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Joan Prefontaine

Notes in a Bottle

On Labor Day weekend, before we leave our summer cabin for home and school, my cousin and I cruise the lake one last time, cutting the speed boat engine in Turtle Bay so we can lie back and observe the stars. In the sheltered reed-beds, with a backdrop of birches and pines, we recall whatever the season has changed for us, and scribble our wishes for the coming year on scraps of paper by flashlight. We poke these scraps into a bottle that once held blackberry brandy, twisting the lid tightly over its trace of sticky sweetness. Then we attach a rock with twine to the neck of the bottle, and fling it out, as far as we can, into the shadowy ripples.

night angling
the catch and release
of dreams

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About the Author

Joan Prefontaine has been writing haiku and haibun since 2012, after she moved to the mountains of central Arizona, where the wide-open spaces of the Southwest encouraged her to use fewer words and more reflective pauses. Her haibun have won several awards, including a Cottage Prize in Japan’s 2020 Genjuan International Haibun Contest.