Matthew Caretti

Stowaways on This Insubstantial World

Sinking into the reef, the sun. Seabirds unreturned,
yet we are pleased by our own arrival. We welcome
the darkness, navigate the stars. Run low on names
but shift with each shape. Midnight spindrift on rip-
tide breakers bends us into dawn. All too soon we
are stirred from the spell cast by this journey. Risk
a plunge into the new day.

anemone
rainbows underneath
each splash

---

About the Author

Matthew Caretti’s books include Harvesting Stones (2017, Snapshot Press eChapbook Award winner, haibun) and three books with Red Moon Press: Africa, Buddha (2022, haibun), Ukulele Drift (2023, haiku), and Slow Boat to Samoa (2025, haibun). His haibun “Deep Water Port” earned a 2023 Touchstone Award for Individual Haibun. He lives and teaches high school English in Pago Pago, American Samoa

---