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Patricia Rosie Stalker: Haibun

THE COLDEST JOURNEY

 

I take him into the hospital

.......................again

my son has Hodgkin’s disease

.........................................no known cure

they say the radium will give him an extra few months

is this cause for celebration?

......................................................he is eight years old

he looks small in that bed, skin the colour of the sheets

he cries and begs to come home

I want to stay with him

..................................three other children wait at home

5pm

dark

winter

I make my way to the bus stop

........................rain falling on

.........................cheeks already wet

I board the bus and choose an empty seat

sliding over to the window

I stare into blackness

he has been ill for two years

how much more can his body endure?

the bus rumbles on

I dry my eyes

someone sits next to me

why here?

so many other empty seats, damn you

..........................I keep my face to the window

A feeling of warmth gradually spreads over me — it is coming from the

person beside me — I begin to feel calm as my crying subsides

................................................for the first time since this all began

...........................................................I am at peace

I turn to look at my fellow passenger

.................................................the seat is empty

 

.................................................through the window

.................................................a fragment

.................................................of the waning moon

.................................................for now

.................................................the storm is over


1st place Haibun Contest, Yellow Moon, Issue 13, 2003. First published in Yellow Moon, 13, Winter 2003.


Patricia Rosie Stalker was born in Manchester, England in 1940. Trained as a Registered Nurse, and Midwife. Spent one year in Chicago and three years in New York. Moved to Australia, spent thirteen years in the Air Force. Retired from the work force in 2001, and moved to the far north coast of New South Wales. Joined a creative writing and poetry class, and was fortunate enough to be taught the Japanese form by Janice Bostok.