Adelaide B. Shaw
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The midnight freight, give or take a few minutes, rumbles through the neighborhood, horn blaring as it approaches the crossing. I’m sitting by my bedroom window, sucking on my last cigarette, sucking in the warm summer scented air. The man I’ve been dating has just bid me goodnight with a lingering kiss and a strong embrace. Hidden in my purse is an application for a job teaching in Germany at an American army base school. It’s been there for two weeks, and the deadline is approaching. Mail it tomorrow or tear it up and hope for a different future. Long after the train has passed, I sit listening to the conversation of crickets, as if they can give me my answer.
the full moon
a different shade of pink
on each rose
About the Author
Adelaide B. Shaw has been creating Japanese poetic forms for fifty years and has been published in several journals. Her three collections of haiku, An Unknown Road, The Distance I’ve Come, and Travel Souvenirs, are available on Amazon. Examples of her published work are on http://www.adelaide-whitepetals.blogspot.com.
This haibun splendidly captures the dilemma over making difficult decisions. the train, as life moves on. I wonder what she did?
Thank you, Tom. In answer to your question: She married that young man and they had 57 years together.
Adelaide