Pre-Smuggs Insomnia: an .@ImageCurve #haibun

 

Itโ€™s a quarter to one in the morning. Cricket songs, and the ever-present drone of Thruway traffic, pass through our open bedroom windows. Weโ€™ll be on our way to Smugglerโ€™s Notch in a few more hours.

I should be asleep. My fingers caressed and massaged Miraโ€™s back earlier in the evening. The intimacy that followedโ€ฆI should have slept through the night afterward.

But I havenโ€™t.

โ€œWhat if?โ€ arises again, and again. Knotted energy surrounds thoughts of work. My old failures become new ones, again and again.

Only Iโ€™m not at work. Iโ€™m in my bed at home. Listening to crickets and traffic.

Too early
To see leaves falling
Adirondacks

 

 

First published byย Image Curve, August 20, 2015

photograph byย Adam Excell

 

 

For dVerse Poets Pub The Sounds of Koorogi, Cricket-dVerse Haibun Monday (guest pubtended by Victoria D. Slotto).

She asks us to write a haibun using the kigo Koorogi (Cricket). How auspicious, then, that this haibun–about the night before a vacation to our time-share in Smugglers Notch in Vermont–appeared in Image Curve three years ago today!

 

 

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19 responses to “Pre-Smuggs Insomnia: an .@ImageCurve #haibun”

  1. Victoria C. Slotto Avatar

    I love this. The inclusion of the moments of intimacy, the all too familiar work worries, the promises of nature–these speak to me about the cricket. And I like the circular effect of the beginning and end…listening to crickets and traffic.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Frank J. Tassone Avatar

      Thank you, Victoria! I appreciate that! ๐Ÿ˜€

      Liked by 1 person

  2. Jo Avatar

    “Knotted energy surrounds thoughts of work” — great line!

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Frank J. Tassone Avatar

      Thanks! ๐Ÿ˜€

      Like

  3. Beverly Crawford Avatar
    Beverly Crawford

    Sounds as if some time off at Smuggler’s Notch is indicated! I’m retired now, but I well remember lying in bed replaying events of a stressful day. Enjoy your time at the Notch! It IS too early to see leaves falling. Hope for a long autumn!

    Like

    1. Frank J. Tassone Avatar

      We usually go each year, but this summer we’re staying home as we spent three weeks in Portugal in July! ๐Ÿ™‚ I’m glad you enjoyed the haibun. Thanks! ๐Ÿ™‚

      Like

  4. rothpoetry Avatar

    A teacher is like an artist…. his work is never quite good enough to satisfy himself. Past failures are gone like the spooks on Halloween that come back from time to time to scare us. I’ve been there and done that!

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Frank J. Tassone Avatar

      So true, Dwight. The only haunting I experience is of my own second-guessing. Thanks! ๐Ÿ™‚

      Liked by 1 person

  5. V.J. Knutson Avatar

    “Crickets and traffic” – as if the narrator paces between the two – restless. Very good.

    Liked by 1 person

  6. Mary (tqhousecat) Avatar

    Sounds of all kinds can be either comforting or annoying. Depends on the state of mind and soul. Hope you find rest.

    Liked by 1 person

  7. kim881 Avatar

    I know that feeling, Frank, lying in bed and listening to past-midnight traffic. Sometimes I miss it in the silence of the North Norfolk countryside. I like the way the cricket songs and the ‘ever-present drone of Thruway traffic’ blend and tickle the mind. I have no idea where Smugglerโ€™s Notch is but I’d love to go there with a name like that!

    Liked by 1 person

  8. lynn__ Avatar

    I’m reading this now because I should be sleeping ๐Ÿ˜‰ Thanks for a lovely haibun to read while my thoughts of son beginning university and grandkids beginning school awoke me too early.

    Liked by 1 person

  9. m.j.smith Avatar
    m.j.smith

    The haiku caps it off really well. I especially like giving a line to Adirondacks – a wonderful syllabally word on its own.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Frank J. Tassone Avatar

      Indeed! Love those Native American names! Thanks! ๐Ÿ˜€

      Like

  10. Jane Dougherty Avatar

    It certainly is too early for the leaves to be falling. This read like a short story, Frank. And the haiku is splendid.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Frank J. Tassone Avatar

      Thank you, Jane! ๐Ÿ˜€

      Like

  11. Grace Avatar

    I get anxious too listening for those sounds ~ Lovely story telling and its too early yet for leaves falling ~

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Frank J. Tassone Avatar

      Thank you, Grace! ๐Ÿ˜€

      Like

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Frank J. Tassone-American Haijin by Frank J. Tassone is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0