John J. Dunphy

Dix Haïku

 

 

strip club break room

two dancers compare

their calculus homework

 

 

IRS audit

the examiner's fingers

suddenly drum faster

 

 

used-book store

spider spins a web

in the poetry section

 

 

All Souls' Day

church's sexton cleans

the welcome mat

 

 

child's birthday cake

candles blown out

by the cemetery wind

 

 

homeless shelter

its guests sleeping

on the pews

 

 

Christmas Eve service

interpreter for the deaf signs

Silent Night  

 

 

Halloween

in my neighbor's front yard

a foreclosure sign

 

 

fresh popcorn

bartender dumps

the old maids

 

 

tucking in her child --

woman adjusts

the grave blanket

 

 

 

John J. Dunphy is an author, columnist, poet, cat collector, and bookstore owner. He is presently domiciled in far southern Illinois.