November Interlude, haibun Options

[JustDaniel]

The chilling winds of Autumn arrive a little late this year, interspersed with one deluge after another, one with destructive winds tearing unmercifully through neighboring communities but sparing us for another time. Then a hard freeze followed by cool breezes with early-fall warmth, grandchildren playing in the yard in light jackets, our Pomeranian trailing them with his four-foot branch, begging for it to be thrown.

bare trees embarking
on a journey to nowhere
will leave in the spring

Fighting irrational gloom, I key into the present, anticipating gastric sleeve surgery three days away. I’d begun this journey forty pounds and four months ago in the warmth of summer, after a spring of depression triggered by weight-loss failures. Five support groups, three meetings with a dietician, a psychological screening, a stress test and meetings with four doctors later…

a weight lifted
as sun melts clouds and blues
cool winds of autumn

Thanksgiving on the horizon, I’ll arrive home amid all the bustle and smells in the kitchen where wife and daughters prepare desserts and delicacies and slice ingredients for the main event two days later, while I sip on green tea and chicken broth without a beef. Soon I’ll feast my eyes on the gathered family as they reminisce and gorge themselves on the abundance before them, while I salivate, watching and rejoicing, taking in the aroma of kinship and love, with a dash of holiday tension.

no carol-singing
‘til leftovers disappear
Noël soon enough


© MLee Dickens’son 22 Nov 2019
Daniel J Ricketts

[Ali zonak]

The chilling winds of Autumn arrive a little late this year, interspersed with one deluge after another, one with destructive winds tearing unmercifully through neighboring communities but sparing us for another time. Then a hard freeze followed by cool breezes with early-fall warmth, grandchildren playing in the yard in light jackets, our Pomeranian trailing them with his four-foot branch, begging for it to be thrown.

bare trees embarking
on a journey to nowhere
will leave in the spring

Fighting irrational gloom, I key into the present, anticipating gastric sleeve surgery three days away. I’d begun this journey forty pounds and four months ago in the warmth of summer, after a spring of depression triggered by weight-loss failures. Five support groups, three meetings with a dietician, a psychological screening, a stress test and meetings with four doctors later…

a weight lifted
as sun melts clouds and blues
cool winds of autumn

Thanksgiving on the horizon, I’ll arrive home amid all the bustle and smells in the kitchen where wife and daughters prepare desserts and delicacies and slice ingredients for the main event two days later, while I sip on green tea and chicken broth without a beef. Soon I’ll feast my eyes on the gathered family as they reminisce and gorge themselves on the abundance before them, while I salivate, watching and rejoicing, taking in the aroma of kinship and love, with a dash of holiday tension.

no carol-singing
‘til leftovers disappear
Noël soon enough


© MLee Dickens’son 22 Nov 2019
Daniel J Ricketts

Hello Daniel;
I must say yours is a well-written haibun; much enjoyed reading it. Sorry about your illness. I had a medical issue as well, although in another department--namely heart related, right after the doctor had told me that I was clean as a whistle, lol. Woke up that morning with crushing chess pain and rushed to the hospital; The surgeon said I needed a stent put into the circumflex artery, which was no picnic for me. I lost 20 lb during my 3-day stay at that chop shop, but I feel fine now. Enough about me! I hope you recover soon, Daniel, and I pray that Christmas will find you seated at the festive table munching your share of goodies. Take care, my friend. Jerry