The other night I was downtown with my wife and some great friends. When we were walking along, I noticed a few homeless folks in differing areas. It was getting late and I was kind of … well … surprised to see so many homeless and most of them, still awake. One in particular, was drinking a cup of hot coffee. He was pacing and talking to himself. It was getting cold out …
sleepless beggar
a storming wind
stirs his coffee
Don Baird Haiku 
This Haiku is why I love your poetry, I can always see the scene.
Thanks!
See the scene and feel the wind!
Hey Erin. Thanks a ton for coming by. I appreciate see ya!
Awesome. I like how you make it seem like the wind is stirring his coffee.
Thanks Adam. The story behind it is the beggar has much on his mind — problems etc. and it’s so cold out that he can’t sleep. The resonance in there is about him more than the weather and all. The weather is that symbol combined with coffee (stirring his/her mind). With haiku, there are layers of meaning. On the surface, just trying to drink his coffee in the winter storm is enough though! For sure. 🙂 That paints a picture that none of us want — for ourselves or him/her. Interesting thing — haiku.
There are many eyes that see Downtown LA and Chinatown and many minds that interpret these thoughts and many hearts to interpret these feelings. It’s an endless cycle. Yet the end result can differ from a poem to a photograph to a song to an epiphany to a simple struggle for survival to be able breathe the next breath, or to… no thought to it at all. There are those who walk right by. And there are others like you who find resonance and lessons in these little moments, creating something… to hold the moment for a while longer. The homeless man may have been saying his blessings for one more cup of coffee, and a hot one at that!
Hi Bones,
Thanks so much for coming by. I appreciate your comment a lot.
I know this is one of your oldest posts here on WordPress (if not your oldest) but I wanted to say that this haiku really creates an incredible image, and is done so very well.
I also wanted to thank you; I was a student of yours about eight years ago on http://www.allpoetry.com. You had taught me so much about the haiku, when at that young age I didn’t have anyone else to learn from. Your guidance has pushed me into a life of poetry and writing and so I sincerely thank you for all of your help, and for the great haikus which have put many smiles on my face.
Hi and thanks for coming by to comment. I appreciate it very much. Hope life has been treating you well these days!!! Normally I write short/long/short these days but this haiku came out 4/4/4 and at the time, I found no other way to write it but this way. I’m glad you enjoyed it. I hope you keep track of this blog and that you come back from time to time to visit.
Take care!
Don
I will definitely be keeping up with the blog! 🙂 Life has been good, so thank you~ I appreciate the time you took in your reply, I was telling my girlfriend today how helpful you always were.
Take care, I’m sure I’ll be commenting on other pieces!
-Kyle