John J. Dunphy

sidewalk
a garbage can atop
the body’s chalk outline

Failed Haiku Oct. 2019 Issue 46

yard sale
t-shirts in a box marked
'might be able to wear again'

Prune Juice November 2018

budget draft
I click
don't save

Modern Haiku 50:2

yoga class
my corpse pose
draws a fly

Modern Haiku 48:1

heavy breathing
my wife and I get off
our exercise bikes

Frogpond 40:3

first alimony check
her reclaimed family name
misspelled

RAW NerVZ HAIKU 5:4

foreclosed farm auction
the successful bidder
wears a suit

Prune Juice March 2016

VFW Post
its new commander
resplendent in her dress

Prune Juice March 2016

elderly couple
the wife now remembers
for both of them

Prune Juice November 2016

meth house
staring from its barred window
a teddy bear

Prune Juice November 2016

cackling in the fireplace --
the invitation to
my ex's wedding

Prune Juice November 2016

sidewalk
a votive candle burns
on the blood stain

Prune Juice November 2016

February thaw
names reappear
on the war memorial

Acorn #35

rehab center courtyard
a snow angel
with one wing

Acorn #17

migrant worker's shack
a plant cutting in water
sending out roots

Acorn #12

All Souls' Day
deer tracks
through the potter's field

Acorn #12

rising wind --
a teddy bear somersaults
across the cemetery

Acorn #14

All Souls' Day
the pauper's grave
washed clean by rain

Acorn #14

yard sale
the rain easily filling
my late father's shoes

Acorn #14

VA hospital
a tree in the courtyard
scarred by lightning

Acorn #13

Easter
a blue egg
fallen from its nest

Acorn #13

child's grave --
a dozen roses
just beginning to bud

Acorn #15

All Souls' Day
a broken rose at
the war memorial

Acorn #15

migrant workers' shack
a baby's crib rocked
by the wind

Mayfly Issue 59

purring beside
my sleeping aunt
the hospice cat

Cantos - 2013 literary annual published by Missouri Baptist University

snowbound
my wife and I sniff
the lawn mower bag

Cantos - 2013 literary annual published by Missouri Baptist University

digesting Kant --
my copy of Critique of Pure Reason
nibbled by mice

Cantos - 2013 literary annual published by Missouri Baptist University

reaching out for me --
dad's tombstone
streaming gossamer

Cantos - 2013 literary annual published by Missouri Baptist University

astronomer's garden --
an earth globe
surrounded by cosmos

Cantos - 2013 literary annual published by Missouri Baptist University

medical test results
my atheist friend
without a prayer

Cantos - 2013 literary annual published by Missouri Baptist University

outdoor concert
my porta-potty lighted
by fireflies

Cantos - 2016 literary annual published by Missouri Baptist University

All Souls’ Day
our welcome mat encrusted
with cemetery mud

Cantos - 2016 literary annual published by Missouri Baptist University

February thaw
our snowman’s hat
covers a crocus

Cantos - 2016 literary annual published by Missouri Baptist University

hospice
Dad leafs through
a seed catalog

Cantos - 2016 literary annual published by Missouri Baptist University

leaving the bar
I stumble on the doorstep --
first bifocals

The Mid-America Poetry Review Volume 5, Number 2

All Souls Day
children search for footprints
leading from the graveyard

The Mid-America Poetry Review Volume 4, Number 3

poet's first reading
wild applause
from his wife

Coffee House Volume 6, Number 1

folksinger
tip jar filled
with men's business cards

Coffee House Volume 6, Number 1

pondering his next move
man watches a woman
castle her king

Coffee House Volume 6, Number 1

after each espresso
bongo player drums
a bit wilder

Coffee House Volume 6, Number 1

closing time
four new poems
on the restroom wall

Coffee House Volume 6, Number 1

a brook's stepping stones --
the last two
without footprints

Coffee House Volume 8, Number 3

child's hospital room
a visit from Santa
in July

Haiku Page Issue 1, Number 1 - Spring 2008

school restroom
an English teacher corrects
the misspelled graffiti

Haiku Page Issue 1, Number 1 - Spring 2008

thunderstorm
the migrant workers' shacks
now with running water

Haiku Page Issue 1, Number 1 - Spring 2008

graveside service
a mockingbird
singing too loudly

south by southeast 3:4

Christmas Eve
alone in her kitchen
she pours another drink

Haiku Quarterly 1:4

my barbells
so heavy
with dust

bottle rockets 6:1

divorce finalized
ex-spouses celebrate
in separate bars

bottle rockets 6:2

funeral home
the path to the hearse
strewn with rock salt

bottle rockets 6:2

handmade
the birthday present
from her imprisoned father

bottle rockets 6:2

park bench
three unkempt men share
a kings' cake

bottle rockets 7:1

after the race
my sweat
still running

bottle rockets 7:1

All Souls' Day
at the cemetery entrance
a flower peddler

bottle rockets 7:2

christening day
our infant's bottom
already wet

bottle rockets 7:2

hospice room
we leave dad's poinsettia for
the new patient

bottle rockets 7:2

walking on egg shells
a friend ventures into
my organic garden

bottle rockets 8:1

Miles Davis concert
only the squares
tapping their fingers

bottle rockets 8:2

snow on the moon
a drift covers
the outhouse door

bottle rockets 8:2

scrap lumber yard
a "whites only" sign
crumbling from dry rot

bottle rockets 9:1

resort beach
strolling vendors target
the palest bodies

bottle rockets 10:1

my Zen garden
a new sand pattern left by
the neighbor's cat

bottle rockets 11:1

Woodstock reunion
all the tie-dye shirts
XXX-large

bottle rockets 11:2

excavation site
the archaeologist's dog
sniffs a bone

bottle rockets 11:2

no more cleavage
my favorite bartender
newly married

bottle rockets 12:2

Civil war reenactment
General Lee emerges from
a porta-potty

bottle rockets 13:1

weight loss program
I leave the casino
with a slim wallet

bottle rockets 13:1

front porch
asleep on our welcome mat
a stray cat

bottle rockets 14:1

last day of school
sounds of celebration
from the faculty lounge

bottle rockets 14:1

rain rain
overpass
driving in rain               driving in rain

bottle rockets 14:1

April Fools Day
the sixth hole's sand trap
now a Zen garden

bottle rockets 13:2

Halloween
my book shop's cobwebs
become decorations

bottle rockets 15:1

winter walk
my neighbor removes
his chattering teeth

bottle rockets 15:1

slow day
the gossamer across my book shop door
unbroken

bottle rockets Issue 30

Civil War reenactment
a battlefield corpse
slaps a mosquito

bottle rockets Issue 30

singles bar
she writes her phone number on
one of my rejection slips

bottle rockets Issue 31

Civil War renenactment
a battle field corpse
slaps a mosquito

bottle rockets Issue 31

60th birthday
my cat brings me
a dead mouse

bottle rockets Issue 31

excavation site
an archaeologist removes dirt
from his fingernails

bottle rockets Issue 31

board meeting agenda
under "New Business"
I write a haiku

bottle rockets Issue #32

art exhibit
my abstract draws praise
when turned upside down

bottle rockets Issue 35

aging puppeteer
his Punch and Judy
both trembling

Modern Haiku 23:2

emergency room
parents tell their child to say
he fell down the stairs

Modern Haiku 23:2

IRS audit
examiner keeps chuckling
without looking up

Modern Haiku 23:3

the aging ventriloquist's dummy
also beginning
to repeat itself

Modern Haiku 24:1

wet footprints
in a U-turn
on the diving board

Modern Haiku 24:1

soup kitchen
regulars snicker when a first-timer
thanks the server

Modern Haiku 24:2

with a pin
child pricks bother her doll's arms
now just like mommy's

Modern Haiku 24:3

the jazz musician
three straight marriages wrecked by
his sax life

Modern Haiku 24:3

even the tooth
her father knocked out
placed under her pillow

Modern Haiku 24:3

future tense
the English major waits for
his grade report

Modern Haiku 24:3

all dressed up and nowhere to go
my atheist friend
in his coffin

Modern Haiku 25:1

Vietnam Veterans memorial
the aging draft resister
gently salutes

Modern Haiku 26:2

All Souls' Day
in their baby's bassinet
a single rose

Modern Haiku 26:3

All Souls' Day
he tosses a single rose
over the cliff

Modern Haiku 26:3

homeless shelter
beneath one pillow
a child's tooth

Modern Haiku 27:1

singles bar
she scribbles her phone number
on his AIDS test result

Modern Haiku 27:2

Vietnam Memorial Wall
an ex-Marine recruiter
salutes three names

Modern Haiku 28:1

cemetery trash barrel
a shabby-dressed man selects
a wilted wreath

Modern Haiku 28:1

flophouse
beneath the ex-boxer's pillow
his scrapbook

Modern Haiku 28:2