Yardwork
Haibun
Fresh-cut grass soaks in the sun. Already sweaty and sore, I crank the starter rope of the chainsaw — the same one that leaked chain oil in the carrying case. After a prayer and several false starts, it roars to life.
The blade makes two cuts into the trunk. The barren peach sapling falls. I cut off branches and toss them into the overgrowth alongside our yard. Next, I repeat the trimming process with the hedge trimmer, the recipients this time the branches that overhang the deck stairwell.
The hardest job is the stones. I squeeze the tube gun so hard that my fingers nearly lock. The adhesive that pours out is so thin the stones may not even set.
Somehow, they do.
August afternoon
robins peck a manicured lawn
for worms
more by FRANK J. TASSONE
photograph by Ya-chuan Hsu
