Visiting our newest Great Niece

by Frank J. Tassone · 29 August 2019

Julianna sleeps. Caterina dressed her in a light, pink baby dress. She has much brown, curly hair in only two weeks! While Mira chats with Anna-Maria in Portuguese, Frankie stroke’s the baby’s cheeks.

We’ve waited almost two weeks, and we still can’t see her eyes.

heavy breathing
from inside of her crib
August afternoon

Dario and I chat, while Sergio and Frankie mostly listen. Dario says that he doesn’t want to struggle.

Frankie replies, “Nobody wants to struggle, or it wouldn’t be a struggle.”

Sergio adds, “He’s got you there.”

slices of sausage
his chagrinned smile as I
reach for more bread

Photo by Tai’s Captures

Frank J. Tassone

Frank J. Tassone lives in New York City's "back yard" with his wife and son. He fell in love with writing after he wrote his first short story at age 12 and his first poem in high school. He began writing haiku and haibun seriously in the 2000s. His haikai poetry has appeared in Failed Haiku, Cattails, Haibun Today, Contemporary Haibun Online, Contemporary Haibun, The Haiku Foundation and Haiku Society of America member anthologies. He is a contributing poet for the online literary journal Image Curve, and a performance poet with Rockland Poets. When he's not writing, Frank works as a special education high school teacher in the Bronx. When he's not working or writing, he enjoys time with his family, meditation, hiking, practicing tai chi and geeking out to Star Wars, Marvel Cinema and any other Sci-Fi/Fantasy film and TV worth seeing.