Contemporary Haibun Online

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March 2008, vol 4 no 1

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Deb Baker

Stent

I look in the OED to make sense of it. A very human way to deal with blockage – open it up, get through, gain immediate access, let nothing stop us, hold open barriers, extend the way, stretch to the limit, plead for second chances, stick in place, break through, smooth the path, enlarge, expand, demand results, don’t hold back.  We proceed as if we’re not mortal, continue to distend, distort, comport with impunity, no impurities here, no disease, no defects, we’re propped up, held open, artificially healed. Hold us tethered to riverbanks? No! We lift the bar, forge on, cruise up into our own dark hearts, defiantly.  Unbent, we’re not cowed by the forces trying to slow us, block us, clog the weedy tributaries tangling our lives. On we sail, paying no tolls, barging along, without regard for the temples we desecrate, reckless to the end of days.

blowing snow
my blood
fills a vial