to see

Am I creating
or having expectations?
Feeling or being?

February
No need to be right
when you feel togetherness
the embrace is right

When you can hold you
the way a hurt child held
you'll know compassion

Four Oh One today
roots rise up, wrap my feet
pulling me to the earth

The door is out there,
getting closer every day
walk or be pulled through

The ferryman comes,
A car crash in slow motion
Witnessing rebirth

Trough a one way door
Immaculate conception
of my own design

My belly transformed
A material tether
tied up to this plane

Scalpel to belly
Started to listen too late
Now engraved

Such a silly boy,
thinking that this all matters.
Only one breath left

Awake with clear mind
blurring edges grow each hour
sight gives way to faith

Jade pulled through the tide
crossing meridian lines
passed from hand to hand

How often do you
inject your singular thoughts
into another's?

Right hand of faith,
holds the channel open, clear.
The left holds your cheek

If you have the chance
to speak to your younger self
listen more than talk

The tea plays again,
notes dancing anew each time.
Dance between earth, sun.

Am I fighting time
or making a quantum jump
to a different thread?

Most days I feel pain,
Sometimes I know the day's hurt
Some days I find out.

Last day of limbo
take one last look around
it's given you much

March
Internal fire
outstrips physical body.
Breathe. give it away.

Time it matters not,
Frequency and recency
Bind us to moments

Not restoration
of the normalcy gone by.
Joy, vitality.

May
This crystal we shared
Rings out across dimensions
calling you to me

Your warming spirit
Spins up in my consciousness
We are not apart

June
Warrior back from war
Just wants left alone to sit,
End our own battle

Lay down the weapons
you will wield against yourself
embrace your goodness

Transformational
Like a cocoon opening
Dragon revealing

When life rushes in
will you still gulp at its flow
or sip what you need?

The world in language
flows past me garbled, foreign
The eyes speak to me

The world is busy
Everyone's doing something
But few are content

July
Everyone, The One
Employ our imagined self
Only in defense

August
The sky blue and clear
some days there may be dark clouds
but blue underneath

Thought, a time machine
no way to think the present
a moment unfolds

Its only Monday
I had a bike this morning
And a friend last night

People are drowning
taking their life, stealing bikes
Don't get too worked up

September
You are you right now
Improvement needs to compare.
Better, just a dream

A feather of hope
A messenger on the road
Native blood coursing

October
Memory is bust
Right now is relational
Future is our gift

Opinions held loose,
Active imagination
toward the future

December
Our emotion wave
Does not reside in the heart
Cocktail of the mind

Resilient like bull
Strength, short-term expenditure
Embodied being

#haikureview
Lights, camera, action.
Lifetimes in every moment
Pay attention. Choose.
#LaLaLand

If poems were people
or a town in New Jersey,
no reason to rhyme.
#PatersonMovie

Sans any class or wit,
Heist in southern slow motion
Awkward all around
#LoganLucky

Arresting sweetness
Head of a pin in the sea
The soul knows its home.
#Lion

You can probably guess
Lichen, vampires, nothing new
Selene's cool is gone
#UnderworldBloodWars

The film has run through
waiting for the words to come
until then, just feel
#Silence

Belief, suffering.
When faith uncovers pride,
Which will you lay down?
#Silence

Actors breathe devout
Visuals become scripture
Master at peak craft
#Silence

Post-humanism
Injected enlightenment
The power end game
#Nexus

The world has moved on
Dying mutants, breed anew
Constraints layered in
#LoganNoir

Franchise origins,
muddle a fun monster flick.
Zombie sidekick fail
#TheMummy

Suffered the ailment
Resisting faith as Judah
Built on chariots
#BenHur

Kinda raise your fist,
Relevant not urgent.
From bankrolled prophets
#ProphetsofRage

The story between skits
Characters doing their schtick
Is good for dollars
#GuardiansOfTheGalaxy2

Her sacrifice, great,
Dancing on justice's stage
Knows no other way
#deloresmovie

Bit rough off the line
Animation without peer
Shines out on the road
#Cars3

The fight no one saw
Maintains China's secret Fu
Whitewashed plot instead
#BirthOfTheDragon

For funnyman helm,
irreverent won't cut it
So how long's the leash?
#TheOrville

Wanting it to end
Worst Austin Powers movie
Poor Sir Elton John
#KingsmanTheGoldenCircle

No sign of his code
For Alba you'd do the same
Clever, not smart
#Mechanic2

dev-opsecpunk tale
where hopeful dystopia
goes post-scarcity
#Walkaway

King as young adult
hoping for director's cut
with more fire and teeth
#TheDarkTower

The story between skits
Characters doing their schtick
Is good for dollars
#GuardiansOfTheGalaxy2

Capn jack sparrow
Better than he otta be
Black Pearl rides again
#deadmentellnotales

creator creates
benevolent or selfish?
mom can not abide
#mothermovie

Driven by sharp wit
Written more stage style than screen
Like Mamet grindhouse
#BabyDriver

Inspiring. Timely.
Let the triumphs of the past
fuel future struggles.
#HiddenFigures

China, New Zealand,
US, Canada et al
Who's Great Wall is it?
#GreatWallMovie

Grand scale, kitchen sink
Furious without the fun
New blue eyes can't fix
#fateofthefurious

Vision with no bounds
French sensibility lens
Could watch for hours
#ValerianMovie

Humanely super
Gal gardot is a wonder
Rescuing the past
#WonderWoman

The Wall's coming down
Not before she has her way
Almost too clever
#AtomicBlonde

Editing aside,
We could use some more magic
Less deviciveness
#FantasticBeasts

More teenage fodder
Or a cultural statement
Like totally both
#Nerve

Not Snakes on a Plane
But is drinking game worthy
And shit will go wrong
#HitmansBodyguard

Simmering thriller
Sheridan is three for three
Go home hug your kids
#WindRiver

Monsters are out there
Kong gets a turn at hero
Monarch's not done yet
#kongskullisland

Gods and mortals play,
in intricate fantasy.
Politics, heart, war.
#GraceofKings

The Boogeyman's back
More wit, more kills, more pencils
Get that man a gun
#JohnWick2

slow, satisfying
flirts with Malick's or Weir's eye
but doesn't transcend
#LostCityOfZ

Not bad Chinese film,
Anemic Hollywood film,
Needed Chinese script
#GreatWallMovie

'Oh Two on repeat
Who was asking for these films?
Perhaps just their stars.
#ResidentEvil

Style without soul
Animation more human
Humans try too hard
#GhostInTheShell

Growing with each film,
a fifty year old franchise
is hollywood's best.
#WarForThePlanetOfTheApes

Hard not to fanboy
post-modern vision, seeding
lush modernity
#BladeRunner2049

If morning phase was
A newborn experience
Colors, a toddler
#beckcolors

David and Walter
The only reason to watch
Two worlds crammed to one
#AlienCovenant

A pressure cooker–
Perseverance in verse,
fills the IMAX screen
#DunkirkMovie

Smart lead with Klingons
Liked it more than The Orville
But worth paying for?
#StarTrekDiscovery

Seeing a new church
laser focused, maniacal
bought America
#TheFounder

Vegas sans Ocean
Taken sans Liam Neeson
Just angry Jamie
#SleeplessMovie

A grand adventure
Branaugh inhabits Poirot,
Transcends absolutes
#murderontheorientexpress

your run of the mill,
annual disaster movie
auf wiedersehen Jack.
#Geostorm

Sadly sophomoric
Sans repetitive babble
Would be a leaflet
#SpysguideToStrategy

Really missed the mark
Requiem for a bat
Anti Ragnarok
#Justiceleague

Sadly sophomoric
Sans repetitive babble
Would be a leaflet
#ASpysGuideToStrategy

Coco reminds us
That what occupies your heart
Connects you as well
#Coco

Moonscape barnburner,
Diverse cast, flattened by pace,
Fun not memorable
#artemis

What I liked: Peter,
Keaton's second best birdman.
But, too marvel-y
#SpiderManHomecoming

Hard not to fanboy
Post-modern vision seeding
Lush modernity
#bladerunner2049

Spellbound mystery
scratching the Qing dynasty
served best with pu erh
#JadeDragonMountain

Pulling at itself
penultimate tug of war
Let the past die out
#StarWarsTheLastJedi

Lyrics are the heart
No biopic confusion
Full of sheen and sham
#TheGreatestShowman

Sensual and sweet
Fairy tale and fable
Science of magic
#ShapeofWater