Tag: haibun
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An Adirondack Autumnal
The trail meandered up and down the gentle canopy floor along the base of Haystack Mountain. We wandered through a radiance of yellow, orange and red as our path gradually ascended. Soon we would ascend one of the steepest approaches to a summit that we ever traversed. We’d halt, huffing & puffing, wondering if we’re…
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Novel Attention
The tingling sensation on my skin. The deep muscle ache in my upper arms and thighs. The creak in my back. The throb in my left forefoot. The tenitis hum in my ears. But I smell the aroma of air-fried, sweet-potato fries. I hear Mira’s humming in the kitchen. I see the twilight sky turn…
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Lovely as Trees: a #TankaProse
The towering, ancient redwood she hugs. The great Sequoia, in whose tunnel we stand. The Cypress before which he poses. The one whose species I forget, but against whose trunk I leaned as I sit upright in zazen posture, legs together in the Burmese tradition. how intertwined are all of our roots these trees and…
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Equinoxal Equilibrium
Alex taught us of the undesirability of being “double-weighted” when practicing tai chi. “Flow from one form to the next, shifting your weight from one leg to another,” she would profess. How extraordinary that our sister, Mother Earth, denies her advice twice each year. this balance of light and darkness… coyfish turn my own late…
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An Immortal’s First Education
I was just a boy—& still mortal—when I saw my mother take up the sword. A band of raiders from the cragged shores breached our walls. Two of them approached her, a savage hunger in their eyes I would learn much later. They never saw the flash of steel that severed their throats. A glance…
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Publication Alert (9/11/24)
I’m honored to appear in Where Peter is today. This haibun first appeared in Failed Haiku. Thank you, Mike Lewis!
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My Hands
My hands are a reader’s hands. They hold open the covers of good books with practiced ease and no fatigue. My hands are a poet’s hands. The right grasps the pen with skillful poise and delivers a peculiarly modern form of sanskrit only I can read. Both possess fingers that dance across keyboards with a…
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Metamorphic Exemplars
The last full week in August. The swan song of summer vacation. A flock of Canadian Geese in V-formation flew southeast late last week. & while a return of summer heat sizzles the Westchester County communities along the Long Island Sound, oak and maple leaves began falling. That’s why there’s a poignancy in seeing the…
Frank J. Tassone 