after the scan
the hospital monitor
doesn’t settle
Month: July 2019
“Lakeview, Chicago,” a haibun by Amelia Cotter.
pain meds
wandering a maze
of dim corridors
living will —
she paints her fingernails
different colours
hospice pond
a ripple settles
into stillness
with nicotine-stained
fingers he pays the fare
winter rain
Winter evening
sunset
in a glass of cognac
the old elm
its darkness perfected
by snow
sick in winter
the infinite white
of the ceiling
crescent moon
she leans deeper
into her cane
falling snow –
the memories I choose
to keep
late winter cough
the crack
in the souffle’
bean harvest
a snail’s tentacle
touching sky
redwood time . . .
the steady journey
from earth to sky
(haiga)
anniversary
of Apollo 11–
losing the remote
(Jack Stamm Award, Finalist, 2004)
mid-July
the wheat field quivers
before thunder
cricket songs
all of them
oldies
wild orchid
clinging to the bark
our carved heart
Autumn afternoon
we keep our distance
in dappled light
talking about the life
we haven’t shared
beach roses
getting changed
under a towel
wiping sand
from the broken conch . . .
summer’s end
dusk crawls across the field crickets