I

A child in red shoes
Mother picks through gnarled rubble
...Her baby is dead.

II

McVeigh's a sick man
Injection won't cure his mind
....All pain erased, though.

III

Pollution's passe
I recall youthful outrage
....All are complacent.

IV

Abortion abounds
A feotus in jeopardy
...mother doesn't think.

V

Nam is now over
Hazy shots all we recall
...vets still miss their legs.

VI

Mental illnss hides
No-one wants to speak of it
...The silent stealer.

VII

Child walks borderline
The slipperly slope betrays her
....In the box for good.

VIII

Schizophrenia
The very word ominous
...The suffer pays.

IX

Pi-Polar Disease
dizzying highs, blackened holes
...no middle ground.

X

Compulsive patients The rug must lie perfectly
.....Another day gone.

XI

Autistic child rocks
His mind's like Folsom Prison
....He's forbidden key.

XII

Clinical despair
Sleepless nights ruminating
.....an elusive cure.

XIII

A.D.D. no joke
It subtracts concentration
....Victims ache to learn.

XIV

Troubled borderlines
Vomit, cut their youthful skin
...bathroom is heaven.

XV

Works hard on sculpture
A masterpiece on her arms
Scars form odd patterns.

XVI

Swallowing the pills
Lies in coma many weeks
....brain still operates.

XVII

Pigs out on ice cream
Gallons sucked down at great rate
...Toilet reaps reward.

XVIII

Illness drove them apart
He watched her disintegrate
....pile of mush is left.

XIX

Altzheimer is cruel
Now she believes she's nothing
....Time's all she has left.

XX

R.E.M. saved me
I listened, heeded their words
....band for the depressed.

XX

Music is healing
Notes and lyrics soothe sore souls
....Even death's not vile.

XXI

Michael's her lover
In dark caverns of her mind
He alone has cure.

XXII

Alternative style
Savvy, cool, and with substance
....R.E.M. defined.

These pieces of haiku poetry are an eclectic gathering and, though some are not very pretty, they are often culled from personal situations and events.