A Better Example Than I Am: Revolutionary ImproVerse Free Verse

All of us/
on the afternoon #45 bus/
shook our heads/
in disgust/
or rolled our eyes/
or grimaced/
as we tried/
to avoid face-to-face/
with the disheveled/
probably homeless/
man who rocked out/
to tunes/
on his iPhone,/
loud,/
obnoxious/
swearing.

All of us,/
that is,/
but the sun-tanned/
young woman/
who was just/
coming home from work/
at Smith’s/
or some other grocery store/
neatly uniformed, /
smiling,/
and, /
(as she revealed later,)
heading to her halfway house,/
to her recovery place./

She simply smiled/
at the man,/
and pointed at her ears./
(At last!/
Someone is going to/
say something!)

But, /
when he said “WHAT!?!”,/
she reached into her backpack,/
and handed him,/
gifted him,/
a pair of earphones.

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My Empty Bowl Fills: Revolutionary ImproVerse Haiku

Maybe my empty/
potter’s bowl will help warm and/
fill empty stomachs.

A Surprise Friday Evening: Revolutionary ImproVerse Haiku

Good art. Good music./
Good weather. Good vibe. Good cause./
It gets no gooder.

Homeless Man Texting: Revolutionary ImproVerse Haiku

There is something wrong/
with a homeless man texting/
to find his next meal.

In Her Brother’s Memory: Revolutionary ConTEXTing Haiku

A friend’s brother, who was a guitar and banjo maestro, recently passed away. He befriended the homeless, bringing them home for Thanksgiving and Christmas.
This holiday season, I saw a homeless man standing on the corner, in the rain, with a guitar case next to him. I thought of my friend’s brother, rolled down the window, gave the minstrel some money, and said “There should always be music!” Then I wrote this.

She won’t even know/
I gave money to homeless/
guys with wet guitars.