Cherie Hunter Day

Exit Strategy

The maples have broken through the sedation of green to blare their bright warnings. Every leaf is set to disembark. This happens in families too. We are color-coded—stained raw by months of seclusion. I watch our next-door neighbor use a broom to bat at the curled leaves left clinging. Desperate for closure, he doubles his efforts to dislodge the disposable.

sickroom
still enough daylight
to read by

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About the Author

Cherie Hunter Day has written haibun since 2000. Her haibun “In Rumble Dark” was nominated for a Pushcart Prize in 2019. Recent collections include A House Meant Only for Summer (Red Moon Press, 2023) and Miles Deep in a Drum Solo (Backbone Press, 2022), which won a 2022 Touchstone Distinguished Book Award. She lives in northern California among thirsty redwoods.

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