The tag line for my twitter profile is “I have 140 channels in my brain.” There is a lot going on in there.
I’ve decided, in the poetry channel of my brain, or maybe it’s a haiku channel, that I’m going to take the haiku posts to 100. I’m at 98. Why stop at 100? I’m not sure. Haiku is a stream in the poetry channel and that’s what the stream is murmuring to me.
In the countdown-to-the-end-of-my-job channel, I’m very aware that I have 17 days of work left. Seventeen is my favorite number, because it’s attractive (that sloping 7 pointing back towards the 1) it’s a prime number (I love prime numbers though I can’t explain why) and mostly because 17 was John Havlicek’s shirt number when he played for the Celtics during my childhood. My father was, and still is, an avid Celtics fan, and I grew up watching them play. Havlicek was handsome and brilliant and captivated me. I was twelve on April 15, 1965 when I got to listen live to one of the most famous play-by-play calls in NBA history, when Celtics broadcaster Johnny Most exclaimed “Havlicek steals it! Havlicek stole the ball!” after Havlicek intercepted an inbound pass to clinch the Eastern Conference Championship against the Philadelphia 76ers.
I have since moved in and out of being a sports fan of various sorts, and since Eric died, have been out of that zone. The sports channels are more or less dormant. But I’ve always hung on to number 17, and can still remember the thrill of a stolen basketball, a clutch play, an over-the-top excited sports announcer’s voice rumbling out of the radio, perfect awareness of a perfect moment. Humming in channel 17.
Grace Mattern 
I just have to say I love following your blogs and haikus – so many mirroring pictures of nature and nurture. Shifting haiku channels after 100: 5-7-5 (which BTW add up to 17!) needs no reason – intuition is enoughto guide opening into new realms of word chemistry and heart rythm and self awareness.
Love you
Sue
Ah, the 5-7-5=17 equation, hadn’t realized that! Thank you for the insight. I’m very excited to experience what the word chemistry, heart rhythm, self awareness is like when the being-a-Coalition-Director channel is dormant. Stay tuned. Love, Grace
I will miss the lovely haiku. Can we still be BloHaiSis’s ? Actually I stopped my daily posting of haiku and am reading other poetry. When does your book come out? I look forward to it. Thank you for sharing your poetry and world even when it’s a little blue. Remember that reptiles are survivors. Happy wanderings. The freedom sounds thrilling.
We’ll always be BloHaiSis’s. I expect haikus will continue, though there’s sure to be lots of other poetry. I noticed your daily haiku posts had stopped. The Truth About Death will be published next April. I do think the freedom and wanderings will be happy times, and will make for great blogging!