Author: Frank J. Tassone

Contemporary Haibun, Red Leaves 0

Conflicted Expectations

Contemporary Haibun Poem   We cleared gravy-stained plates and tainted wine glasses. The remains of the turkey could feed the five of us for days. It was the first year we didn’t host. Mom...

Haibun Poem Form, Flea Market Saints 0

Flea Market

Haibun Poem   A green mountain coffee sign stands in the aisle. Cotton T-shirts and three-quarter shirts with band and sports regalia logos hang on wracks or rest folded on tables inside many booths....

Haibun Poetry Form, Celebrate with Music 1

Uninvited Celebrants

Haibun Poetry   We had plans for my birthday worked out when the French door opens. Five minutes later Mom and Dad sit at our kitchen table. As often happens living in a mother-daughter...

Haibun Poetry Form, Motorcycle Ride 0

Joey – Departed

Haibun Poetry   Mom comes upstairs crying. Her tears run down her cheeks, her hands tremble as she collapses into a chair at our kitchen table. “Joey’s dead. He died in a motorcycle accident.”...

Haibun Examples, School Entrance 0

Amid the Clutter

Haibun Poem   Thick reams of paper everywhere. The folders on my desk organizer bulge out with them. I can’t see the top of my desk. Jaime has no room for her piles. Even...

Examples Haibun Poetry, School Bunker 0

Classroom Order

Haibun Poem   He approaches me, his hands raised. I stand behind my desk getting papers. He corners me. “Put your hands down.” “What?” “You heard me.” My command, spoken so softly. My eyes,...

Haibun Example, Green Grass 0

Memorial Stone

Haibun Poem   Mom and I see the headstone. Salmon, just as we chose. Smooth on top and along the sides, it emerges from a rough base of the same hue. Scattered grass grows...

Haibun Today, Cirrus Clouds 1

An Oil Change

Haibun Poem   A Latino couple rests on the dark-gray leather couch opposite me. His thoroughly stained white painter’s pants and Sherman white sweatshirt somehow contrast and complement her matching light-gray sweat suit. An...

Haibun Poem, Cup of Tea, Cup of Coffee 1

Cup of Tea, Cup of Coffee

Haibun Poem   Eighteen years earlier across the pond, a cup of hot Earl Grey tea. Hot bitter-sweetness spreads out from the first sip. Daylight fills the living room through cream curtains. The hum...

Haibun Poetry, Spring Party, Autumn Post 2

Spring Party, Autumn Post

Haibun Poetry   His son’s face is covered in a greenish-yellow goo! Chris holds his daughter, showing an “aw shucks” grin. I stare at his Facebook photo. The last time he called, I knelt...

Haibun Poems, One of 60,000 Stories 2

One of 60,000 Stories

Haibun Poem   “Da menos tu hija! La queremos para nueva reigna!” He shouted outside our house. We saw him from the window. I shuddered at the sight of his tattoos. His friends laughed....

First Class, Haibun Poetry 2

First Class

 Haibun Poetry   Rich walks me to room 252, finishing some comment as he opens a steel, fire-rated door. I enter, and he closes that door behind me. Fifteen Black and Hispanic teens look...