Jack Kerouac reads American Haikus

Jack Kerouac

 Some Western Haiku 

from 

Book of Haiku

Arms folded

to the moon, 

Among the cows. 

Birds singing

in the dark

- Rainy dawn. 

Elephants munching

on grass – loving

Head side by side. 

Missing a kick

at the icebox door

It closed anyway. 

This July evening,

a large frog

On my door sill. 

Catfish fighting for his life,

and winning,

Splashing us all. 

Evening coming

-the office girl

Unloosing her scarf. 

The low yellow

moon above the

Quiet lamplit house 

Shall I say no?

- fly rubbing

its back legs 

Unencouraging sign

- the fish store

Is closed. 

Nodding against

  the wall, the flowers

Sneeze 

Straining at the padlock,

the garage doors 

At noon 

The taste

of rain

- Why kneel? 

The moon,

the falling star

- Look elsewhere 

The rain has filled

  the birdbath

Again, almost

And the quiet cat

sitting by the post

Perceives the moon 

Useless, useless,

the heavy rain

Driving into the sea. 

Juju beads on the

Zen manual:  

My knees are cold. 

Those birds sitting

out there on the fence –

They're all going to die. 

The bottoms of my shoes

are wet 

from walking in the rain 

In my medicine cabinet,

the winter fly

has died of old age.

November - how nasal

the drunken

Conductor's call 

The moon had

a cat's mustache

For a second  

A big fat flake

of snow

Falling all alone 

The summer chair

rocking by itself

In the blizzard