Frank J. Tassone

Tag: publication

  • Tears and a Torn Conscience: a #ThrowdownThursday .@ImageCurve #haibun

    She puts her head down and cries, “I’ve let down you teachers. I’m stupid.” I try to console her. She asks, “Can’t you give me a list of vocabulary? So I can understand?” I remember my intention at the beginning of the year. We would change how we work together. We would meet regularly to…

  • A Rain Meditation: an .@ImageCurve #haibun

      Steady rainfall. The Pastore’s new generator hums. Across the street Stacy and Laurie talk. A sparrow perches on a maple tree, taking shelter under its leaves. Cool draft at my cheek. The power is out again. Rain picks up. A steady swoosh with a hint of rattle as it strikes the asphalt. Waiting for…

  • First Sleepover: a #ThrowdownThursday .@ImageCurve #haibun

    Frankie hugs us tightly. As he lets go, his eyes hold back a hint of tears, the ones that betray the hesitancy we all share. “Ok. Goodbye,” he says. He and his friend Stephan get in a silver SUV. Nora, the boy’s mother, finishes adjusting bags in the bay. As the SUV pulls away, I…

  • Deliverance In The Dark: an .@ImageCurve #haibun

      Cotton sheets cling to my skin like a burial shroud. Memories of Mom arise. Her pain-soaked blue eyes, looking out from a frustration-worn face, pulsing oxygen through nasal tubes insufficient for her to rise from bed. Speculations emerge. Students laugh away the opportunities I offer. Networks with whom I negotiate ignore my recommendations. A…

  • Arboreal Awakening: A #ThrowbackThursday (5/17/18) .@ImageCurve #haibun

    BY FRANK J. TASSONE · 22ND FEBRUARY 2018 The far maple, where I once hung Frankie’s tire swing, blooms. The maple beside our deck, the one with moss growing up its split trunk, arises from its winter slumber, too. We will enjoy another warm season with these old friends. tiniest blossoms bowing its lowest branches…

  • #ThrowdownThursday (5/10/18): Another Mother’s Day?… my latest .@ImageCurve #haibun

    Another Mother’s Day?     Mom washed, curled, brushed and hairsprayed. Then she applied makeup and lipstick. For the first time in weeks, she looks like she always does when she goes out in public. She loses her breath rising from one chair and moving to another, despite the pulse-births of oxygen from her portable…

  • #ThrowdownThursday (5/3/18): Dryness… my latest #Haibun on .@ImageCurve

    Dust falls through my fingers. I reach down and grab another handful. Sage and withered birch are all that break up the ashen plain. There should be light, but too many thunderclouds blot out the sun. another rumble not a drop falls from the midnight black sky first published in Image Curve, May 3, 2018…

  • #ThrowbackThursday (4/26/18): my latest .@ImageCurve #haibun

    Relaxing into Another Weekend     Mira hands me a full glass of Chianti. “Happy Friday!” We clank glasses as we toast. I take my first sip. Dark wood taste explodes on my tongue. I lie back on the chaise and open Merton. Smooth jazz plays again on that best of Christmas gifts: a Motorola…