Haiku Roundtable • Fall 2010
Dr. Randy Brooks

. . . Zipping back

by
Susie Wirthlin

My haiku took a new twist this year. Still family oriented, but now aware of the not so picturesque moments. Still loving nature, but now looking beyondone perfect flower. I zipped back that outer layer to look at the darker, unknown, and beautiful scences of life for investigation.

homecoming
     more baggage
          than I remembered

family lunch
grandmother calmly announces
I'm not marriage material

family dinner
Dad tells that fishing story
again . . .

goodnight kiss
     my Dad and I acting
          sober

smoke break
     Dad's old lighter fueling
          my addiction

string quartet
the collection hat filling
with snow

ummarked tape
accidentally recording over
your baby video

gray cornfield
under the dead stalks
a child's bones

christmas eve
under the priest's tree
nothing

twilight kiss
letting the sun set
with my doubts

morning after
gently washing away
     his scent

underage cleavage
I let her order
another drink

prom dress
     zipping back
          into high school

secret smoke break
     spying my wife down
          a shot