pardon my darkness
I just inhaled a D-28 Martin
strings and all
and a wedding dress
hand-embroidered
seven generations ago
I just inhaled a school bus
and a Raggedy Ann
eighty-odd people who
went screaming to their deaths
I just inhaled mountain lions
snakes and deer
motorcycles and boxes
of holiday decorations
pardon my darkness
my lungs were not evolved for this
my heart is still adjusting

The Ones I Remembered - Haiku in Jail, 7-2-2011, by Carol Denney

the fourth of July
in jail with drunks and junkies
a lot of fireworks

I get beaten up
I get thrown in jail four days
what am I missing

police who hate you
really enjoy booking you
it's most unseemly

it's been ages since
such interest was shown in my
genitalia

jail can be peaceful
no phone no clock no tv
facebook can't find you

independence day
in jail is peculiar
I feel strangely free

the vomiters the
shriekers the pregnant wailer
it's a symphony

the sound of a fan
a radio plays softly
somewhere down the hall

a cell to yourself
reduces the danger that
someone wants your shoes

(not enough syllables haiku)
vegetarian
lasagne is pretty good
I want a doggie

jail is like an island
vacation except with
no beach and bad food

whoever makes jail
disposable toothbrushes
has a job for life

Poems in Jail 7-2-2011 by Carol Denney

there was a homeless woman
who kept to herself
gently singing and dancing
we asked why she was here in jail
she smiled and said
it was a misunderstanding
and kept dancing

People Who See Through Walls 7-8-11, C. Denney

my cell was empty
down the hall I could hear a laugh track
from the cell with the tv
I heard the police technician say
don't touch the tv
the women in that cell
had to have the tv on for days
everything it was doing and playing
and singing and saying
all day all night for four days
the same commercials
the same laugh track
in jail
I heard them sing
44 cable twelve
44 cable twelve
44 cable twelve
when I met them
in the custody van
on the way to court
on Tuesday after the fireworks
I knew their voices
we introduced ourselves and then
I said 44 cable twelve
and we laughed and laughed
and the men in the van said
you must be very dangerous women
and we laughed and we sang
44 cable twelve

Get Real Hailku, by Carol Denney 3-28-11

forget the sit law
let's get what we need; fees on
retail vacancies

Favorite Moments in Media 3-15-11 by C. Denney

our comfort: ABC News
with a geiger counter
measuring the radioactivity
of bananas and granite

Email Poem 11-18-10, C. Denney

our email is down
today we are using clouds
that cloud says “hello”

Sign Stealing Time, by Carol Denney, October 22, 2010

it's sign-stealing time here in Berkeley
they are tearing up signs night and day
they'll yank up your yard sign in seconds
it's best to have nothing to say

for the rest of the year it's graffiti
to have any opinion at all
but election time hear the phone ringing
and it's never a personal call

celebrities suddenly write me
my mail overflows to the floor
and so many conflicting door hangers
I can't even open my door

it's sign stealing time here in Berkeley
it's a popular sport and it's free
free speech is respected in Berkeley
as long as all parties agree

Pumpkins Never Cry, October 8, 2010, by Carol Denney

pumpkins never cry
they just get snotty and lose
your reservation

There'll Be Plenty of Time When You're Dead, by Carol Denney, September 21, 2010

you never made pie cause you didn't have time
and you never did fly cause you didn't have time
and you never drank rye, dear, but never you mind
there'll be plenty of time when you're dead

you'd have traveled to France but you didn't have time
sewn some red striped pants but you didn't have time
watched the birds and the ants but you didn't have time
but don't worry, there's time when you're dead

when you're dead you will never be late for a thing
and you won't have to answer the phone when it rings
you won't mind if nobody posts bail
and you won't have to answer your mail

(everybody sings first and second verses again together)

when you dead they'll be saying how lovely you were
though a little too busy they all will concur
and they'll toast you with glasses of beer
it's a shame you won't be there to hear

Melted Leopard 2-23-2010

raindrops hollow through
the pollen dusted puddle
a melted leopard

Really Good Hair, 11-13-09

Snowmen are not bald.
They shave their heads because they
Think it's really cool.

Everyone's Burning Breakfast, 10-15-09

Everyone's burning
Breakfast this morning in
Honor of Halloween.

Haiku on the Big Picture, 10-11-09

NASA shot the moon.
And the moon would not respond.
Let's apologize.

Familiarity, 9-7-09

sometimes you meet it
at someone else’s potluck;
your own tupperware

The Clam, 7-9-09

There once was a satisfied clam
Who had trouble when trying to plan
Her husband would say
"We'll be late for the play!
Are you happy?" and she'd say "I am."

Holiday Haiku 2008

Christmas is a beach
a really, really big beach
let us all dig it

Fall Haiku 2008

looking at the world
through pumpkin-colored glasses
kind of hard to see

For Ove

In general I'm no Ove Ofteness
My opponents can hardly be soft to this
My rhythm's so off
It keeps sailing aloft;
You can't dance but perhaps you
Can cough to this.

The Summer Fires, written 8-23-08

after the big fires
finally the smoke is gone
I missed my shadow

Holiday Haiku for 2007, written 12-8-07

an impudent year
insouciant, rude, very dry
but what a finish

History, a short story by Carol Denney, 1-10-07

I waited outside in the morning in the dark and I saw it, the same sunrise as exactly this time last year.
I knew then that it was true. This year is history. Should I tell someone? Should I let someone know?
Or should I wait, and just let it unfold, day by day, until someone else meets my eyes and I know that
they know, too, that it’s really last year. All over again. Just like before. Then we’ll shake our heads. Again.

Holiday Haiku 10-15-06

ceramic santas
sitting in a discount bin
where is my hammer

Holiday Haiku 2 12-22-06

hey, beautiful heart
let's change the world is to-
morrow good for you

The Shoes 9-28-06

for Michael Morgan and the gang

if I had to choose…
I’d rather have you chew my shoes…
I may not have a lot to lose…
but I don’t really mind the shoes

and if you have to chew my hat…
or if you have to stomp it flat
and use it for a welcome mat
I guess I could get used to that

now if you have to chew the car
and sink your teeth into the tire
and tear the pillows all apart
I don’t think it would be smart

but if you have to chew my shoes
it won’t really light my fuse
I won’t really get the blues
over the shoes

Airplane Haiku, 11-22-04

snow on the mountain
soft reflection of almost
casual moonlight

the plane has landed
the people are excited
here come the cell phones

Abu Ghraib, 5-7-04

Rumsfeld was sorry
the gorilla surgery
led the evening news

The Shoes, 12-24-03

A woman walks in the showroom selling shoes.
Five dollars, she says, size seven and a half.
It's Christmas eve and raining lightly, so gently it falls like snow.

Art Piece, 7-7-02
back stage in the mirror
my hairstyle represents
a futile attempt
to impose order
on a chaotic world
it is an art piece
and it is done

Haiku for a Poetry Reading, 1-20-02
on and on and on
whining and then more whining
please let me die now

Worse Than Anthrax, 1-19-02
a sudden urge for peanut butter
I'd never had before
a sense that I could almost smell peanut butter
almost taste it
its obstinance, its insouciance
its petulance, its flirtatious nature
it was insidious
clearly the work of terrorists

On Bart, 11-3-01
why must I sit next to the gal
who is reading her poems aloud
she reads them so sweetly
though most indiscreetly
and frankly, the poetry sucks