Alan Peat
Nothing New
Lesbia’s sparrow returns to my garden, perching on a branch of the flaming maple.
See that — the bird says, tilting its beak toward the sun — it warmed my mistress as she tended her garden.
I close my eyes; lean back in my chair; soak up the heat with my hands clasped behind my head.
The bird pipes up — She used to do that.
in a shoebox at the back of the drawer ribbon-tied letters — their hand so very close to mine
About the Author
Alan Peat is a UK-based poet and author. His work has featured in Frogpond, Mayfly, Heliosparrow, The Heron’s Nest, Presence, Hedgerow, and Blithe Spirit, among others. He was runner-up in the 2021 British Haiku Society’s Ken and Norah Jones Haibun Award and won a Touchstone Award for Individual Haibun 2022. His book of collaborative ekphrastic haibun with Réka Nytrai, Barking at the Coming Rain (Alba Publishing, 2023) is available on Amazon or by e-mailing alanpeat@icloud.com.