This Autumn Evening
These words of Bashō I cannot claim as my own,
but they appear again and again in poems I try to write
this autumn evening.
Three simple words I am unable to match,
unable to live up to with my own words
this autumn evening.
As short as a haiku is,
I cannot remember the rest of the poem,
this autumn evening.
The words rise up in the air from the leaves I disrupt
with heavy feet as try to clear my mind with a walk
this autumn evening.
They float out of the radio on smooth notes of music
I am playing to soothe my mind
this autumn evening.
I think them, say them, type them out,
hoping to break the spell of those three little words:
this autumn evening.
They drift through my head as I lay down,
unable to write, unable to sleep, drifting,
this autumn evening.
Teddy
Higgledy-piggledy
Theodore Roosevelt,
twenty-sixth president
of the U.S.
Nickname was “Teddy,” which
led to the teddy bear,
which I still sleep with, at
times, I confess.
Jessica Hoard is a poet and actress living in Chicago.
Featured Image: “Bashō” by Sugiyama Sanpu (1647 – 1732)
