Introduction

Some years back, I grew interested haiku. Initially, because these short gems struck me as the perfect match for Twitter—a marriage made in digital heaven, as it were. Besides, how hard could it be to write a seventeen-syllable poem.

As I normally do when my interest alights on something, I read several books on the subject (that this time included Higginson and Harter’s wonderful The Haiku Handbook) and from there proceeded to immerse myself in several well-known haiku masters, such as Bashō, Buson, Issa, Shiki, et al.

Meanwhile, I began trying my hand at these things, initially strictly adhering to the five-seven-five syllable format, which, I soon came to find out (from online self-proclaimed haiku gurus), was quite a crude adaptation of that principle seeing that Japanese syllables do not necessarily correspond to English syllables (which are, by expert reckoning, quite unwieldy by comparison). Also, reading a lot of (published and respected) English language haiku I soon realized that both the five-seven-five and the seventeen-syllable “rules” had long since been abandoned by the better (and more creative) haiku poets.

As a result of seeing things in this particular light, I soon began taking liberties with the five-seven-five rule but for some odd reason the seventeen-English-syllable statute remained on the books, refused to leave, had found a home in me—if for no other reason than that my little haikus (which I soon named Wolfkus for an obvious reason) seemed to percolate to the surface fully grown and just about always in a string of seventeen-syllable creations. And when they did not, say they surfaced as an eighteen-syllable Wolfku, or a sixteen-syllable one, well, then I discovered that when I sand-papered the longer ones into seventeen, or added some air into the shorter ones into seventeen: the meaning seemed clearer, more definite—besides, this was a fun exercise (I love language and its many words and their bendable uses).

Struck by something, an image, a feeling, a thought, before long this seventeen-syllable raft came bopping to the surface (having been let go of by some curious and creative, though shy, deep-sea Wolfku deity). During a morning’s walk by the Pacific, three or four or sometimes five of these Wolfkus might surface, and it was all I could do to remember them all until I returned home to a pen or a keyboard.

Sometimes I did forget them, memory like a sieve these days.

Before not so long, many of these Wolfkus arrived more as aphorisms than true haikus, as little containers of distilled perhaps philosophical reflection. Well, since many of them struck me (the creator, or recipient might be a better word) as both unique and insightful, who was I to call a halt to this quite enjoyable, if curious, phenomenon.

A phenomenon that still flourishes and seems to have no intention to do otherwise, for I rarely return from an hour’s walk without some seventeen-syllable epigram or other.

Seeing, though, that the earth from which these Wolfkus sprung (and still spring) was replete with impressions and sometimes micro-epiphanies, I thought that perhaps it was time to revisit these Wolfkus and examine this fertile soil for what else it might hold. What, indeed, I wondered, gave birth to them, what carried them from darkness to light? And where did they, in turn, carry me? This is what gave birth to the idea of Wolfku Musings—a collection of Wolfkus and the soil that sprung them.

I have published Wolfku Musings, Book One, and will soon publish Book Two, to be followed by Three… Four… et cetera.

Meanwhile, I realized that I really should assemble a sort of archive of those Wolfkus that I have posted online, by now running into the several hundred, and also publish future Wolfkus Archives as I write and post them.

Lately, say over the last many months, I’ve begun to give my Wolfkus titles as well, just for, well, I don’t know why really, just felt right. As I now compile these Wolfkus from oldest to newest, I’ve also added titled to those who never had one.

All this said, here then, the seventeenth installment.

 Wolfkus 1601 – 1709

 — 1601 —

The Wizard of All

Nowhere near
  Kansas—
Is that Love
  I sense
  behind that
  evil curtain


— 1602 —

An Impossibility

I am an impossible
  a fragment of
the unfragmentable


— 1603 —

Restoring Peace

Three syllables
  that will restore
  the peace
in an instant:
  “Yeah, you’re right”


— 1604 —

The Impossible

How did we delimit
  consciousness?
Of this we are so
  ignorant

How did we parse
  and fragment
the infinite?
  Again, sheer
  ignorance

Like the Buddha said:
  Find a tree
or an empty dwelling—
  Meditate!


— 1605 —

When Hearing Fades

I can hear you fine
  but (to be honest)
there is some
  guesswork
  involved


— 1606 —

Viral

Images are
  like viruses
They need you
  to imbue them
with light


— 1607 —

Limits

Limits imposed
  (all agreed)
upon the limitless—
  thus formed
  the self


— 1608 —

Suffering

The one thing worse
  than feeling pain
is knowing the pain
  of another


— 1609 —

Bliss

I really love it
  when crows
  don’t run
for their lives
  as you
  approach them


— 1610 —

Certainties

Shedding the Wolf
  shedding narrow
  certainties
for wider
  certainties


— 1611 —

Letting Fade

I aware and
  discern
a self to
  leave be
a self to then
  let fade


— 1612 —

Slaughter

War in all its
  proverbial glory
is but a wheeled
  slaughterhouse


— 1613 —

Anapanasati

I tailor the air
  with words
and then breathe
  them all back
into silence


— 1614 —

You and Your Body

You are just
  a caretaker
  house sitter
treat and look
  after it well


— 1615 —

Drowning

I’m spiritually drowning
in this seething porridge
  of pictures


— 1616 —

Ego Boosters

It seems like
  on some level
every second:
  a self-confirming
  thought


— 1617 —

Nature

Nature is but
  a visible
  manifestation
of Emptiness


— 1618 —

Tough Love

Compassion
  as weakness
Some call it
  tough love
I call it
  sadism


— 1619 —

Teenage Pregnancies

All these bovine
  teenage pregnancies
Gotta do something
  about ‘em


— 1620 —

Inconvenience

All my life
  I’ve been
  inconvenienced
by this very
  selfsame life


— 1621 —

Bodhisattva

Are you sure
  Bodhisattva
is not a conceit:
  I am so good
  that…

Or perhaps
  it is not
Perhaps it is
  I love you all
  so much that…


— 1622 —

Shelf Life

I would say that
  my ego has
lived well past
  its expiration date      


— 1623 —

Innate Goodness

Innate Goodness
  is a handle
  we can use
to grasp our
  true nature


— 1624 —

Limits

The one thing
  the mind is
unbelievably
  good at:
Setting limits

In and of itself
  the mind
  constitutes
the deepest
  darkest limit


— 1625 —

Love

Wishing somebody
  all the happiness
  in the world
aka Love


— 1626 —

Ocean Wave

Buddha was just
  another
(albeit magnificent)
  Ocean wave


— 1627 —

Lives

An individual life
  is but throttled
and narrowed
  attention


— 1628 —

Dozens

If a baker’s dozen
  is thirteen
A faker’s dozen?
  Eleven


— 1629 —

The Present-WS

Even though
  many billion
  lightyears away
We still share
  the same now


— 1630 —

Love

Love—a word
  so tainted
by lust
  as to be
unrecognizable

Love means
  wishing others
peace
  and strength
  and joy in life
not more
  offspring


— 1631 —

Egocide

It is all about
  shedding ego
About letting go
  that blindness


— 1632 —

Human Interfingernece (WS)

Yet another brave
  teenage attempt
foiled by foolish
  human fingers


— 1633 —

The Fawn (WS)

Four worried legs
  Cannot stay
  Cannot go
Nearby, Mother
  is calling


— 1634 —

Love-WS

Love, these days
  means so
  many things
it has become
  a meaningless
  word


— 1635 —

Core Heart-WS

Life is a
  core heart
  of goodness
with a lot of
  subsequent
  add-ons


— 1636 —

Natural Enemies

Humans have only
  one natural
  enemy
that would be
  Humans


— 1637 —

Buddhism

The Buddha
  founded
  Theravada
Mahayana then
  ran with it


— 1638 —

True Trouble

Is Life in trouble?
  Does Life
  have regrets?
Can Life no longer
  get out?

And if in trouble
  would Life even
  cognize: Hey!
I am in trouble

For let’s not beat
  around the bush
Life, as we know it
  is suffering

The Buddha
  said as much
and he was
  not kidding
He meant all
  three words

(samsara)

Did we shut the lid
  too, too tight?
And why, why, why
  throw away
  the key?

I think Life
  in its
overexuberant
  selfbondage
went too far

(too, too far)

And that is why
  it is so very hard
to launch
  successful
  escapes


— 1639 —

Genuine

Genuine versus
  Pantomime
equals
  True Nature
versus add-ons


— 1640 —

Exuberance

I think that
the Sun must be
one hell of an
exuberant being


— 1641 —

Awakening

The Universe
  still here?
Then you are
  insufficiently
  awakened


— 1642 —

Language

Language is
  a pair of boots
that can never
  leave the land
of Language


— 1643 —

The Sun

I look at the Sun
  and say to myself
there’s one
  of many, many


— 1644 —

Suffering

When measured
  against our
  potential
everything here
  is suffering


— 1645 —

Language

Language is a
  warm room
windows shut tight
  It can never
leave this room


— 1646 —

Never Forget

Never forget
  Life is capable
of discerning
  its true nature


— 1647 —

Revolver

I am re-remembering
how great re-revolver
  re-really is


— 1648 —

A Crucial Question

Hey Buddha!
  Samsara—
is it just Earth
  or is it
  Universal?


— 1649 —

Long Strange Trip-WS

However I got here
  —and the path
is convoluted—
  here is good


— 1650 —

Wordy

Emptiness
  by analysis—
by word against
  more words
and more words


— 1651 —

Language

Language
  not only
reifies but
  energizes
the ego-self


— 1652 —

The Infinity Grinder-WS
  aka The Soul Maker

The Infinity Grinder—
  The Soul Maker
Is Life’s Darkest
  Secret


— 1653 —

Sacred-WS

What is sacred?
  There is no such
thing as sacred
  What is is, period


— 1654 —

Images

Image soup
  Image river
Image sea
  I could be
  should be
drowning

Image soup
  Image river
Image sea
  letting them
  evaporate

Image soup
  Image river
Image sea
  not even
  a memory

Dropping
  body/mind


— 1655 —

Pragmatism

The Bodhisattva path—
  a stellar case of
coitus interruptus

Still, true Nirvana
  cannot leave
  even one single
being behind


— 1656 —

Crescent City, CA

If the Flat Earth
  Society is right
We should see
  Japan from here


— 1657 —

Progress

When still—
  the measure
of my peace
  reflects
  the measure
of my progress


— 1658 —

Sperm Count

Human
  sperm counts
  are dropping
  drastically
That is one
  pissed off
  Gaia


— 1659 —

The Holy Chore

Many a holy
  Muslim male
rouses his
  sexual strength
  at death

For once in
  Heaven he
will have a lot
  of deflowering
  to do


— 1660 —

Serious Thought

These Tibetan
  Buddhist
have given
  this life thing
some serious
  thought


— 1661 —

Poisons

Do greed, hatred
  and delusion
poison every
  single life alike?


— 1662 —

Natural Causes

Falling off the perch—
  Dead by the time
you hit the bottom
 of the cage


— 1663 —

Alike

How mentally
  alike are we?
Or is this just
  another fiction?


— 1664 —

Convicts

Mentally speaking
  are we just
  a bunch of
cookie-cutter
  convicts?


— 1665 —

My Anapanasati

Breathing beyond
  the mental mire
In the air
  feel only the air

  see only the air


— 1666 —

Silver Lining

Here’s a weird
  silver lining—
being run over
  by an ambulance


— 1667 —

A Tragedy

On our planet
  Love, true and kind
is mostly smothered
  by vicious lust


— 1668 —

Dodo Days

These days
  my hearing
  is for the birds
The Dodo
 in particular


— 1669 —

Two Knowings

Knowing air
  and aware of
  knowing air
are ten thousand
  miles apart


— 1670 —

Solitude

Like the
  wounded animal
I crave and seek
  and rest
in solitude


— 1671 —

Neighborhoods

My body is
  my neighborest
  neighborhood
My mind
  neighborer still


— 1672 —

The Divine Soup

Theravada
  Mahayana
So many cooks
  But what
a great soup


— 1673 —

True Nirvana

Truly, Nirvana
  cannot leave
  even one single
being behind


— 1674 —

Overwhelm

Humans are
  mesmerized by
  devastated by
very large
  numbers


— 1675 —

The Endless Loop

I monitor my
  sitting
to ensure
  there is no
  monitoring


— 1676 —

Drowning

I nearly
  drowned once
Recalling this
  scares me
in case this time
  I do


— 1677 —

Discern

In order to know
  what to let go
we need to know
  what we cling to


— 1678 —

Relative Minds

To some—
  an unconscious
  layer
To others—
  vibrant reality


— 1679 —

Presently

Piecing myself
  together
from bits of
  future
  and past—
constantly

Adding to that
  living puzzle
all the bits
  and pieces
I am not
  (thank God)


— 1680 —

Language

Language
  eventually
  transmutes
to the
  languageless
  pure concept


— 1681 —

Seventeen

You can convey
  just about
  anything
in seventeen
  syllables


— 1682 —

Winter’s Solstice

Today—
  Winter’s Solstice
The long dark
  tide is turning
Spring!
  Here I come


— 1683 —

The Universe

The Universe—
  a mega version
of the Sorcerer’s
  Apprentice


— 1684 —

Lovely Solitude

A virtuous vegan
  well-read with
  few chores
I love my
  Solitude


— 1685 —

Ownership

It is not:
  a person
  has a past
It is: a past
has a person


— 1686 —

Mindstream

A life does
  not have
  a mindstream
a mindstream
  manifests
  as a life


— 1687 —

Ease

Ease means
  physical let go—
Know what you
  tense
in order to
  untense


— 1688 —

Pain and Sex

Hubbard
  for all his faults
(and there were
  a few)
was right re
  pain and sex

Both were/are
  artificially
  induced
experimentally
  applied

—making planet Earth
pure hell in the process


— 1689 —

Language

Language is
  quite digital
for words have
  very specific
  meanings


— 1690 —

Mental Images

Mental Images—
  an on/off function
It’s been on
  for a while


— 1691 —

Ignorance

Fragmentation
  fosters
greed and hatred
  purely
Ego survival


— 1692 —

Death

I believe that
  Death is a
Karma induced
  slash controlled
game reset


— 1693 —

Froth

This morning
  a very
  frothy ocean
Irritated
  aggressive


— 1694 —

Karma

While all
  Karma deeds
are self-on-self
  Time adds delay
and mystery


— 1695 —

Ignorance

Our ignorance
  is a dumbing down
a benumbing
  of perception


— 1696 —

Old Age Memory

Can’t remember
  this morning
but I have
  no problem
with prior lives


— 1697 —

Lies

Lies come in
  so many guises
from the bold
  to the
so, so sublime


— 1698 —

Encyclopedic

Encyclopaedia
  of Buddhism—
Tsongkhapa’s
  Lamrim Chenmo


— 1699 —

Selfish Nirvana

There is
  no such thing
as an individual
  (selfish)
  Nirvana


— 1700 —

Tsensing

In sensing it
  there is some
  tensing it
I untsense
  by letting go


— 1701 —

Bodhicitta

Verily
  an enlightened mind
is a mind with
  no further questions


— 1702 —

Jhanic Absorption

Sweet absorption—
  that blissful blindness
that dumbing down
  is not my thing

Awake and aware—
  vivid and stable clarity
that is my thing


— 1703 —

Luminous Words

Luminous words
  writing words
as close to
  beyond words
as words
  can write


— 1704 —

Nimitta

The Nimitta is
  airer than air
  stiller than air
  truer than air


— 1705 —

Inadequate

The human mind
  is to Buddha mind
what ant mind
  is to human mind

what dust mote mind
  what molecule mind
what quark mind
  is to human mind


— 1706 —

Glass House

When it comes
  to lying
I live in the
  glassiest
of glass houses


— 1707 —

Breathing

We are joined
  at the breathing hip
my body and I
  our shared duty


— 1708 —

Vegan News

Since no longer
  fighting poisons
my body maintains
  and improves
  health


— 1709 —

Death Certainties

One thing
  is certain:
You will die
One thing
  is uncertain:
When will you


— End —