Roberta Beary
On a Day Like Any Other
The bigger boys keep the smaller pink-haired boy in sight until they exit the school gate. On the video the biggest boy throws the first punch and four others join in, kicking and punching and punching and kicking. One minute 22 seconds later, the bigger boys scatter as the pink-haired boy crawls towards his home, collapsing a few feet from his door. Blood pours from his nose and mouth. A footprint marks his face. His white shirt is stained with blood. But the Blessed Heart insignia on his backpack is untouched. The bigger boys made sure of that.
purple crepe myrtle the wasps come calling
About the Author
Roberta Beary is the haibun editor of Modern Haiku. Born in Queens, New York, they identify as gender fluid and divide their time between USA and Ireland. They are the co-author, with Lew Watts and Rich Youmans, of Haibun: A Writer’s Guide (Ad Hoc Fiction, 2023). Their fourth collection, Carousel, is forthcoming from Snapshot Press.
I attended The Holy Cross School until expelled in the 8th grade. Such bullying boys existed… I was one of them and the Sisters of Mercy never took me aside to put a stop to it. Sheesh. they had to know.
Roberta, a powerful haibun. As always you give voice to those who don’t get to present their case sometimes.
🙏💕🙏 Shalini. This one is based on an incident that happened in Ireland:
“A teenager has suffered serious facial injuries after an attack by multiple youths in an alleged homophobic attack. A shocking video of the incident, which has been viewed online nearly four million times, shows a schoolboy being set upon in an unprovoked assault in Navan, Co. Meath”
https://rollercoaster.ie/lifestyle/news/schoolboy-attached-meath/
Thanks for sharing your story Tom. That means a lot to me.
An extremely poignant haibun!