Some of My Writing
A short  section from Twenty Days on Route 20 has been translated and published in Japanese and English on happano.org, a non-profit Japanese Publisher's website. To view the selection click here.

You can view my "Fifth Day of a New Year" haibun at Ray Rasmussen's
English Haibun site:  http://raysweb.net/haibun/pages/michael_czarnecki.html

Some road poems and stories at digihitch.com:
http://www.digihitch.com/userinfo-poetguy.html


See also


Palm of the Hand Writing

Thanksgiving Morning 2009

So grateful for gray sky
this warm holiday morn
Carolyn in kitchen
boys sleeping upstairs
sipping green tea
new morning tradition
since heart attack
reevaluating
life's routines
some needed changes
yet, much just the same
as before, no
abrupt about-face
thankful for the life I led
thankful for the life I lead
thankful for the life ahead
**********************************************

For Stan, Appreciatively

I sip small cup of sake
sit peacefully at my desk.

Outside, sky darkens, clouds clear
temperature set to fall.

“Waltz for Stan” plays from laptop
soft sax echoing my mood.

There is nothing else to do.

**********************************************
Homeschooling
     For Chapin

Dark arrives earlier, day by day
cool air settles deeper, night by night.

I sit at desk writing poems
son upstairs on deck, gazing at stars.

I walk upstairs, step outside
discover he's telescope viewing.

“I found the Owl Cluster in Cassiopeia,”
a slight excitement in his voice.

My eyes slowly adjust to dark
eventually see what he's seen.

Two stars as if bright eyes
wings curving upward on each side.

We takes turns viewing through scope
he guiding me on what to see.

Finished, I step in, walk back downstairs
a few minutes later he puts telescope away.

We both stand by wood cookstove
warming bodies from late summer chill.

Dark arrives earlier day by day
there is so much yet to learn.


Published in “Simpatico on the Road Rochester NY”  (Simpatico Poets Press, New Orleans, September 2009)

**********************************************
First Full Moon of Summer, 2009

I sit on front porch
cup of sake, quiet thoughts
waiting moonrise over eastern ridge.

Thin gray clouds
hover over distant hills
blocking view of eastern horizon.

I wait for brightening
small hint of what's soon to be
full moon beaming bright over dark hills.

Thoughts turn reflective
how many full moons watched for
how many places in space waiting for this moment?

Suddenly, between thin cloud layers
white moon sliver dispels all reflection.

**********************************************
Cadillac Mountain Haiku  5/25/09
     (on a hike up South Ridge with Chapin)

tangle of tree roots
lie exposed on well worn trail
sun filters through trees


blueberry blossoms
dangle from plants at trails edge
someone's future treat


so much energy
climbing atop huge boulder
I take a breather


out of thick damp woods
mosquitoes thankfully gone
refreshing cool breeze


broken shell on ground
nest high up in conifer
thrush's distant song


pitch pine canopy
cones lined with sharp needle spines
mourning doves soft coo


whitethroat's plaintive song
follows us on upper trail
always out of sight


rhodora petal
blown off by brisk mountain breeze
bee buzzes nearby


Cadillac's summit
four miles forever upward
old legs deserve rest