“In a time of destruction, create something.” Maxine Hong Kingston

I have been trying to write poems this year. If you love poetry, I recommend listening to The New Yorker poetry podcast. Poetry editor Kevin Young interviews poets who read a poem from the New Yorker archive plus one of their own poems. Also inspiring, if you are interested in haiku, is Natalie Goldberg’s book, Three Simple Lines. She writes about her pilgrimage to Japan, about haiku, about the first Japanese masters, Basho, Buson, Shiki. 

I have started to write my own version of Haibun, a Japanese form that combines concise prose with a haiku. I loosely interpret this form, writing a daily observation in a few sentences plus a “sort of” haiku. No more 17 syllables, just three simple lines. Maybe these aren’t haibuns or haikus at all…. maybe they are just what they are.

I  Womb

Morning crossword, four letter word, first site of eviction. “Womb,” I say aloud with certainty. But no, the answer is “Eden.”

Every human’s
first home,
the blood red womb

II  Orange

I go to the store to buy blood oranges for the cake and discover they have been rebranded raspberry oranges. the word “blood” is off-putting to consumers. I feel angry.

Remote, bloodless
pale body of moon
his face, forgotten

III  Knife

I go to an estate sale and buy a box of assorted junk for two dollars. At the bottom, I find a small Swiss army knife tucked into a black sleeve. The knife is marked with white letters: Stan Douglass. I look up Stan’s obituary. 

When fifteen, only a lad,
Stanley made a vow
to serve the Lord

IV  Ruth

My son and I walk along the street, heading to Value Village. He’s shouldering an old chair he took from a free pile, then regretted. I’m following. Suddenly a telephone pole is in front of me with 

R
U
T
H

painted in big red letters. Just a day ago, my friend and I compared middle names. Her middle name is Mazal meaning good luck. Mine is Ruth, I texted, and she texted back that “the biblical Ruth is a very special woman, and her name is synonymous with unwavering loyalty and kindness.”

Is it a sign? 
Four red letters
tell my fortune

The moon painting is by Bob Sabatini. Other creations are mine.