>it’s so not a big deal, but it’s almost as impressive as the first time. when i was twelve years old, i was a huge professional wrestling fan. back in the day, when the flashiest thing you saw might have been some factory-manufactured fringe Singer-sewn onto a pair of Lycra dance pants in the way of costuming or “character” development. anyway, it was fun for me, and one night, the infamous members of the Texas wrestling family, the von Erichs, came to wrestle a series of matches at the civic center in my humble hometown. i attended, along with my equally (perhaps more) fanatic friend Beth, and we had a large time. afterward, i was so impressed and inspired by their presence in my midst, that i wrote a heartfelt review of the evening’s events. well, lo! and behold, the next month, there was my review published in one of the biggest national wrestling fan magazines that existed. but it was my first brush with sexism. in their magazine, i was no longer of the female gender. they truncated my otherwise feminine and girly name to its very masculine and un-dainty masculine counterpart. why? because how could a girl have such insight into such a grotesque and hideous sport? who knows? either way. tonight, i was leaving a jimmy buffett-themed party at a local bar, and i picked up a local magazine on my way out. and there were two of my favorite haiku published in its pages. random. you just never know. perhaps someone will be changed for the better upon reading them. perhaps they will line a bird cage. one cannot know or even guess. but it was fun to see it.

upon second reading, i have realized that they typo’ed out one letter at the beginning of one of the haiku which renders the entire poem senseless, so here they both are in their entirety:

eyes the color of
coal that warms me in the fall
lighting a spark

…passed along the way…
going to meet the future
said, ‘don’t i know you?’