Frank J. Tassone

Tag: dVerse

  • Smuggs ’14 Chronicle, Day 6: July 30, 2014

    She serves from half-court. I return forearm. She backhands it over the net. I race into position and pivot, delivering the best backhand of our volley. Did she return it? Did I? Getting water later, I say, “We’ve progressed from terrible to rotten.” Tennis court bathed in sunlight slapping sounds We return from the country…

  • Of Stormriding and Picnicking (Again)

    The aches throb. Even the sensations of fatigue have tired. The sleepless night, the challenging day facing students that had a week off, the planning of a poetry jam: They were the breakers. I was the eroding shore. But the Irish song is right: I “weathered the storm” and came “out smiling in the end.”…

  • Smuggs ’14 Chronicle, Day 4, July 28, 2014: My latest .@ImageCurve #Haibun

    Rain falls steady. I see the faint lines of its passage from my perch on the sofa. Classical music—a composition sounding suspiciously like circus music—plays on Vermont Public Radio. Three years with little rain: we had a good run. We therefore settle in for a cozy downtime, having earned $100 American Express gift card for…

  • Sorrowful Release: a solo #renga

    Crescent moon-blown ripples on evening tide how these tear-culled thoughts arise each brightening night First Quarter a scythe-eyed glimps across an empty road how this dust-tongued mouth forms the right word at the wrong time Gibbous a bell-voiced cry no one hears how one dark-vowelled word ends a measure of joy Full Moon a tide-looped…

  • Unrestricted Aces: a #Quadrille #haibun

    Unclassified, one Ace learns English. Another Ace’s fastball dropped me in the dunk tank during least year’s field day. Yet another Ace may claim my lucky “four.” I, their trump ace. All in the least restrictive environment. last bell the crowded cell phone lines for dVerse Poets’ Quadrille #77 – Ace of Poems (pubtended by…

  • Smuggs ’14 Chronicle, Day 2, July 26, 2018

    see Mansfield againbefore taking the plunge downthe spiral pipe sliderelaxing in the hot tubFrankie under my arm The Cabot Factory Outlet in Waterbury offered a crowded house more than cheese samples. A pixie-cut-haired young woman from a new “Meadery” offered tastings from the fledgling enterprise’s three meads. Free mead, along with the purchase of our…

  • A Hudson River Sojourn: a #TankaTuesday #TankaProse

    Plush-plush, say the double-headed paddle, as each head pulls the brackish water of the Hudson river. Our kayaks flow with the tidal current of New York’s mother river; our strokes adjust our course more than propel us. We break for lunch on the shore of Pollepel Island, beneath Bannerman Castle. Then we return to the…

  • A Troll’s Lament

    Always, the bad rap! Do you see the neck chain the orcs fastened? Did I shout for joy as they collared me? Could I count on you to free me? No. Skewar, more’s like. But I’m the bad guy! scapegoat blood on our hands for dVerse Poets’ Quadrille #76– Troll (pubtended by Frank Hubeny)