John Zheng

Hanging Memories

Is it a way to maintain life when storms howl through the century-old oak in the front yard and break off its dead limbs? How do we maintain our life when heavy limbs crash on the roof or when the tree smashes into the house? This morning after rain I went out to check, surprised to see the tree is bony, and its calluses make it look like an old man with a long history of arthritis. I sighed, knowing it was time to bow my goodbye. Its years interlaced with green leaves and sunlight, moon and stars, thunder and lightning, woodpeckers and squirrels will be gone soon.

scenic stop
memorial chimes
tinkling on a branch
of a bare tree
by the overlook

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About the Author

John Zheng has authored Enforced Rustication in the Chinese Cultural Revolution and published haibun and tanka prose in cho, Haibun Today, Southern Quarterly, and Spillway.