Scroll sideways to view exhibition
lily pond:
another poet
clears his throat

LORIN FORD
filling the concert hall the smoker's cough

ROBERTA BEARY
the jogger
her shorts so tight
i can't breathe

MAC MILLER
doctor in love -
her beauty gives me
tachycardia

BOB BRILL
stampedes                
at calgary, mecca
and walmart

BARBARA A. TAYLOR
winter heating bonus-
she splashes the lot
on stylish scarves

DIANA WEBB
by the dentist's chair
a bowl
of lollipops

LAURENCE STACEY
I tried to write
my Magnum Opus
but only managed a migraine.

GARETH TREW
fashion shoot
the cherry blossom model
wears goose bumps

LORIN FORD
for the thrift shop             
her patched blue jeans
six sizes too small

BARBARA A. TAYLOR
thrift shop coat--
at last my budget
fits the bill

LARYALEE FRASER
in her red dress
she leaves you
sunburned

STEPHEN JARRELL WILLIAMS
identical twins . . .
telling them apart
by their Crocs

PATRICIA PRIME
handed down
unused through generations...
this Japanese teapot

_KALA
in the supermarket
the quick basket checkout
has the longest queue

DIANA WEBB
old blue car . . .
the slow turns
of a small town

CHAD LEE ROBINSON
three strong hooks...
one for each
of my hang-ups

ANDRÉ SURRIDGE
the cost of war–
five dollars admission
please

DICK WHYTE
January sales –
I too wonder
my true value

JON BALDWIN
bus station bench
he smiles at a thought
that just arrived

ROBERT MOYER
at the spring nature walk
he shows up
with his pogo stick   

ALTHEA ROWE WATSON
face to face with Socrates–
the bored expression
of a security guard

DICK WHYTE
for once
an empty car park.
I choose my usual spot

DAVID SERJEANT
cliff top pram stroll
a stranger thinks my daughter
is a boy

JON BALDWIN
new city
different kinds of
coffee cups

ROSE HUNTER
long haul flight
trying to catch some sleep
in between continents

JANE SCOTT
holiday packing –
the condoms I never used
on the last trip

BOB LUCKY
our kid sneezes
into the babysitter’s
Sid Vicious t-shirt

JON BALDWIN
taking her side
my daughter's bear
calls me "Dave"

DAVID SERJEANT
feeling old –
waking my son at noon
for no reason

BOB LUCKY
over breakfast
my younger son tells me
another Greek myth

MATTHEW PAUL
first date –
she removes her piercings,
navel and tongue

PATRICIA PRIME
exam time
the student studies
her fingernails

ELAINE RIDDELL
teenage couple
the crisscross flutter
of hormones

ADELAIDE B. SHAW
first day at uni
my granddaughter sends me
a txt-ku

PATRICIA PRIME
no calls, no e-mail...
living in oblivion
all day long!

NATALIA KUZNETSOVA
online dating
she emails me
a kiss

LAURENCE STACEY
speed dating     another man with hair growing out of his ears & nose

PAMELA A. BABUSCI
on the dance floor -
you make not speaking to me
into an art form.

JULIET WILSON
penny arcade . . .
the oneness
of the universe

CHAD LEE ROBINSON
Forget the bread -
all I'm after is
a delicious ginger man.

GARETH TREW
he sees more
from the corner
of his eye

STEPHEN JARRELL WILLIAMS
heated discussion–
two young men pause
for girl watching

ADELAIDE B. SHAW
Manhattan bar
rainy afternoon
five o'clock shadows

ROBERT MOYER
"oh, my" she says -
"your dog is so - so -
ugly"

AYAZ DARYL NIELSEN
end of love--
even their pets going
separate ways

VASILE MOLDOVAN
breakup lunch
he kisses
the air

ROBERTA BEARY
cutting myself
while peeling veggies -
blaming a potato

AYAZ DARYL NIELSEN
family dinner-
just the right mix
of sweet and sour

CLAUDETTE RUSSELL
morning hangover -
shattered glasses on the floor,
broken promises

NATALIA KUZNETSOVA
drunk again
dad confesses
mom's sins

ROBERTA BEARY
the small noises
she makes in her sleep
midnight heat

MATTHEW PAUL
small hours
sudoku
then the stars

HELEN BUCKINGHAM
saturday night dinner
oneafteranother
his jokes

_KALA
the clam dig–
three cracked shells
ten broken nails

ADELAIDE B. SHAW
rugby match
the fans avidly watching
the cameras

ELAINE RIDDELL
circus clown . . .
show over, he pulls down
his painted smile

_KALA
spring sleet
the mime
suspended

PAMELA A. BABUSCI
waking up
to your
dirty dishes

ROSE HUNTER
trying out hearing aids
she calls out
her own name

_KALA
just pissed away
his whole life
a typo

MAC MILLER
bonsai tree
looking closer
for the little old man

ANDRÉ SURRIDGE
a topiary lion
becomes a mouse-
the novice gardener

CLAIRE KNIGHT
birthday...
the oh that the 0
at the end brings

ANDRÉ SURRIDGE
LIGHTEN UP
An Exhibition of Senryu

A 3lights Presentation
Curated by Liam Wilkinson

Copyright © for poems remains with each author
Images copyright © Liam Wilkinson

Author Biographies | Back to Foyer
joy of new typewriter
frustration
of missing  etter

LIAM WILKINSON
opening the window
to let the dinner smoke

LIAM WILKINSON
Haiku can be funny. Haiku can be hilarious. Haiku, better than any joke, can
tap into the depths of our selves to reveal that most amusing and comical
side of human nature. When it does, we humans, in our infinite peculiarity,
attach the label 'senryu'.

Whether you would regard the following poems as senryu or as haiku that
explore the stranger avenues of the self, Lighten Up presents a selection of
moments from a world we all inhabit, a world crammed with sweet,
unfathomable curiosity.

Liam Wilkinson, March 2009