Super Bowl Haiku Trios

February 2024

A Super Bowl-themed Poem

• Haiku Trio #1
So who said: “Winning
isn’t everything, it’s the
only thing” — always,

till today, brimming
with Super-football-frenzy-
-LVIII-Sunday,

I believed grinning
legendary Lombardi
coined the famed catchphrase •

• Haiku Trio #2
Google search says yes,
he voiced this, but different coach
spoke the saying first —

so since, as we guess,
it’s too easy to wrong-broach
and/or poach our thirst

for true words and mess-
-become-marvelous approach —
will You sure un-curse •

• Haiku Trio #3
“It’s a no-brainer” —
so says theist, pantheist
and atheist too —

“oh, to be saner,
just think as I do” (deist
also) — touchdown-true

real seems window-pane
clear? Thus we seem to profess
in midst of blue clues •

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• haiku • definition — a brief poem of three lines — with five syllables in the first line, seven syllables in the second line, and five syllables in the third line

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POETRY NOTES

• Poem Alert
This blog features five categories, including FAST Sonnets in Cyberspace — and yes, you’re right, the above poem is not a sonnet. However, since I’m not planning to introduce a new category called Haiku Trios in Cyberspace, this is the best place in the blog for a non-sonnet poem — let’s chalk it up to … poetic license.

• Prose Explanation Awaits
Much could be said about what I’m attempting to communicate in the above series of haiku trios — I hope to take time to explain in prose someday more explicitly, but for now, this pithier poetic expression will have to suffice.

• To Be Continued?
I’ll confess up front that I’ve failed to convey much of what I originally hoped to say, and I’m essentially dissatisfied with what I believe is a too-obscure message — yet I feel compelled and/or constrained to limit this haiku series to three sets of trios, and therefore I’ve run out of space. Yet here’s hoping I can continue exploring this theme with greater clarity someday in a follow-up series of haiku trios … or who knows, maybe even in a sonnet.

• Thanks for stopping by — and congratulations to the Kansas City Chiefs on their trio of Super Bowl wins with QB Patrick Mahomes in 2020, 2023 and now in 2024. Oh, he is also a three-time Super Bowl MVP. The Chiefs have won four Super Bowls overall, their first coming in 1970.

FAST Sonnets in Cyberspace #5

“Shot through the heart” — are You to blame? (Who gives
Love a bad name?) Oh human heart Maker,
When my heart aches, let it be … because lives
In me living Sword, the dark heart-Breaker …
Because Your arrow pierces wounded chest.
But You fired at me? How could you betray
So heartlessly, like sewer-lover? Oh, quest
Of ages, test of sages — and belay
Rope threads (as knee-jerk heart rages) into
Scarred soul-jest heart on harpoon of heaven.
Love-Slayer, help me pull Your sure shaft through.
(When Your heart breaks, “no, it don’t break even.”)
   Rappel, please, down Your arrow-toting rope —
   Tie me and my pain to Your heartache hope.

© Bruce William Deckert 2014

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NOTES — POETRY 411
The first stanza begins with a song lyric from Bon Jovi, and the last stanza ends with a song lyric from The Script. The sonnet addresses — and attempts to reconcile — some song lyrics from the Scriptures:

“Your arrows have pierced me, and your hand has come down on me.” — Psalm 38: 2

“He drew his bow and made me the target for his arrows. He pierced my heart with arrows from his quiver.” — Lamentations 3: 12-13

“The arrows of the Almighty are in me.” — Job 6: 4

This is a Shakespearean (or English) sonnet — a 14-line poem with 10 syllables per line, comprised of three stanzas (of four lines each) plus a closing couplet. The rhyme scheme — the pattern of rhymes at the end of each line — is as follows: abab cdcd efef gg.

For today’s time-challenged reader, the sonnet might be the best poem structure: 14 brief and (ideally) power-packed lines.

FAST Sonnets in Cyberspace #2

The December posting of this poem is fitting because of its fleeting Christmas reference. Further — and correct me if I’m wrong — its theme and its two sports references make it fitting for a sports-and-faith blog.

By the way, the sonnet might be the best poem for the fast-moving residents of the 21st century. No lengthy free verse here — instead, 14 economical lines.

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“How do you know?” episteme-unstable
Age asks of those who follow Barn-Born, Spike-
Scarred, Tomb-Torn One. “How can you tell fable
From reality, then and now alike?”
But postmods know more than they might admit.
And so I ask: Know you the sum of two
Plus pi? Hank 7-5-5 homers hit?
Your Mom and Dad exist? Know you that blue
Bespeaks a sun-swept sky? That your hometown
Rests where you left it last? Know you the mind
Can lie? Ball tossed up high falls to the ground?
Fourteen lines forever sonnets define?
   Forever … I wonder: How can I know?
   Help me hear You true: Because I said so.

© Bruce William Deckert 2012

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NOTES — Poetry 411
The word episteme is defined as: knowledge — specifically, intellectually certain knowledge (merriam-webster.com). The English pronunciation of episteme: EP – i (short i) – steem.

As you might know or surmise, episteme is the root word for epistemology, which is the study of knowledge. This philosophical discipline is the equivalent of the 5-year-old — or 25- or 45-year-old — who asks: But how do you know?

This poem is a Shakespearean (or English) sonnet, with a rhyme scheme — the pattern of rhymes at the end of each line — as follows: abab cdcd efef gg. Each letter represents a different rhyme, and the gg is called the closing couplet.

Alternate Closing Couplets
1.
Forever … I still ask: How can I know?
Please say true to me: Because I said so.
2.
Of forever, I ask: How can I know?
My Dad (who knows) replies: ’Cause I said so.

POLL — Yes, you can vote for the closing couplet you prefer…

FAST Sonnets in Cyberspace #1

The sonnet is perhaps the best poem structure for the attention-distracted, on-the-go citizens of the 21st century. No lengthy free verse here — instead, 14 compact lines, 10 syllables per line, accompanied by certain rhyme schemes.

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THE BACKBOARD, though blemished, the years bear well,
Witness to losses, wild wins. But the rim
Droops low, lifeless — will no more fame foretell,
Ground right-angled. From driveway of time, dim
Voices call like playground hymns, bounding ball
Echoes … as cold mist mantles summer park,
A child’s lost memories shroud my heart, hopes maul —
For ere my dreams danced, they cried in the dark.
Dad-and-son team, signed to play side-by-side,
Torn apart on blacktop of time — facade
Of years won’t chase the pain or keep it hid —
While this father-taught game grieves at the trade.
   Oh, when I teach my son asphalt ballet —
   On forsaken Son’s court — with him I’ll stay.

© Bruce William Deckert 2012

NOTES
Poetry 411 — This is a Shakespearean (or English) sonnet. The rhyme scheme — the pattern of rhymes at the end of each line — is as follows: abab cdcd efef gg. Each letter represents a different rhyme, and the gg rhyme is called the closing couplet.

Alternate closing couplet
I’ll teach my newborn son asphalt ballet —
And like incarnate Son, with him I’ll stay.

Poll — Yes, you can vote for the closing couplet you prefer…