The idea with this song was to set haiku to music, using the same structure as that which governs haiku: 5-7-5 syllables. So this song is in alternating sets of three measures with time signatures of 5/4, 7/4, and 5/4. Alternatively, one could probably argue that the song is actually in 17/4, but either way it’s a pretty interesting meter.
This was great fun to record. The original song was 30 minutes, and included all the haiku I’ve ever written (years worth). I soloed over top first with guitar, then with guitar/sax, then selected the best of the session — about seven minutes worth of quality haiku and jazz.
You’ll notice a strong sense of place in my haiku. I travel a lot, so many of these haiku are postcards from places I’ve been.
Lyrics
She speaks only in questions
He in short answers
Full bodied, balanced
with delicate floral notes.
Chardonnay and Jazz
Bright white icy peaks
shadows in an endless night
Denali winter
Hotel caretaker
Last man in a tourist town,
waiting for winter
The twenty sixth floor,
high above the bustling street,
is silent and still.
Wakened by sunlight,
a robed woman sips coffee
on her balcony.
A strong stormy gust,
The screen door flies open: fwak!
Mischevious wind.
Chestnut and Maple
Crisp leaves pause at the stop light
Then scamper on green.
Cold gray windy wet
Roof tapped rhythmically by rain
Tears on my windshield
Cool pink desert sky
Strange birds flit among cacti
Hail the newborn day!
Glass Buddha’s candle
Dim light in a pre-dawn room
shadows and silence
One bird greets the dawn
Then another, Then many
Morning symphony
White rectangle plate
Five savory roasted beets,
Buck o Five per beet.
Endless human sound
One thousand conversations.
Silent at the bar
Big City of ghosts
San Francisco smoky jazz
Kerouac in my beer
In ten directions
People, cars, buses, rushing
I sip warm coffee
An aging stranger
sadly staring back from my
cup of oolong tea
We eat to sustain life
Bread, salad, spicy currie
and tea at the Greens.
Going home, somewhere
New Castle? Kansas? Page Street?
Another sunrise.
Curried chantrelles, peas,
cauliflower, carrots, leeks
Chew, swallow, and smile
I ask, what is mind?
Music, poetry, peace, sex
Another deep breath
One man, Union Square
Amidst umbrellas, rain, wind,
doing a headstand.
Nauseous, feverish,
Stiff joints, waiting for a cab.
Full moon gives me strength
Urinal spider
Scrambling to avoid my stream.
I gasho, then flush.
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