Frank J. Tassone

Tag: dVerse

  • A Halloween Horror

    Halloween … Why would anyone need to fear the dead? Wait… did you hear that? What was that thump in the dark? Who whispers that name? Why is it suddenly so cold? gathered clouds what secrets emerge from the tomb? that I should shudder seeing my own headstone Paralyzed with fear. Heartbeat like the toning…

  • Lamentatio Super Mortuo: An #AmericanSentence #Prosery #Haibun

    Samhain! As the Veil thins, and mists thicken, we gather to cross over. We again walk the Earth upon which we lived. What do we see this night? Our descendent’s children parade from house to house, costumed as creatures of the night that they’ve taken to calling us! Where is our feasting hall? The cups…

  • Emptied Quivers: A #quadrille #haibun

    One knocked arrow after another flies. A rain of fletch from bags and quivers. And French knights fall by the score. Archers hold the muddy field as surviving knights flee. Emptied Quivers. The key to Henry V’s victory. Agincourt How English Longbows made history for dVerse Poets’ Quadrille Monday #90: We’re all a-Quiver (pubtended by…

  • Indigenous Day: a #haibun

    I stood before the candidates during the opening ceremonies of the Boy Scouts of America’s Order of the Arrow Ordeal weekend. Dressed at an Iroquois chief, I performed the script for the role I played: Nutiket, guardian of the circle. Other members of the ceremony complemented my performance as a “kick-add Nutiket!” I had no…

  • O Francis: a #tankaprose #Ekphrastic #ode

    What was it like, Francis? To experience the wounds of Christ? How did you do it? You were another noble-aspiring Merchant’s son, fighting for Assisi in another of the Italian city-states endless wars. Was it the illness you endured during your captivity? Did that brush with death open your eyes to the Truth? How did…

  • “…Unto the Breach…” a #Quadrille #haibun

    Set the stage. It’s long past time for a competant actor. Set the table. We’re overdue for an adult diner. Set the microphones and cameras; the witnesses must speak. Set the time of our deliverance from vulgar, conniving “Chosen Ones.” sunset broken promises remembered for dVerse Poets Quadrille #89: Are you Set? (pubtended by Merrill)…

  • More Insomnial Moments: my latest .@ImageCurve #haibun

    Quarter past midnight. The last remnant of relaxing chamomile leaves a tangy, bitter aftertaste. “Zigzagging to the light” plays across my mind as I put down an extended meditation on mentorship in Robert McDowell’s Poetry as a Spiritual Practice. I’ll face the bed again. And hope to get the sleep I desperately need. Perhaps I…

  • Lepidopteric* Encounters: An .@ImageCurve #haibun

    We step through the second door, entering the arbortorium, and feel saturated by semi-tropical heat and humidity! Large palms and other representative flora grow out of the center. The palm branches shelter the pathways. All around are the butterflies. A large one with brown, splotchy wings lands on Frankie’s head. He’s seated on one of…