meteor shower
wisps of steam rise
from the hot springs

Published "A Travel-Worn Satchel"
2009 HSA Anthology

Eye of the Storm

EYE OF THE STORM

I was ten when Hurricane Hazel passed over our farm in the Piedmont. I really wanted to see that eye. When the wind stopped howling, I rushed out the back door. In the stillness my eyes were drawn upward.

so quiet
the weeping willow
straightens


Published Haibun Today (2008)

The Farmer

Father farmed most of his life. He loved land, growing things, and animals. He went off to work early in the morning whistling and singing.

When about to retire, he could no longer make a living as a farmer but he found work at the local chicken processing plant, where thousands of chickens awaited slaughter. They gave him a heating iron to burn off the ends of the chickens' beaks, so that they would not damage each other through pecking.

He lasted a week, making pets of them all.


hoeing tobacco
row after row
sweat like dew

Published Haibun Today(2008)

early spring
without trying
the cherry blossoms


(Published 2nd Annual Basho Challenge Chapbook
2010)