Category Archives: Family

leaning on his cane . . .

Posted on January 31, 2015 by

leaning on his cane he looks like a character out of Bashō . . . weighed down at end of day by the weight of his shadow –for Larry red lights 11:1, January 2015 Some of you might know that my husband, … Continue reading →

Posted in Family, Larry Chapman Kelly, red lights, Tanka, Winter | Tagged , , , , , | 24 Comments

After the Funeral . . .

Posted on September 9, 2014 by

After the Funeral On the night flight back to Manhattan, I replay our last phone conversation. Hear the slurred speech from his deathbed as he asks if I’ll be coming home soon. The pain in his voice when I try, … Continue reading →

Posted in Family, Haibun, Haibun Today, Haiku, Haiku-doodle | Tagged , , , , , | 8 Comments

Throwback . . .

Posted on July 26, 2014 by

Throwback This is my sister’s story. My sister, who carries the genes of our mother’s grandmothers —Miriam and Polly and Mary—in her face, in her arms, legs, feet, hands. My sister, whose skin is red, like a sunset that bleeds … Continue reading →

Posted in Contemporary Haibun Online, Family, Haibun, Haiku, Haiku-doodle | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

Nothing more . . .

Posted on June 30, 2014 by

Nothing more remains of the house her father built close—too close—to the tracks. Not the wrap-around-porch where she and her sisters perched like a charm of songbirds. Not the wooden swing hung from the porch ceiling. Or the morning glories … Continue reading →

Posted in Contemporary Haibun Online, Family, Haibun, Haiku, Haiku-doodle | Tagged , , , , | 5 Comments

ghost moon . . .

Posted on January 3, 2014 by

  In tribute to the first new moon of the New Year, and all the loved ones we also may briefly have lost sight of:  . . . Camera-in-hand, I stand, watching, waiting, thinking I might capture some long-lost image; that through some magic transformation of … Continue reading →

Posted in A Hundred Gourds, Family, Haibun, Haiku, Haiku-doodle, Moon, New Year | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

squirreling away . . .

Posted on December 14, 2013 by

squirreling away words for the long winter . . . my sister asks me to remind her of life before dementia Skylark 1:2, Winter 2013

Posted in Family, Haiku, Haiku-doodle, Skylark, Tanka, Winter | Tagged , , , , | 6 Comments

hide and seek . . .

Posted on December 9, 2013 by

hide and seek the ring around her memory Frogpond 36:3, Fall 2013

Posted in Family, Haiku, Haiku-doodle, Monostich | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

All Souls Day . . .

Posted on November 2, 2013 by

It’s been such a privilege for me to share in the remembrances of all those who’ve contributed poems to honor their loved ones here during the past two weeks. I am humbled, not only by the response to my call … Continue reading →

Posted in All Souls Day, Contemporary Haibun Online, Family, Haibun, Haiku, Haiku-doodle, Life | Tagged , , , , , | 6 Comments

Chrissi’s song . . .

Posted on November 1, 2013 by

Chrissi Villa is one of the sweetest, gentlest spirits I have come across in a very long time. A recent widow, she’s begun writing a series of tanka prose about the loss of her husband as a way of dealing … Continue reading →

Posted in All Souls Day, Chrissi Villa, Day of the Dead, Family, Haiku, Haiku-doodle, Tanka Prose | Tagged , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

All Hallow’s Eve . . .

Posted on October 31, 2013 by

Each year for Day of the Dead, my creative and spirited best friend, Katherine Shurlds, sets up an altar in her living room to honor friends and loved ones she’s said goodbye to over the years. A small glimpse of … Continue reading →

Posted in All Hallow's Eve, All Souls Day, Family, Haiku, Haiku-doodle, Monostich, Tanka | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments