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    Parker Owens
  • Parker Owens
  • Author
  • 07/14/2020
  • 222 Words
  • 1,471 Views
  • 8 Comments
Poetry posted in this category are works of fiction. Names, places, characters, events, and incidents are created by the authors' imaginations or are used fictitiously. Any resemblances to actual persons (living or dead), organizations, companies, events, or locales are entirely coincidental.
Note: While authors are asked to place warnings on their stories for some moderated content, everyone has different thresholds, and it is your responsibility as a reader to avoid stories or stop reading if something bothers you. 

Disasters, Delights and Other Detours - 74. Haibun from a Distance

A few sketches from July. If you find any errors, they are entirely mine.

My colleague has a new dog, an enthusiastic and growing Husky. On my morning walk, I sometimes encounter them, and I give them a wide, socially distant berth while my colleague tightens his grip on the leash.

 

Over there!

People! Oh, new people!

Please, please won’t you let me go greet them?

I promise not to slobber, bark too loud, or jump,

and the tall one is looking our way;

they smell so interesting,

let’s go sniff!

 

Sometimes it’s better just to walk the river path, ignoring the online news and the radio, and just listen to the birds, instead.

 

Each day

I scan the news

and with every headline

credulity is strained and speech

fails me;

what fool

politicizes racial strife,

strips millions of health care

while asking us

to vote?

 

This summer

is time to take delight

in simple gifts which often lie hid

where our eyes can see, but where sense fails to perceive:

fluffy, new-fledged juncos fluttering,

burgeoning hydrangeas,

and dawn smiles.

 

 

And on my way home, I’ll visit with an old student.

 

By the stone

your classmates laid to mark

the tree they planted in your honor,

I stop to read again its grey granite tribute

to your valiant fight against disease,

but I still remember

you running.


Thanks for peeking into my recent sketches. Any comments or thoughts are welcome.
Copyright © 2017 Parker Owens; All Rights Reserved.
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Poetry posted in this category are works of fiction. Names, places, characters, events, and incidents are created by the authors' imaginations or are used fictitiously. Any resemblances to actual persons (living or dead), organizations, companies, events, or locales are entirely coincidental.
Note: While authors are asked to place warnings on their stories for some moderated content, everyone has different thresholds, and it is your responsibility as a reader to avoid stories or stop reading if something bothers you. 
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Parker Owens
2 hours ago, dughlas said:

Your visit to an old student brought me to tears. How bright some candles burn only to be snuffed before their light can truly be appreciated.

Thank you for all of these words you gifted us.

It’s funny how he’s never aged in my mind. He had a life as an adult, worked for change, but was cut short by a horrible illness. He will always be that earnest mop haired kid playing soccer in my head. 

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Mikiesboy

All four are wonderful. I liked the first ... dogs only want to love us all.  Luckily they don't hold it against us when some don't feel the same way.

The second ...  well i cannot comment on that fool.

The third ... is full of nature's bounty and delights. They made me smile. My mom used to like the juncos .. sweet little things.

The last ... you have told me about this student before.  Though sad, he will be known and remembered.  Thank you for reminding me again.

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Parker Owens
2 hours ago, Mikiesboy said:

All four are wonderful. I liked the first ... dogs only want to love us all.  Luckily they don't hold it against us when some don't feel the same way.

The second ...  well i cannot comment on that fool.

The third ... is full of nature's bounty and delights. They made me smile. My mom used to like the juncos .. sweet little things.

The last ... you have told me about this student before.  Though sad, he will be known and remembered.  Thank you for reminding me again.

I finally learned the dog’s name today. Her name is Grace. One day when we need not be distant, we’ll get acquainted, and she can have her sniffs. There are lots of fledgling juncos this year; there was one cheeping away on the front step last weekend, so proud of its ability to flutter. My student would have relished these times. He was an activist even back then. Thanks for coming on my walks with me. 

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Parker Owens
6 hours ago, Geron Kees said:

Thank you for the quiet moments. And the doggie moment. 🙂

 

You’re most welcome. I look forward to my occasional glimpses of my colleague’s dog. She’s really lovely. One day she will get her sniffs. In the meantime, I’ve been watching hummingbirds chase away the junk-food addict downy woodpeckers from their feeder. Thanks very much for reading, and for your comments. 

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