Beneath A Spreading Tree – haiku by Dennis Allen Lange

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The graves of
A president and
Lady Bird.

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The photo is mine, of the graves of LBJ and Lady Bird in the Johnson Cemetery
between Fredericksburg and Johnson City in Texas.

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* The haiku I write are lines of 3-5-3 syllables instead of 5-7-5.

See Haiku article here for explanation, if needed: https://thebardonthehill.wordpress.com/2011/08/08/haiku/
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© Dennis Allen Lange, 2020.

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Texas! – haiku by Dennis Allen Lange

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A four lane
Divided highway –
Speed: 80!

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The photo is mine of I-10 in the Texas Hill Country
with the spring flowers blooming.

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* The haiku I write are lines of 3-5-3 syllables instead of 5-7-5.

See Haiku article here for explanation, if needed: https://thebardonthehill.wordpress.com/2011/08/08/haiku/
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© Dennis Allen Lange, 2019.

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Sonnet 61 – The Path Of Least Resistance by Dennis Allen Lange

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The cypress trees that line the river’s banks
Don’t bow like sycophants, but standing tall
Drink deeply from its waters, giving thanks,
Change to a colored ribbon in the fall. 

Distinction then is clearly made between
Those favored watered trees and lesser kin.
The river’s snaking path is clearly seen
By pattern of its leafy autumn skin. 

The revelation is a doubled truth:
It twists and turns because the tough it shuns.
It seeks an ease as never-ending sleuth,
For low is where the lazy water runs. 

The path of least resistance sluggards take
If in their beds they ever stir and wake.

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The photo is mine, of the Guadalupe River in Texas.

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© Dennis Allen Lange and thebardonthehill.wordpress.com, 2018.

 

 

 

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On The Ranch – haiku by Dennis Allen Lange

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‘Neath a stone
A president lies –
LBJ.

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The photo is mine, taken at the LBJ Ranch near Johnson City, Texas.
LBJ’s tombstone is the large one center right; Lady Bird’s large one center left.

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* The haiku I write are lines of 3-5-3 syllables instead of 5-7-5.

See Haiku article here for explanation, if needed: https://thebardonthehill.wordpress.com/2011/08/08/haiku/

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© Dennis Allen Lange and thebardonthehill.wordpress.com, 2018.

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The Hell-Bound Train – anonymous

A Texas cowboy lay down on a barroom floor,
Having drunk so much he could drink no more;
So he fell asleep with a troubled brain
To dream that he rode on a hell-bound train.

The engine with murderous blood was damp
And was brilliantly lit with a brimstone lamp;
An imp, for fuel, was shoveling bones,
While the furnace rang with a thousand groans.

The boiler was filled with lager beer
And the devil himself was the engineer;
The passengers were a most motley crew –
Church member, atheist, Gentile, and Jew,

Rich men in broadcloth, beggars in rags,
Handsome young ladies, and withered old hags,
Yellow and black men, red, brown, and white,
All chained together – O God, what a sight!

While the train rushed on at an awful pace –
The sulphurous fumes scorched their hands and face;
Wider and wider the country grew,
As faster and faster the engine flew.

Louder and louder the thunder crashed
And brighter and brighter the lightning flashed;
Hotter and hotter the air became
Till the clothes were burned from each quivering frame.

And out of the distance there arose a yell,
“Ha ha,” said the devil, “we’re nearing hell!”
Then oh, how the passengers all shrieked with pain
And begged the devil to stop the train.

But he capered about and danced for glee,
And laughed and joked at their misery.
“My faithful friends, you have done the work
And the devil never can a payday shirk.

“You’ve bullied the weak, you’ve robbed the poor,
The starving brother you’ve turned from the door;
You’ve laid up gold where the canker rust,
And have given free vent to your beastly lust.

“You’ve justice scorned, and corruption sown,
And trampled the laws of nature down.
You have drunk, rioted, cheated, plundered, and lied,
And  mocked at God in your hell-born pride.

“You have paid full fare, so I’ll carry you through,
For it’s only right you should have your due.
Why the laborer always expects his hire,
So I’ll land you safe in the lake of fire,

“Where you flesh will waste in the flames that roar,
And my imps torment you forevermore.”
Then the cowboy awoke with an anguished cry,
His clothes wet with sweat and his hair standing high.

Then he prayed as he never had prayed till that hour
To be saved from his sin and the demon’s power;
And his prayers and his vows were not in vain,
For he never rode the hell-bound train.

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*I must say that one does not become a Christian by
saying a “sinner’s prayer”.  Unfortunately, that is something
from the devil as well.

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The Mission Of San Antonio De Valero by Dennis Allen Lange

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(The seige of the Alamo ended 181 years ago
on March 6, 1836 when the Alamo fell and its
defenders were killed.)

This story of heroes all free men should know,
Of last stand of eagles protecting their nest –
Remember the men of the famed Alamo.

They stood in the way of an armed Mexico,
Like dunes on a beach slow a wave’s swollen crest.
This story of heroes all free men should know.

Surrounded, out-numbered, hope melting like snow,
They proved to the world that it’s freedom that’s best.
Remember the men of the famed Alamo.

An offer, by Travis, to stay or to go.
Those brave men stepped forward and Texas was blessed.
This story of heroes all free men should know.

Deguello, no quarter, was played by the foe
Yet nary a champion abandoned the quest.
Remember the men of the famed Alamo.

A Crockett, a Bowie, and others cut low
In glory and honor are their names now dressed
This story of heroes all free men should know.
Remember the men of the famed Alamo.

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The photo is mine.

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© Dennis Allen Lange and thebardonthehill.wordpress.com, 2017.

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The Ups And Downs Of Oil – haiku by Dennis Lange

Oil prices
Become high enough –
New drilling.

—

Texas shale.
Oil boom! Many hired –
Eagle Ford.

—

New oil flows;
New tanks are needed,
More men hired.

—

Supply up;
Price of oil goes down –
More men fired.

—

Consumer
Likes low gas prices –
Saves money.

—

Supply down;
Demand is the same –
Prices rise.

—

High enough,
Drilling is worthwhile.
Men are hired.

—

When one thrives:
Consumer – oil field –
Other, hurt.

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The picture is mine of a business that started up when the Eagle Ford shale
boom hit.  It built oil tanks, some of which are still to be delivered.

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* The haiku I write are lines of 3-5-3 syllables instead of 5-7-5.

See Haiku article here for explanation, if needed: https://thebardonthehill.wordpress.com/2011/08/08/haiku/

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© Dennis Lange and thebardonthehill.wordpress.com, 2016.

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Day One by Dennis Lange

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—
It was the first day and the sun arose
Like all the other days preceding this –
This one that some would think on at the close
As they looked back with rue to reminisce. 

The morn, if seasonal, was cool or cold.
There was no sudden blaze, no fiery heat.
At dawn, there was no final bell that tolled,
Yet curtain closed on any safe retreat. 

It was a day like all the days before,
The first day of the siege of Alamo.
None knew they only had a dozen more
None sees a blizzard in one flake of snow. 

There is a normal day that is the last
Without a signal that its fading kind
Exists no longer save the written past –
Upon the parchment of the fragile mind.

—

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On Feb.23, 1836, General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna and his men
arrived in San Antonio and the siege began at the Alamo.

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The photo is mine.

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© Dennis Lange and thebardonthehill.wordpress.com, 2016.

 

 

 

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The Deaths Of Bonnie And Clyde by Dennis Lange

…..The Deaths Of Bonnie And Clyde

The rabbits had nowhere to run or hide.
Their notoriety had grown in weight.
Brief were the lives of young, wild Bonnie and Clyde. 

For three short years, they roamed the countryside.
They robbed and killed and moved from state to state.
The rabbits had nowhere to run or hide. 

Their youth and love made their spree magnified.
Their crimes caused fear, but they did fascinate.
Brief were the lives of young, wild Bonnie and Clyde. 

Each time they killed, the search intensified
Their case was now on ev’ry lawman’s plate.
The rabbits had nowhere to run or hide. 

A trap was set out in the countryside
Their habit brought the hares to-ward the bait.
Brief were the lives of young, wild Bonnie and Clyde. 

The bullets buzzed and stung like bees – they died.
They had to know that this would be their fate.
The rabbits had nowhere to run or hide.
Brief were the lives of young, wild Bonnie and Clyde.

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© Dennis Lange and thebardonthehill.wordpress.com, 2015.

 

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An Aussie Lexus Driving Lesson by Dennis O’Brien

Fellow poet Dennis O’Brien (an Australian)
read one of my poems and left a related one
in the comments:

I’m glad I’m not driving through Texas
In a silver and shiny new Lexus,
…For I know if I tried
…I’d drive on the wrong side,
So that ocean between us protects us.

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My poem is here:
https://thebardonthehill.wordpress.com/2014/08/23/driving-lessons-by-dennis-lange-2/

Here’s a link to another one of O’Brien’s poems:
http://dnobrienpoetry.wordpress.com/2014/09/12/the-mango-tree/

 

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