Roberta Beary


aft
er work

the weight of memory at times like this with its hard push of his hand on my bike columbia blue he bought me and me riding solo look at me daddy look at me and he gives me one big wave and then the soft thud in the drive and he's gone and i have nowhere to look but up at the stars forever changing and the same

vigil over
binding his
hands
with a rosary



always his hand over mine his hard and strong mine little and soft the crush of his hand while we wait for the light to turn green and the cars coming every which way quick he pulls me back safe the hurt of his hand over mine under the streetlamp's soft glow forever changing and the same

vigil
a
rosary slips over
cooling hands

Roberta Beary grew up in New York City and currently lives in Maryland.

"I feel a closeness to Japan since I lived in Tokyo for 5 years in the 1990s. While living in Japan, I discovered haiku. Today I am an active member of the towpath haiku group, which meets in the Washington, DC area. We often get together to workshop our haiku and haibun. One of the things I like to do is to look up other haiku poets when I travel. I strongly believe in the power of haibun to tap one's most bittersweet memories."

Copyright 2006: Simply Haiku