George Swede
Born 1940 in Riga, Latvia
Living in Toronto, Ontario, Canada
http://georgeswede.com/
Contact the poet
Hear the poet read
(work from 1975 to 2010 inclusive)
- Details
For the fat green frog
crouched on the log
time is flies
©1975
Published 11 times: A Snowman, Headless, 1979 to Forum, 2001
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Fresh snow on the fence:
two more inches against my
neighbour’s eloquence
©1976
Published 7 times: Dragonfly, 1977 to Ryerson Review, 1980
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Plummeting to earth
the hawk seizes the feet
of its own shadow
©1976
Published 8 times: Sun Lotus Haiku, 1977 to Haiku Journey, 2006
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As the professor speaks
only his bald spot
is illuminated
©1977
Published 5 times: A Snowman, Headless, 1979 to The White Collar Book, 2011
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Tidal pool
something hiding
under a cloud
©1977
Published 5 times: Dragonfly, 1978 to Halifax Herald, 2001
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A bottomless well within me—no sound from my fallen pride
©1977
Published 8 times: Amoskeag, 1980 to I Want To Lasso Time, 1991
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Having to guess
from the footsteps:
evening fog
©1977
Published 7 times: Cicada, 1977 to Haiku Journey, 2006
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River at twilight:
I watch the darkness flow
into my eyes
©1977
Published 8 times: A Snowman, Headless, 1979 to Wind in the Long Grass, 1991
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In the howling wind
under the full moon –
the snowman, headless
©1977
Published 14 times: Modern Haiku, 1977 to Modern Haiku, 2011
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In the town dump I find a still-beating heart
©1977
Published 12 times: Amoskeag, 1980 to Something Out of Nothing, 2015
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Statues in the square:
the raised hand of the war hero
fills with snow
©1978
Published 12 times: A Snowman, Headless, 1979 to Haiku Journey, 2006
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Autumn clothesline:
his and her pyjamas
frozen together
©1978
Published 9 times: Portals, 1979 to Whirligig, 2010
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Dropping stone after stone
into the lake—I keep
reappearing
©1979
Published 16 times: High/Coo, 1979 to Whirligig, 2010
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Almost unseen
among the tangled driftwood
naked lovers
©1979
Published 12 times: Outch, 1979 to Travelers On Haiku Meridians, 2010
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Cold dawn rain
I turn to touch
my wife
©1979
Published 11 times: Leanfrog, 1979 to micro haiku, 2014
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Panties on the clothesline lingering mist
©1979
Published 8 times: Cicada, 1979 to Halifax Herald, 2001
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Full of good ideas I weigh no more
©1979
Published 8 times: Tweed, 1980 to micro haiku, 2014
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Paris pond
a frog Picassos
my face
©1980
Published 11 times: Whitewall Review, 1981 to Whirligig, 2014
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Rising like birds
from the bottom of the canyon
the children’s cries
©1980
Published 9 times: Writers’ Quarterly, 1981 to Haiku Canada Review, 2012
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After the abortion she weeds the garden
©1981
Published 8 times: Poetry Toronto, 1981 to Whirligig, 2010
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Around the eyes
of the old fisherman
permanent ripples
©1983
Published 10 times: Arc, 1984 to Haiku: The Gentle Art of Disappearing, 2009
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empty baseball field
a dandelion seed floats through
the strike zone
©1993
Published 6 times: Losers First, 1999 to Washington Post, 2008
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bridge
at both ends
mist
©1993
Published 9 times: Modern Haiku, 1993 to A Hundred Gourds, 2014
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creek
cricket
creaking
©1993
Published 8 times: RAW NerVZ, 1997 to A Hundred Gourds, 2014
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windowless office
a fly buzzes against
my glasses
©1994
Published 6 times: Iron, 1995 to The White Collar Book, 2011
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train to a ghost town
the historian asks to sit
facing backwards
©1994
Published 6 times: Woodnotes, 1994 to The White Collar Book, 2011
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spring flood
two wooden shoes float by
taking turns being first
©1996
Published 10 times: blue spilling over, 1996 to Mainichi Daily News, 2001
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paper pickup day
the unfinished poem
sticks out
©1999
Publsihed 5 times: Frogpond, 2000 to Modern Haiku, 2011
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pontificating colleague
the mosquito on his arm
swells contentedly
©2000
Published 3 times: Haiku Canada Newsletter, 2006 to The White Collar Book, 2011
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horizon moon
i recall
an earlier ego
©2000
Published 3 times: Haiku Canada Newsletter, 2005 to Modern Haiku, 2011
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ant haiku
my writing
grows smaller
©2000
Published 4 times: Simply Haiku, 2003 to micro haiku, 2014
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blazing heat
my long shadow
useless
©2001
Published 7 times: The Heron’s Nest, 2002 to Verse Afire, 2014
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airport lounge
a Muslim man prays toward
the emergency exit
©2001
Published 7 times: Modern Haiku, 2002 to Whirligig, 2011
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in first full bloom
the apricot tree—joy
in me still
©2002
Published 4 times: Asahi Shimbun, 2003 to Modern Haiku, 2011
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working late
i meet my loneliness
in the long hallway
©2002
Published 6 times: HI, 2003 to The White Collar Book, 2011
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storm lull
freshly crumpled paper
creaks twice
©2003
Published 3 times: The Heron’s Nest, 2003 to Joy In Me Still, 2010
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horizon moon
the snowman headless
no longer
©2003
Published 3 times: Tracing the Fern, 2005 to Modern Haiku, 2011
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flooded plain
fence tops show which water
belongs to whom
©2004
Published 6 times: The Heron's Nest, 2004 to Joy In Me Still, 2010
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peering into
the deep well, two boys
talk about girls
©2005
Published 3 times: The Heron’s Nest, 2005 to Joy In Me Still, 2010
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wilderness canyon
the shout and its echo
quickly lost in time
©2005
Published 5 times: The Heron’s Nest, 2007 to Modern Haiku, 2011
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on the bridge
hundreds died to defend
end-to-end graffiti
©2006
Published 3 times: Acorn, 2006 to Joy In Me Still, 2010
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the heat . . .
my thoughts moving slowly
with the river
©2006
Published 4 times: Acorn, 2006 to Modern Haiku, 2011
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cloud-free dawn . . .
the dent in the fender
holds on to its darkness
©2007
Published 3 times: Acorn, 2007 to Joy In Me Still, 2010
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into the future
as fast as all of us
this garden snail
©2007
Published 4 times: Mainichi Daily News, 2008 to Whirligig, 2011
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on my back
in the freshly-cut grass . . .
a blue horse
©2008
Published 4 times: Roadrunner, 2008 to Haiku 21, 2012
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cave mouth
a scream beyond my range
of hearing
©2008
Published 3 times: Daily Haiku, 2009 to Daily Haiku, 2011
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hangover . . .
i cling to
algorithms
©2009
Published 4 times: Haiku Canada Review, 2009 to Haiku Canada Review, 2014
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a face beseeching
before it becomes
a water lily
©2009
Published 3 times: Roadrunner, 2009 to Haiku 21, 2012
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deep end
of the pool
a leafish
©2010
Published 3 times: Haiku Canada Review, 2010 to Haiku Canada Review, 2014
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canyon
replies from the
afterlife
©2010
Published 4 times: Roadrunner, 2010 to A Hundred Gourds, 2014