© 2012 Michael Fiveson
the hours spent laughing
in this wonderful tree house
that you built for me
nobody told me
that one day it would just end
it was my escape
all my friends grew up
somehow I managed not to
stuck in adult skin
Mike's Look at Life
Photography, memoirs, random thoughts.
Mike's Look at Life 
I never had a tree house, but I had a friend that did. It was cool your own house that you could make up rules like your parents did.
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I never had one either, but I bet it would have been GREAT fun.
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I think so too.
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A tree house is a wonderful escape, whatever age you are. Lovely photo and lovely haikus.
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Thank you Lorna.
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Never had one either…but I live today on the sixth floor with a clear view of downtown Evanston IL…and many, many treetops. Still a kid…at heart!
A fine shot, Mike…and thanks for giving me so much pleasure in reading your haikus!
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And thank you for taking the time to comment ;0
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;0 back atcha!
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Ha, yeah being an adult sucks.
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🙂
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Very sweet Mike and nice photo too!
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‘Ello, my queen. Thank you for thinking of me, your humble fool, and for taking the time to correspond.
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Very sturdy looking structure! We used to call ours “tree forts”
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A tree fort! What fun, and a great place to defend as well as from which to launch attacks.
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I have always wanted a tree house when I was a child 🙂 This is a nice looking one 🙂
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Yes, this is a good looking tree house. Can you still have one?
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I have the mind of an innocent child..so, yes, I guess I still want one one day 😉
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I have the same mind..some of us never grow out of it.
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I never had a tree house either (just reading through your comments). This makes me think I ought to build one. There’s no rule or law, as far as I know, that says adults can’t have a tree house.
Enjoyed your haikus. Inspiring. 🙂
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You have the bogs to work with……a tree house there would be amazing.
And thanks for the read, Robin.
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I found this very moving, Mike, thanks for posting. Gordon
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Thanks gordon. That pleases me.
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Never had a tree house but my brothers uncovered this very deep hole in the ground behind our house and built walls around it, then built up one more room. Two stories with a basement! My parents were obviously oblivious to what they were doing. They just thought it was good ol’ boy fun to build a “hut.” When my dad came out to see it weeks later, he laughed. “That’s a hole to an old outhouse!” My mom tried to stop us from going into it but failed. It was a great “hut.”
And I’d say something about the haiku, but I’m having too much fun living my childhood right now. I don’t want to attend to the adult skin. 😛 (P.S. The haiku was thoughtful and made its point.)
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What a hoot you are. You guys played in an outhouse hole? I’d say ‘ewww’ but I don’t talk like that. But for you I’ll make an exception…….EWWWW!!!
Well I guess that stuff decomposes huh.
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I feel your love. EWWWWW back!!! I’m sure it had been covered for a couple of decades and the resulting fertilizer is what kept the weeds growing as well as they did. At least. That’s my story.
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Yes, they are known as poopy weeds.
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Treehouses have a magic for kids and adults. There was no room for one in Manhattan. We played on the stoop of our building. THe haikus are so well done! Thanks for stopping by my blog.
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Yeah, we didn’t have one in Brooklyn either.
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Too bad for us! We can still have one.
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Hmmm. I do have a big tree in my backyard…..hmmm
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No tree house, but we climbed a lot of trees.
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PS love the haiku!
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PS….thank you.
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A pleasure!
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Are you a tom boy?
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That I was. Still a Charlie girl, tho!
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nice 🙂
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Always wanted one … maybe I still do. But I had a teepee …
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Well a teepee is pretty damn cool, no doubt about that.
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Do you still go up in your tree-house? What objects stayed in the tree house (decorations, silverware etc) A wonderful get-away spot.
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I never had a tree house and wrote as a fictional boy who did.
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I think we’re all stuck in adult skin. I don’t mind it so much as long as I can let my 13year old self out ocassionally. My wife doesn’t mind so much, contrary to the patronizing smiles I elicit from her whenever I do.
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Paul, I think you are a great guy. One of the things my wife loves about me is the boy that I am at my core. And I think we are probably alike, you and I.
Thanks!
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What a great “secret” place! I’d like to escape to a place like that too. I’ll never grow up. No. Nada. It’s too much fun not acting my real age. And age is just a number, anyway.
I think part of not wanting to act matronly comes from teaching 5 yr olds for nearly 30 years! They know how to have fun! So Keep on playing! 😉
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Lovely Judy! I promise I will always be a kid stuck in adult’s body,
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I think it’s best to not grow up completely … gotta let that child play!
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Ah Mona you are a wise woman!
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The older I get, the more she wants to play, and I think that’s blasted healthy!
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I am 63…..and I play hard.
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Oh this is about me..i loved it. 🙂
trees were such a big part of my growing up..in fact some of the boys even called me monkey but that didnt deter me i used to spend so much time there day dreaming weaving stories,every kid should have a tree house and grandparents hugs..they are the best..
beautiful post Mike loved it 🙂
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Yes, grandparents hugs are the best! And what a cute monkey you must have been.
Thank you Soma.
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I might have written the first haiku like this:
laughing hours
this wonderful tree house
you built for me
~~The idea in a haiku is a juxtaposition between two things…causing a sudden insight. Each one of yours have the elements for some pretty good stuff…
I love that photograph!
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I thought Haiku is arranged 5,7,5 syllables. I appreciate you comment, thank you.
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In Japan a haiku has 5/7/5 “on” or “onji” which are not quite the same thing as syllables… It’s quite impossible to write an English language haiku as the Japanese do (and even they stray from that form often.)
English language haiku has taken on some very exciting and interesting forms lately… even a one liner… The idea is to keep it under 17 syllables if you can… 12 syllables is the best… but don’t count syllables. That’s not the idea. We keep it under 17 syllables in order to keep it from cramming too much stuff in it. The simpler the better (the words take on much more power that way.)
A good haiku has the elements of insight…which as I mentioned before, often a juxtaposition of two things… I specialize in haiga which is an image and haiku dependent on each other to bring about the insight.
I see you do have the feeling of keeping words to a minimum in your short poems. I’m glad you took no offense at my suggestion and I hope this is helpful. When I look through your photos I see so many sympathies that come into the writing of good haiku. Elegance, mystery, depth, Austere beauty, Beauty with the sense of loneliness. I see you find the juxtaposition of these weathered structures that mysterious mixture of beauty and its passing in age.
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Beautiful. Lovely. Thanks for this.
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Thank you, You are very gracious indeed. I look forward to your posts. I came to haiku through art and so I’m an image person. I had to wade through a lot of stuff to get the hang of words… the minute I saw your photos I knew you have the soul of a haijin. Good luck.
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haijin (hiragana はいじん)
俳人: haiku poet
廃人: cripple, disabled person
I’ll go with the first definition. I heard everything you said to me last night and knew that correct haiku involved juxtapositions. I wanted to do that with today’s post but time did not permit it.
You are a teacher?
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Hi, Mike, Hope not. Basically I’m an artist who struggles with words mightily… fell in love with your photos… something special there.
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Thank you 🙂
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Reblogged this on ryancvaguirred.
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