442-444

I shoudn't have shared
and I knew that even as
I shared my half truths

Jerusalem stone
surrounds a marble rooftop
in my presleep dream

Seldom spoken word
of acts under-understood
kindness is lonely

437-441

Just one thing fails me
Whatever that one thing is
One can't be enough

I just want to be
objectively fairminded
I want to be just

Just exactly that
absolutely, totally
just thoroughly just

Just when it seems that
you can't possibly succeed
try just one more time

Everything just is:
healthy, sick, married, alone
Thank G-d for your life

436

Stay out of trouble
G-d help the world with this goal
and please help me too

The Hebrew:  korban
translated as sacrifice
means to bring nearer

When you hug me please
lean your left side to my left
so our hearts are near

Marriage maybe tests
in having someone you love
nearby all the time

True friends are nearby
even when they're far away
others, the reverse

Isaiah said G-d
repeatedly spoke of peace
tothe far and near

In Memory of Scott Gordon

He loved to laugh but
he didn't like to smile
I respected that

429

The apartment chirps

as the man breathes in his chair

he begins to fade

426-428

Sometimes on long days

I force myself to sit down

and breathe in with faith

We all need to give

because we all need to get

So breathe in and give

Clark Kent was a fake

Superman was the real him

We are like that too

424-425

Sometimes I need food

after hours of plowing

and working the fields

Work can be non-stop

The large flocks need attention

The long days are short

423

The Grinch was right that
Christmas can't be sold in store
So many things can't

422

I need to work on
how my calling and my work
best come together

407-411

She’s unsure she says
Of her effect on others
I mistrust the sure

Judgements all the time
Judgement at every life turn
Careful – carefully

Air conditioned hum
An old student approaches
YU Shacharit

Altered states are good
Altered states of tired, sick
Are good for writing

"Stay the same all day?"
Will anyone stay the same
On this April day?

406 and counting

I'm into saving
movie stubs and emails, but
"who will save my soul?"

404-405

"We were like dreamers"
we will one day say of life
that we thought was real

-------------------------------------

And having said that
I will unsay what I said
and say what I mean

403

the cabs honk for me
as i stand, not needing them
awaiting my ride

402

The pain of my hope
of which I just won't let go
has yielded wisdom

401

In silence I run
away from you, not knowing
what to say to you

399-400

My eyes see the sky

through the ceilings above me

over this high roof

Fear G-d like the sky

For at least you have to try

Till the day you die

398

Time out for the sky
Testify for all that is
Sing like you're in church

395 - 397

In shofar season
Why do we waste empty words
Missing its message?

Wanting to be real
He seeks a stand up routine
For a dose of truth

Ruach- just a wind
It's invisible, benign
What moves in it counts

394

We each are tested 

Teachers and students alike 

And we each give grades

391-393

I didn't ride trains
or buses much as a kid-
"overprotected"

I've been riding trains
of thoughts that take me places
since I was a kid

Coached new behaviors
Practiced and drilled over time
Teaching or training?

390

I have nightmares
about leaving my old home
without having keys

389

Like a broken branch
That's how he feels as he sees
His father aging

388

Splitting from the trunk
skinny and leaning sideways
the lone branch bounces

A zero can't sigh
or feel the wonder of now
He said, being one

382-386

One of the zero
He sits, his head in his hands
Sighing out the day

One of the zero
the zero who read the rules
wasting time in school

He doesn't stand out
from the zero who stand out.
One of the zero

He checks the option;
yes, he agrees to the rules
which he didn't read

"One of the zero"
he ponders the sound of it
wanting to be more

379 - 381

Since we lose our sense
We sin more instead of less
Selling out our selves

See that the blessing
comes when you are listening
to the voice of G-d

Sense of direction
seems to be sorely lacking-
sending you spinning

378

They walk holding hands
through an electricity
one day named their son

374-377

The 5-7-5
is the crux of my haiku
Like Mrs. Phillips

Shrugging off bug bites
he scratches them just the same
as the wounds fester

Wounded, he switches 
between looking to be healed
or wounded again

Cliche's can be true
the man thinks while looking for 
the answer within

364-373

"No justice, no peace,"

but there also must be truth

for the world to stand

Kindness and justice

don't often come together

unless you are G-d

The Torah tells us

"Justice, justice shall ye seek"

your way, and for real

Using laws fairly

is a complicated thing.

I yearn for justice.

Is my quietness

a form of injustice too,

as those sayings go?

Justice and conscience

should live together as one;

tell that to lawyers

Is there big justice

and medium and small size

or only justice?

Justice may be scarce

hard to find or to achieve

yet we have to try.

Counting on justice

can lead to being bitter

until you bring it

Redemption will come

to Zion and to the world

by way of justice.

354-363 - Clear Haiku

Clarity or death
Rabbi Weinberg used to say
Something to strive for

One Saturday night
The "On A Clear Day..." movie
Was viewed by my mom

So much is complex
Yet certain things become clear
As we move forward

They speak of clear minds
And it makes my mind wonder
About many things

When we say Shemah
We close our eyes to see
By looking inside

What's clear and simple
Is quite often incorrect
Yet sometimes it's true

Nixon waited to
"Make one thing perfectly clear"
When I was a kid

I want to clear space
In my home and in my head
And then take you in

Sometimes I want to
Clear the slate and start over
Sometimes I am real

Clearly we differ
Clearly we are connected
Unclear what to do

342-353 Content Content

It's waiting inside
The details of everything
Including ourselves

Feeling good enough
- state of peaceful happiness -
satisfied and pleased

Sometimes I get caught
in between content and form,
praying for balance

Content is the word
for what I think simcha is,
rather than happy

I have my radar
for quality of content.
It's a strong system

Animals can sense
when you're feeling discontent;
some people can too

The rabbi's challenge
to not look at the cover
but at the content

Why not be content
with our third grade teacher's rule?
five, seven, and five

Tables of contents
don't show what's truly inside;
you have to read on

Content equals rich
And who is that? Nobody.
- Benjamin Franklin

I strive for content
in this smokey, mirrored world:
"Just give me some truth."

A secret to life
is truly seeing what is,
and being content

341

The TV is on

in it's traditional way

as i sit with dad

334 - 340

I don't drive a car
or a van or truck or bus
and yet- I'm human

I dream of driving
I mean that literally
quite regularly

There's an urgency
someone has to drive a car
I do. In my dreams.

Thank you, but sorry
Baby, I can't drive your car
I don't get your key

Natures are unmasked
by behavior in carpool
By driving kindness

What drives a person
is more important than what
kind of car they drive

Operate, control
propel or carry along:
As they say, "Just drive."

331 - 333

I spend lots of time
pulling away from people
very much lately

Some need to attend
Simchas, beaches, and spas
Others say, "Oh my."

Drugs are everywhere
In our fridges in our beds
Mostly, in our heads

320-330: Party Haiku

I wonder if I'm
the party of the first part
or another one

Parties are something
that I just don't understand
not even partly

Let's not party like
it's any specific year
Let's not party at all

Introvert parties
are like ghosts and spirits
they exist- somehow

Both the party's star
and the hiding introvert:
should really go home

I don't unserstand
these political parties
Neither one is fun

Some just see parties
while others see tests and grades;
such is college life

My face turns beet red
I'm allergic to parties
and to their red wine

They say be myself
when I go to a party
Well I wouldn't go

Social gatherings
of invited guests, with food
for some this is fun

Political groups
on a national level
are un-fun parties

319

Beauty can be found

In a rusty ocean chain-

In any domain

318: Yishtabach

Mine, my father's G-d
Your name is praised forever
Our eternal king

317

I think in haiku
I've always been counting words
and now syllables

316

Sometimes I will write
things that I decline to say
feels safer that way

311-315

Becoming decreased,
downturned, depreciated
diminished in strength

Polite refusal?
Trying to reject gently:
"Aw. I must decline."

The decline of love
of commitment and of will
peeks through the comfort

Poetry's decline
means the world is declining,
resisting, failing

I think many things
and decline from commenting
For the sake of peace

307-310

We're on the decline
Yet I hope we beat the odds
If just for G-d's sake

You think I declined
I think you never offered
And you think the same

Your decline has been
exagerated despite
your lucid wisdom

Rise up a level
or you will surely decline;
there' no standing still

306

When no means maybe
and a maybe means a yes
yes could mean trouble

305

Sweetness of heartbreak
compared to full forgetting,
trying to move on

295-304

To give strength and hope,

to ease grief and trouble of,
to comfort a friend

Moments of comfort
can also be challenging,
like moments of pain

You have to find your
comfort zone before you can
move outside of it.

The comforts of home
apply just to certain homes
and certain comforts.

The reverse of pain
is not pleasure but comfort,
pleasure includes pain.

I wish that comfort
would come forth and comfort us
from our age old pain.

Sometimes you need to
comfort someone once and then
comfort them again.

What brings us comfort
in the short run is often
not good in the end.

Sometimes what we need
is the comfort of a friend,
sometimes they need us.

True comfort is found
deep inside our ageless hearts
where all wounds are healed

294

Good night and G-d bless
the selfish and the unkind
to tweak their beliefs

287-293

If it has to rain
let it drizzle like write now
while I stand and wait

Andy Statman plays
Mandolin not clarinet
while I stand and wait

Waiting for my ride
to a place where I belong
Thank G-d, Thank G-d, Thank-

Mini van pulls up
She's waiting, but not for me
House keeper enters

Thank G-d for thank you
the way I stand here and feel
and say thank you G-d

Happiness is not
something that is happening-
 except for inside

It is important
to catch yourself when you are
playing the victim

286

Fascinating time:
We all get older in it
While looking away

283-285

I need a retreat

from all of my retreating

I want to connect

I took little risks

way back when I was little

then I retreated 

Not hasty retreats

nor retreats planned in advance

neither are simple

281-282

Water slowly moves
oblivious passengers
gently down the stream

General intents
drift away misunderstood-
if you get my drift

280

Little things are big
like grains of sand in my show
endless and and ands

276-279

Seeing you drifting
more than ever in the past
makes me love you now

I drift off to sleep
the book falls out of my hands
little is as sweet

I'm feeling that song
about beats freeing your soul
via rock and roll

I'm looking for you:
If as I wander away
you can catch my drift

275

may G-d bless us all
our ghosts and our families
our demons, our gods

272-274

When I walk I sigh
and my ears pop when I fly
I stand still and cry

That song is stupid
Don't believe that you can fly
and don't hum that tune

Fly like an eagle
Steve Miller and his band sang
Maybe, one day

271

i must remember

non-stop is just a feeling

life does have pauses

268-270

It's harder to write
when I'm feeling so happy
I can live with this

I'm singing along
with an old Steely Dan song
This means I feel good

Billy Joel sings of
a bright orange pair of pants
and all is alright

267

wanting it to be
feeling great expectation 
the thing with feathers

266

May the climbers climb

out of the depth into light

may humor prevail

265

You were hard to touch
till you were vulnerable
and then you got me

264

Just keep on asking
if you feel that you have to
till you get to no

263

grateful or jealous?

it's just a mater of choice

it's not about chance

243-262: Ring Haiku (You Can Now Comment On This Blog)

"Such a good husband,"

they said, without noticing
he took off his ring

Phones no longer ring
but they take endless photos
and hail people cabs

An interesting ring
inside a cereal box
just made a kid's day

I see it as sad
My safely deposited
cancelled wedding ring

Take care with cliches
like, "Give me a ring some time."
Take care in this life

Expressions wear rings
rings of falsehood, rings of truth
See and hear them well

A ring a ding ding
Frank Sinatra used to sing-
a hard working king

Poe caught the ringing
of the bells, bells, bells, bells, bells
which ring in my head

Certain things ring true
and the ringing will not stop
until we answer

David had a ring
which was truthfully inscribed
with, "This too shall pass."

I once had a ring
with my Hebrew name on it-
My name is Natah

The name rings a bell
a funky store, long ago
I think, "Rings & Things."

Sometimes I wonder:
Were the Ringling brothers teased
about their last name?

The Olympic rings
make me think of magic tricks-
Tannen's Magic Shop

I keep on writing-
Like a boxer who just wants
to stay in the ring

"The ring is too small"
she said when they got engaged.
This did not bode well.

She gave him the ring
In the past she took it back
Now it was over.

Sometimes I flash back
I hear the front door bell ring,
Mother caught off guard.

Mother used to say,
"Don't answer on the first ring,
you seem desperate."

Tony Orlando
sang of "rings on her fingers"
in  my parents' home

These haiku were inspired by the prompt - "ring" - from Haiku Horizons.  Check out the site.

240-242

I could keep writing
but I can't ignore voices
calling me to live

What do we bank on?
I wonder outside a bank
Is it G-d I trust?

My dependency
gurgles inside my stomach
as I wait for you

228-239 - Sound and Empty

When someone says that
a question may sound stupid
it is often smart

When we listen to
the sound of our thin silence
we find G-d inside

What sounds beautiful
can be very deceptive
a cover of lies

A sound character
is the goal of the endgame
true integrity

We should not worship
the sound of our own voices
but our own silence

Flying vibrations
reaching a live being's ears
sounds like a sound

I wonder about
the impression I convey
when you hear my voice

--------------------

They started out blank
Filling up year after year
Empty diaries

Jackson Browne sang that
he was running on empty
when his gas ran low

Fill what is empty
only if that's what it needs
Sometime's empty's fine

No, never empty
Always thinking in my head
My thoughts have their thoughts

My empty stomach
dictates too much of my life
as does my full one