Short stories & poems for everyone from everyone
Deep Evergreen. Full. Red and gold balls and bells; tops with gilded bands; Russian-esque spires all around. Four sets of lights; the white nina doll ornaments Mira loves. The giant bow. Our Christmas tree, welcoming as ever. Shadows deep within the brightly-lit boughs — the only hint of sorrow in the joy
cold night
we place carefully-wrapped gifts
underneath
more by FRANK J. TASSONE
photograph by Evelyn Chin
Frank J. Tassone
Frank J. Tassone lives in New York City's "back yard" with his wife and son. He fell in love with writing after he wrote his first short story at age 12 and his first poem in high school. He began writing haiku and haibun seriously in the 2000s. His haikai poetry has appeared in Failed Haiku, Cattails, Haibun Today, Contemporary Haibun Online, Contemporary Haibun, The Haiku Foundation and Haiku Society of America member anthologies. He is a contributing poet for the online literary journal Image Curve, and a performance poet with Rockland Poets. When he's not writing, Frank works as a special education high school teacher in the Bronx. When he's not working or writing, he enjoys time with his family, meditation, hiking, practicing tai chi and geeking out to Star Wars, Marvel Cinema and any other Sci-Fi/Fantasy film and TV worth seeing.
