What is a lifeku?

A lifeku is a haiku about daily life. For those who are unfamiliar with haiku, it is a form of Japanese poetry usually about nature, "profound," and formatted in 3 lines of 5 syllables, 7 syllables, and 5 syllables. Feel free to check out some famous haikus if you still don't get it.

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Thursday, December 4

Anyone who lives in a real city probably has their homeless "regulars." These are the homeless people that can always be found in the same place in your neighborhood, except for brief bouts where they disappear and you wonder if they died (you know it's true.) I had 2 regulars that "lived" downstairs from my old apartment in Brooklyn; we dubbed them "Crutch" (he only had one leg) and Snooze (he was always sleeping). In retrospect Snooze could have more appropriately been called "Smells Like Toilet" but I didn't think of that right away. Here in Paris, I have many regulars, including one I really like who talks to everyone with a lion puppet... At least he's providing some sort of entertainment. There was Sleepy McSleeperson, who was often but not always sleeping but regardless always looked really sleepy. There was Drunky McDrunkerson, who once threw a beer can at me and tried to spit on Maureen and was always on a state of constant angry slurring. I didn't like him so much. Then there's "The Crew" which consists of 5 guys, 7 dogs, and a battery powered radio who squat on the corner near the Franprix... Today's lifeku was inspired by my regulars:

Crazy homeless girl
You’re not holding your baby
It’s a dead pigeon

3 Comments:

Anonymous said...

LOL...you know, there was a woman at my work how was slightly...off and she found a bird outside that was obviously dead, brought it into the kitchen and tried to give it water. Then she asked me if I thought she was crazy. Let me think about that one for a minute...

Speaking of...Drunky McDrunkerson was such an asshole! One day he would be semi coherent and nice, and want to pet Chloe and the next we would freak out on me! I'm so glad he only spit AT me and not ON me because that would have been UBER gross.

Daughter said...

I remember the day that woman brought the dead bird inside... whatever happened to her?

I hadn't seen Drunky McDrunkerson for over a year and then - he came back! But he shaved and seems to have acquired only 1 feather earring, which I have to admit is pretty cute.

Mom, Interrupted said...

We have "Wheelchair Wanda" (who can be found, at times, pushing her own wheelchair because Beggin' Time is over), "Cousin It" (who has long, shaggy blond hair and a full face of beard that begins just below his eyes and extends to his navel) and "Jim Cantore" (who is identical to his namesake,the weatherman on Weather Channel).