Conflicted Expectations
Contemporary Haibun Poem We cleared gravy-stained plates and tainted wine glasses. The remains of the turkey could feed the five of us for days. It was the first year we didn’t host. Mom...
Author: Frank J. Tassone
Flea Market
Haibun Poem A green mountain coffee sign stands in the aisle. Cotton T-shirts and three-quarter shirts with band and sports regalia logos hang on wracks or rest folded on tables inside many booths....
Uninvited Celebrants
Haibun Poetry We had plans for my birthday worked out when the French door opens. Five minutes later Mom and Dad sit at our kitchen table. As often happens living in a mother-daughter...
Joey – Departed
Haibun Poetry Mom comes upstairs crying. Her tears run down her cheeks, her hands tremble as she collapses into a chair at our kitchen table. “Joey’s dead. He died in a motorcycle accident.”...
Amid the Clutter
Haibun Poem Thick reams of paper everywhere. The folders on my desk organizer bulge out with them. I can’t see the top of my desk. Jaime has no room for her piles. Even...
Classroom Order
Haibun Poem He approaches me, his hands raised. I stand behind my desk getting papers. He corners me. “Put your hands down.” “What?” “You heard me.” My command, spoken so softly. My eyes,...
Memorial Stone
Haibun Poem Mom and I see the headstone. Salmon, just as we chose. Smooth on top and along the sides, it emerges from a rough base of the same hue. Scattered grass grows...
An Oil Change
Haibun Poem A Latino couple rests on the dark-gray leather couch opposite me. His thoroughly stained white painter’s pants and Sherman white sweatshirt somehow contrast and complement her matching light-gray sweat suit. An...
Cup of Tea, Cup of Coffee
Haibun Poem Eighteen years earlier across the pond, a cup of hot Earl Grey tea. Hot bitter-sweetness spreads out from the first sip. Daylight fills the living room through cream curtains. The hum...
Spring Party, Autumn Post
Haibun Poetry His son’s face is covered in a greenish-yellow goo! Chris holds his daughter, showing an “aw shucks” grin. I stare at his Facebook photo. The last time he called, I knelt...
One of 60,000 Stories
Haibun Poem “Da menos tu hija! La queremos para nueva reigna!” He shouted outside our house. We saw him from the window. I shuddered at the sight of his tattoos. His friends laughed....
First Class
Haibun Poetry Rich walks me to room 252, finishing some comment as he opens a steel, fire-rated door. I enter, and he closes that door behind me. Fifteen Black and Hispanic teens look...
