Doreen King

Travelling with My Sister

In a mid‑winter blizzard, snow as thick as double cream, our car comes to a standstill. This is the first time we have been in a car together in the last fifteen years, and it is only because our cousin is getting married. Indeed, we have not spoken to each other since the argument. We eat our lunch in silence as the snow turns into a translucent sheet, skating ring hard. We can feel the temperature drop so we snuggle under thermal blankets. And then we wait, wondering who will speak first.

sound of soft voices...
a snowflake clings to the
wing mirror

Published in The Unseen Wind: British Haiku Society Haibun Anthology 2009, Lynne Rees and Jo Pacsoo (Editors), British Haiku Society.