Carlos Colón is one of the funniest senryu poets I know—
in the middle
of making love
counting syllables
I’m talkin’ funny:
zen concert
an air guitar
slightly out of tune
During the 2007 HNA Conference in North Carolina, Carlos brought the house down at the Sawtooth club with his laugh out loud senryu, brilliant improvisational wit and unique character that is Carlos Colón.
Carlos is the author of 11 chapbooks including Mountain Climbing and Clocking Out, two collections of haiku and concrete poetry; Sassy, a collection of linked poems written with Alexis Rotella, and Circling Bats and Wall Street Park, two books of concrete renku written with Raffael de Gruttola.
His work has appeared in a variety of publications including The Red Moon Anthology, Modern Haiku, Journal of Poetry Therapy, Writer’s Digest, and Louisiana Literature.
His poetry has also been part of three public art projects: the “Let the Good Times Roll” mural in Shreveport’s Festival Plaza, "Highway Haiku," and a renku display outside a temple on Sado Island in Japan. In addition, Colón edited Voices and Echoes, the 2001 Haiku Society of America Members' Anthology and is editor of Shreve Memorial Library’s Electronic Poetry Network.
senryu
first day of spring
the plop
thickens
taking my glasses
the optician disappears
into the wall paper
in the wrong
place again—
my accent
haiku conference
even the taxi driver
has an opinion
winter solstice
I delete an e-mail
from Jesus
haiku security: Issa on a no-fly list
===fast===forwarding===i===fall===asleep===
third DWI
his right headlight
swollen shut
at the hazardous
waste site
an eight-leaf clover
flashback—
1967 on my
trip odometer
staff lounge chess game
a pawn on the verge
of promotion
running
all the red lights
funeral procession
my daughter's eyes
when I refuse
the beggar
remodeling
at the zoo
a speckled painter
Carlos Colón
Credits:
"at the hazardous waste site": Point Judith Light II.2 (1993)
"taking my glasses": Modern Haiku XXVI11 (1995)
"in the wrong place again": Sunday at Four V.2 (1996)
"zen concert": published in RAW NerVZ HAIKU III.1 (1996) as part of "Mardi Gras Parade"
with Alexis K. Rotella
"first day of spring": Modern Haiku XXXIV.2 (2003)
"flashback": RAW NerVZ HAIKU VIII.2 (2002)
"haiku conference": Modern Haiku XXXIII.1 (2002)
"in the middle of making love": 2nd Place, 2003 Gerald Brady Memorial Awards
"winter solstice": The Heron's Nest IX.1 (2007)
"staff lounge chess game": Woodnotes 29 (1996)
"my daughter's eyes": Frogpond XXII.1 (1999)
"remodeling": Woodnotes #21 (1994)
All poems copyright © 2009 by Carlos Colón; by permission of the author.
Superimposed graphic design by Donna Beaver. Photographs: Carlos Colón (face) by Rose-Marie Lillian; Milton Berle (body), ca. 1952, Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.
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