Despite the advice of people I trust, and the deploring cries of people I distrust, I have embarked on a project to write a suite of 64 haiku. Each verse is inspired by, and referring to, a hexagram of the I Ching.

I have been supported in this endeavor by the youngest of my four twins, Homunculus. He has sat at my side (in the candle-lit yurt that the family has set aside for poetry. The gentle sound of his snoring echoes through the room even now, a sure sign that he will be asleep within the hour.

For easier digestion the suite is broken into eight courses. Today we present the first eight haiku, a meditation on the complexities and perils of dining in the modern world.

Consuming

*

01/64

||||||

The pilgrims arrived
eager to test the art of
pancake flipping god

*

02/64

¦¦¦¦¦¦

The master’s kitchen
rings with the clumsy chimes of
fast-flying skillets

*

03/64

|¦¦¦|¦

They fasted for days
now intestinal flora
grumbled within them

*

04/64

¦|¦¦¦|

I know I shouldn’t
but I am yearning to order
from the Kids’ Menu

*

05/64

|||¦|¦

We read the specials
but that just made it harder
the waitress, waited

*

06/64

¦|¦|||

The bill brings conflict
for no soul recalls eating
macaroni salad

*

07/64

¦|¦¦¦¦

So he took command
“What’s nine hundred and three split
up eleven ways?”

*

08/64

¦¦¦¦|¦

We retrieved our coats
and set forth once more into
the darkened city

*

Eight down, 56 to go. The next set will be posted tomorrow (unless the Rapture get here first, in which case I’ll post them the day after tomorrow). Verses 9-16 will tackle the seasonally appropriate theme of “Shopping”.

Until then,

Carlton

☰ ☱ ☲ ☳ ☴ ☵ ☶ ☷

Appendix: The I Ching Hexagrams assaulted for this set were…

• 01/64. |||||| Force, Possessing Creative Power & Skill
• 02/64. ¦¦¦¦¦¦ Field, The Receptive, Needing Knowledge & Skill
• 03/64. |¦¦¦|¦ Sprouting, Difficulty at the Beginning
• 04/64. ¦|¦¦¦| Enveloping, Youthful Folly Detained, Inexperienced
• 05/64. |||¦|¦ Attending, Waiting, Uninvolvement, Nourishment
• 06/64. ¦|¦||| Arguing, Engagement in Conflict
• 07/64. ¦|¦¦¦¦ Leading, The Army, Bringing Together, Teamwork
• 08/64. ¦¦¦¦|¦ Grouping, Holding Together, Union