Annette Makino

Prime Vintage

It’s the first day of sophomore year and my stomach is cramping. I’m new to this rural high school and to this area. We can’t afford to rent a place for the six months that our prefab house is being built, so we’re living in a campground. Having spent the night in our VW bus, I quickly brush my teeth in the high school bathroom.

Skinny and shy, with thick glasses and braces, I know I’m not destined to be one of the popular kids. In an era of feathered hair and narrow fashion rules, my dead straight, untrimmed locks and baggy secondhand clothes are two more strikes against me. And in this school of 1500, there is only one other Asian student.

By now I should be used to this. To being the odd kid out, to sitting alone at lunch until I find my people. After all, this is my eighth school in eight years.

September blue
a windfall apple
rolls down the road

But at our 40th reunion at a local winery, my old classmates mirror back a different persona. They remember I graduated first in our class, edited our high school newspaper, and was voted “Most Creative” for my art and writing. They compliment my appearance—and say I haven’t changed a bit. Perhaps the biggest change doesn’t show: I’m now fully comfortable with who I am. We raise our glasses to the Class of ’81.

harvest skies
the vineyards turn
to cabernet

---

About the Author

Annette Makino is an award-winning haiku poet and artist based in Arcata, California who combines paintings and collages with her poems. Her work regularly appears in the leading haiku journals and anthologies. Through her art business, Makino Studios, she shares her haiga, cards, calendars and books. www.makinostudios.com