A dimly lit Japanese restaurant. I glance at my watch, think: "must have gotten the time wrong," return to gazing absently at the paintings on the walls. A tiny almond-eyed waitress approaches, looks at the empty chair:
"Friend come soon?"
"Yes, soon," I reply.
A half-hour later, I catch her eye.
"Not coming. Ohhhh … too bad. Want order?"
Yes, some sort of order has been lost and I want it back. Without the steady rhythm of work, I no longer know which day of the week it is.
A thin volume of poetry open, I stuff down noodles and words, pretend that I'm not one to be pitied, but instead admired for being able to live so rich a solitary life.
a scrap of paper
creased sixty-seven times--
origami goat
Note: One master's origami goat requires 67 folds.
Ray Rasmussen lives in Edmonton, Canada. He dreamt that in a previous life he was a university professor.
He was attracted to haiku when he visited the Kurimoto Japanese Garden near his home and went in search
of Asian poetry to supplement his web site. He is the managing editor and webmaster of Contemporary Haibun Online; a past haiga editor and webmaster of Simply Haiku; and a past haibun editor for World Haiku Review. His haiku, haibun, haiga and essays have appeared in Frogpond, Contemporary Haibun, Heron's Nest, Simply Haiku, Contemporary Haibun Online, Haigaonline, tinywords, Haiku Harvest, the World Haiku Review and LifeSherpa. His web page designs are currently used by Simply Haiku, Contemporary Haibun Online, and Roadrunner. Ray's web site is: http://raysweb.net/haiku/
Ray Rasmussen lives in Edmonton, Canada. He dreamt that in a previous life he was a university professor.
He was attracted to haiku when he visited the Kurimoto Japanese Garden near his home and went in search
of Asian poetry to supplement his web site. He is the managing editor and webmaster of Contemporary Haibun Online; a past haiga editor and webmaster of Simply Haiku; and a past haibun editor for World Haiku Review. His haiku, haibun, haiga and essays have appeared in Frogpond, Contemporary Haibun, Heron's Nest, Simply Haiku, Contemporary Haibun Online, Haigaonline, tinywords, Haiku Harvest, the World Haiku Review and LifeSherpa. His web page designs are currently used by Simply Haiku, Contemporary Haibun Online, and Roadrunner. Ray's web site is: http://raysweb.net/haiku/