So the other day I pasted three haiku from my blog comments into a document on my computer and noted with satisfaction that yet another round number had been achieved: Rick Daddario had just left his 100th haiku as a comment on this blog. And I know I am going to be celebrating all my amazing commenters in just a couple of days, but I had long planned to feature Rick in a post of his own as soon as he hit 100 haiku (which I had no doubt he would), and this is when it happened, so here goes.
Rick has been commenting here prolifically, entertainingly, thoughtfully, helpfully, philosophically, supportively, and … oh, let’s not forget ramblingly … since back in June, which is almost as long as this blog has been around. There is no such thing as a pointless or boring comment from Rick. (Well, okay, maybe a little pointless. But in a good way. You know, the way surrealism is pointless. But definitely not boring.) It is so much fun having him around. Also, he writes some very cool haiku. (“Cool” is one of Rick’s favorite words.)
I’ve scattered just a sampling of my favorites of Rick’s ku down below, rambling all over the page in a way I hope Rick can relate to. Also, I’ve tried to link whenever possible to the original post that Rick was referring to, because a lot of the connections he makes between my ku and ideas and his are really interesting.
I hope you go check out Rick’s own blog, 19 Planets, where he mostly features his fascinating art (which I appreciate but can’t say much intelligent about because I am woefully ignorant about visual art), lots of which has words on it (I really appreciate that part). He also has some cool audience-participation activities on his site, including the great ku-me and the brand-new ku-on.
(By the way, there are several other people who have left me tons of ku in my comments. Rest assured, their turns are coming.)
Okay. Without further ado, heeeeeeeeeere’s Rick.
_______________
breath count
slowing the wings
of a butterfly
one Buddha
a perfect circle
on the road
muddy hand
against the wall
a street poet
wet feet
in the water
a dance
butterfly breeze
the flapping of lace
curtains
the shadow
around this keyhole
a locked door
the rain stops
outside my window
the crickets
wild life
the dance floor
a beehive
ku-me your ku
across a red dragonfly
splattering mud
carving the damp soil
taking away the spatter
yellow mud dauber
wet ink
on her shoulder
red dragonfly
crickets tonight
the passing rain clouds
have left music
fireflies
above the creek
a roadway
summer tea
the temperature
of moonlight
bed bound
in the tree house
a nestling
dandelion fluff
the last mouthful
of summer wine
lost ticket
the journey begins
now
big moon
the sky has become small
in my old age
a crash
of fallen leaves
red
groggy mind ~
this mountain veil
of volcanic haze
white birch
hidden in the snow
exclamation point
around in a circle
voices back and forth
a round in a circle
midnight
the stars so sharp
my eyes ache
upside down can
the garbage truck moves on
life
back eddy
this slow current
of childhood
the light tink
of rain in the gutter
storm break
constellations ~
each snowflake
in perfect place
the Milky way
a sprinkle of salt
in ink
the milky way
laughing so hard tonight
it comes out my nose
night blossom
beyond this dark tunnel
the moon
frog blossom
ripples in the pond
leave a moon
more moon
through avocado leaves
a soft glow
Red Dragonfly 
Nice haiku street to stroll along, shooting the breeze. This demands more time than I have at present but I shall stroll back again if I may…
best wishes from Scotland, UK
– Brian
Thanks much, Brian. Always great to have a new reader! Hope you stop by again when you get some time.
aloha and cool strolling Brian. yeah, do stroll back, Melissa’s blog is well worth delving into and exploring (imo). NightPoetry. hmmm… i may have to explore that too. aloha.
Your comment here is no. #1500, Wrick. I should have known it would be you. 🙂
bwahahahahaha. yeah, but anyone can hit a number if they throw enough words at it. ha. sheesh. fun. again.
Rick, I do like your haiku. Upside down can is a favorite. White birch is priceless. Love it,
Sully
aloha Sully. thank you. yeah, that upside down can was a fun one. and the white birch… back east (in the USA) i remember seeing how stark white birch and snow can be. wow. and the lines of a tree trunk… ! fun. aloha.
oh, that was wonderful!
and doesn’t surprise me in the least. rick always manages to put a smile on my face. *cool* 😀
On mine too. And yeah … way cool. 🙂
bwahahaha aloha Angie – for someone who can twist and sling words the way you do i’m delighted that you enjoyed these. Melissa did a great selection job. i think that helps a lot. fun. aloha.
Wow! Why wasn’t I informed?!
Nice work, Rick!
bwahahahaaha Willie – consider your self always informed, invited and informally and thoroughly welcome to join in. i dont always know what i’m doing but i keep trying and that’s my stance on almost anything. mahalo (thanks) – aloha
aloha and wow Melissa. i am honored. i’m delighted and (almost) speechless for 2 days*. …wait. let me see if my rambler mode is fully functional. again. yeah, it’s coming up to speed now…
thank you for a very pleasant treat. i hope i havnt stepped on too many toes or at least not too hard, along the way. …especially when i have to kick my own ankle after word (afterward – i know, i know. sometimes. sheesh).
reading through these is interesting. i can see i do a lot of definition ku. hmmmm… i may have to work on that. because i like a lot of what other people do that is not definition ku. okay i like a lot that is too. still… seeing – actually – reading – all of these has shown me a number of things (and that i need to work on more than just what i’m noting here).
1 – regarding almost anything i say about haiku, it’s apparent that i will contradict myself by what i do in about 5 minutes time… yeah. the proof is right there.
2 – i’m still learning in leaps and bounds and smidgens and dribbles – and it’s fun.
3 – your blog is a treasure trove of access to ku. The Story Of Ku by Melissa Allen. yeah. comments and blog entries and yeah. it will be a great read on any hand held device or between covers – the book. wait. that’s your blog not these ku.
4 – you are an inspiration in what you do. wait. that’s you too. okay, these are both valid. period. because obviously without your blog none of the above ku would have ever been sloshed down in digital format or any other form of matting, mashing or just plan mark writing.
5 – yeah, i like ku-ing and i like ku-ing here. among other places. …did i tell you… that i keep the ku i write all over the net in various files on my computer? and last year on WP alone – which is from about April through Dec. because that’s how long i’ve been on WP too… i have about 16 pages of ku (other than the ku i post on my blog) with 11 to 13 ku on each page. which means clearly that on WP your blog is one of my favorite places to ku. sanctuary, i claim sanctuary. and fun.
aloha. mahalo (thank you). and fun and ku on you. – rick
* i actually wrote thus note earlier on 1-12-11. when i tried to post it, my server connection was down so i saved it and now that i can get back on the net… i’m posting it now. yeah. wild weather here too.
Well, it might look like you do more definition ku than you do because I was the one doing the selecting and I like that kind. 🙂 I will email you the doc with all 100 ku in it so you can see which ones you like best, I’m sure they will be different from mine.
I can’t imagine that you’ve offended anyone. That’s my job. 🙂 Also, you can’t learn without contradicting yourself. “A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds.” I think that was Emerson.
I love how we are all learning together constantly. And I don’t for a minute believe that none of these ku would have been written without me, I mean okay they might not have been these particular ku but there would have been some ku written. I love encountering your ku on other people’s blogs too. You should consider putting this stuff up on Scribd yourself.
ha. good point. You chose those. bwahahaaha. good choices. yeah, i’m not going to worry too much about whether i write definition ku or not. heck, i have plenty of other things to worry about without that one. i am more aware now when i do write them, but if they come out that way, then fine by me.
yeah, i must say i’m a bit curious about the 100. in the files i keep with ku i didnt break them up by blog. only when you have time tho, thank you. some how i’m on my 3rd page of WP ku for this year. i suspect you’re responsible for a lot of that.
heck. i should be learning great, i contradict myself a lot and i do it quite well i’m sure. especially if i write it down. do you have among your gathered quotes the one that talks about human beings having the ability to hold two opposite and mutually exclusive thoughts to both be valid at the same time. ?? …i’m sure i’m good at that too.
yeah, some ku i would have written, and at times i do write them more than other times. i just find it fun… in this case tho, i think it is your enthusiasm and tremendous delving into the material of ku that really brings so much of what is exciting – and fun – about ku to life. or, may be tagging along on your coat tails is just plain fun. regardless of which, i do appreciate what you do.
i’ll consider Scribd. it’s more an issue of time. like you with drawing. i want to, but i have a lot of wanna-do lists. so. we’ll see. seeing the ku you selected made me feel good. thanks.
on another thought:
Margaret and i spoke a little bit about collaborative ku in a comment some where. i think WP can be set up as a group blog. it might be fun to set up a group blog where we could collaborate on ku. 2 or 3 people, each writing one or two lines of a ku was one thought. she mentioned renga. for me i’m not really knowledgeable about that form. so i’ve hesitated to get involved with it. if we are making up our own process for collaboration, i’m more comfortable with that – but that may not be what most people would want… more just finding out how we’ll do it kind of thing than a fit it into a niche thing. just a thought. i can be persuaded. sometimes. ha, fun. cool on fun. aloha.
oh no … don’t tempt me! you know I adore both you and Margaret and collaborating with you would be a total blast, but I barely will have time to breathe this semester as it is … maybe I’ll revisit the idea this summer … in the meantime we will just have to unofficially collaborate on our blogs. 🙂 (And by the way I keep going over to ku-me meaning to participate, but I am totally stuck on “earmuff.” What kind of word is that?! I can’t write a ku about that.)
if Margaret reads this — if she is interested in renga/renku (which I highly recommend, by the way — I think you would really like it, it’s like ku-ing in 3-D, at a party) she will want to check out Ashley Capes’s site “Issa’s Snail” or Willie Sorlien’s site “Green Tea and Bird Song” (both linked on sidebar). Those are both run by people who actually know something (a lot, actually) about renku, unlike me. 🙂 Ashley is just starting up some projects, I think. I guess I should just email her and let her know.
did you get the 100 ku file I sent you? let me know which ones you would have included that I didn’t, I’m curious.
yeah, I definitely need to include both the “hobgoblin” quote and the one you mentioned above on “Uncommonly So.” (Feel free to nominate quotes for that site whenever you want, by the way.) They are 2 of my favorites.
yeah. this summer. i can see that. okay cool.
– ha, you know… i suspect earmuffs has be a rough word on ku-me for more than just you. i hadnt considered that. i was seeing earmuffs as a kigo. bwahahahahahaha. oops. no problem. give me a moment… while i look into this earmuff stuff.
i may have to look into Ashely Cape’s site and Willie Sorlein’s site both. yikes.
yeah. i got the 100 ku. thank you. i like your selection. there are a few i might have considered. but you know… i’m way biased on this. i think an objective eye is appropriate. i’ll see if there is really one i wish was there. the problem is once i start looking in that way, i begin to see all kinds of issues with them. the fact that splatting them down in the moment was fun for me – that is important. …even if they are terrible ku. funny, yes? leaving out the terrible ku… yeah, i like that idea. so no problem there. let me think on it…
ha. if i nominate quotes for Uncommonly So
http://uncommonlyso.wordpress.com/
it may take a swiggle turn. misquotes, miss-spellings, art quotes and the backyard sink graffiti included. i’ll give it some think tho. mahalo. and aloha.
Well, I think Uncommonly So needs livening up a little, I’ve run through most of my backlog of stored-up quotes and I’m not reading enough these days, sadly, to collect new quotes at a very rapid rate. So any suggestions are welcome, the wilder the better.
I’ll go back and give ku-me another look now that you have eliminated the earmuff issue. 🙂