Waiting for breakfast in the dining car of the Brasília train, I had to put down my coffee so I could confirm a syllable count. As no one else was at my table, this behavior went unremarked. Brazil does however seem the kind of place where people might ask, "As long as you're at it, could you count something, on your fingers, for me too?"

Fog flees before the
Rising sun, exposing the
Surface of Goiás.

The next one just came to me early one morning a few months ago. As I was bicycling and it was still dark, I waited 'til I got back home before doing the finger business.

Festooned with zero-
value-added case endings,
Slav words almost rhyme.

In Trout Fishing in America, Richard Brautigan realized his wish to end a book with the word "mayonnaise." Though my own purposes are less ambitious, that word won't work.

The uranium?
Oops. Sorry. I plumb forgot
The uranium!

Got a word you love but just can't find enough places to use it? Use it in a haiku!

Listen to the birds
Laugh contemptuously at
Your ornithopter.

Ever wonder what a haiku with a hyperlink would look like? Wonder no more.

Atatürk once gave
A 36-hour speech.
I bet few dared doze!

(12/4/14)