Peter Newton

Incantation

It’s late autumn, the in-between time after all the leaves have fallen and before the first hard frost. I am torn between wanting to hold onto the year that has passed and needing to let it go. It’s a false choice, of course. It all goes, like it or not.
 
In some tacit acknowledgment that we are all disposable, I pull the plugs, mute the remotes and open the window to let in the cool air. No wind but a crisp stillness, as if it had been there all along.
 
Birds. Church bells. A few crickets oblivious to the approaching cold. Or, preternaturally aware, they are choosing to sing their soft good-byes.
 
I close my eyes to the sounds, breathing until almost all of my thoughts dissolve. Anyone who happens by right now might think me under some spell.

rapid fire all three names of the newest shooter

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About the Author

Peter Newton is the author of several books in the Japanese short form traditions of haiku, haibun, and tan renga. His most recent collection of haibun is Part-Time Gods (Snapshot Press, 2022). His newest book of haibun and haiku, A Room Inside the Rain, was recently published by Red Moon Press.

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