John Hawkhead

Terminus

I cram my holdall into the overhead rack, aware of her standing on the other side of the window—arms folded, feet crossed.

She looks down the platform briefly but then fixes her gaze back onto me. Her face is gently seismic, emotion working under the surface—ripple lines across her brow, lips pinch-clamped.

The guard blows his whistle and I raise a half-hearted hand while the train shunts away, turning us gradually into smaller versions of ourselves.

leaving a lover
the train enters a tunnel
of my own making

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About the Author

John Hawkhead has published haibun and haibunga previously in cho (Vol. 15, No. 1), cattails, Failed Haiku, and the British Haiku Society’s Members’ Anthology. His haiku have been published all over the world and he recently won the Grand Prix in the  10th Setouchi Matsuyama Haiku Contest.