Haiku Shoes

sonnets wear slippers,
ballads like boots
L-A-N-G-U-A-G-E poems,
hip waders, &
haikus, just shoes


hans ostrom 2018

At the Airport

airplanes not flying
sniff gates sadly. they
are too big too enter


hans ostrom 2018

Ducks Are Optimists

Paddle a little,
float a lot. Keep
the upper body
still and sturdy.

Where there's water,
there's food. "A
rounded bill will get
it's way." (Old

duck-saying.) Paddle
and float. Sleep well.
Mutter observations.
Migrate with light.


hans ostrom 2018

Lake Como

The mountains say
What should we do
with all this snow?

The lake says
What should I do with
all these mountains?

Together the mountains
and the lake say Get these
people out of here. We
don't need them. 


hans ostrom 2018

Bird Reticence

Well, maybe if you
didn't try so hard
to understand birds,
they'd share their
observations with you.

They're very busy, they
know how horrible
humans can be, and
they used to be dinosaurs.
Hence the reticence.


hans ostrom 2018

Young Olive Tree

smooth meandering trunk
young olive tree
soft silver mist, Sicily


hans ostrom 2018

Conditional, Tense

I would introduce you
to my friends, but I
don't have any. Hardly.

I'd give an hour-long
speech (favorable)
about your personality,

but I have nothing
prepared. If you would
give me your consent,

I'd kiss you on the cheek--
face or derriere. (Yes,
I am enamored of you,

an I use the term
"enamored of"). I
would do this, I

could do that. Life
lacks luster, and I am
conditionally tense.


hans ostrom
2018