Kij Johnson

the fancy bakery
quiet
the day after Valentine's
#haiku #senryu

gaps

between

the bird songs
#haiku #senryu

after the rain
one car starting up
across the gulley
#haiku #senryu

spring rain
heavy as a blanket
but cold
#haiku #senryu

poems
these days
always with an asterisk
#haiku #senryu

early spring
the birds
trying it out
#haiku #senryu

two crows
looking for a nest site
noisy neighbors
#haiku #senryu

Coool. I saw it a million years ago and had forgotten all about it.

the cat
fur not so soft
eyes older
#haiku #senryu

dirty stars
on the Subaru
at the stoplight
#haiku #senryu

Me too. I had a wonderful zoom or two with him when I was starting work on a crow novella.

And another one! I used to love writing these:
"Family of Origin"
Her grandfather’s postal scale is dated 1934, of iron and brass. It would be possible to beat someone to death with it, but she only uses it to weigh each letter home.
#blueskyflash

During sex, his wife did not sigh or moan but told secrets: I stole nine dollars from my brother’s bank. Lila’s brother put his hand in my underpants when I was ten. I hit a squirrel in the car and I didn’t stop. I never loved you. That last one bothered him, but maybe it was someone else’s secret.

Just found a tiny flash piece I wrote a few years back, so small it fits into a Bluesky post. "Listening is a Dying Art." It's in the comments. #blueskyflash

I remember sitting on the top step of the basement stairs, with the door closed on the just-long-enough cord. I had to hold my arm craned up and to the side.

You know John Marzluff too? Cool.

the last trick played
coyote roadkill
#haiku #senryu

flush of
green
on the pasture
#haiku #senryu

Retooling things here. | Kij Johnson Get more from Kij Johnson on Patreon

Work in progress...

the Canada geese
in the IKEA lot
are never out of stock
#haiku #senryu

starlings
mobbing the hawk
perched on the casino sign
#haiku #senryu

Right? I pine to see a pickup with a pride sticker.

a falling branch
made it only halfway
before the tree caught it
#haiku #senryu

the owls
blacklisted
from the birds' spring choir
#haiku #senryu

the first starling
the first crow
then sunrise
#haiku #senryu

screen
asleep
for two years
#haiku #senryu

recharging an old tablet
and finding
ghosts
#haiku #senryu

Novel Architects - Kij Johnson Information about the Novel Architects workshops and master classes!

I seem to have a lot to mention here! I want to remind writers of my Fit & Finish: Microwriting course, focusing on how word-by-word and sentence-by-sentence decisions affect voice, pacing, theme, etc. Two weeks online, 1–3pm CST, 3/22 & 3/29. Details here: kijjohnson.com/teacher/

I woke up like this—
me
again
#haiku #senryu

Thanks! It is what it is. I have such low blood pressure normally that I have to wonder what low-salt even would look like.