Terri L. French

Monte Sano

It’s true that everybody knows everybody else’s business up here. It’s also true that folks look out for one another. Neighbors take shifts to walk with Shirley, the elderly widow who’s lived up on this mountain longer than anyone can remember. If your cat goes missing, everyone’s on the lookout—most likely he’s just gone visiting and is curled up on someone’s sofa. If one person has a bumper tomato crop, everyone on their street eats fresh tomatoes. This past winter an ice storm kept us all inside for a couple weeks, unable to drive down into the valley for groceries. Those who dared found themselves nose-first in the ditch. Of course a neighbor with a pick-up and tow strap soon came to the rescue. We all shared what we had until the weather warmed and the ice melted. Someone set up a Facebook page for people to post their needs and offer their excess. Coffee, diapers, birdseed. . .heck, one man even shared his Flomax prescription. “I can hook you up,” he posted.”Every old guy up here has prostate problems.” Yep, people have more than just your back on our little mountain.

shiny pebbles
on my windowsill. . .
the kindness of crows

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Author’s Notes:

The haiku was first published in The Bamboo Hut, No. 2, 2020. 

Monte Sano Mountain is located in Huntsville, Alabama. The name Monte Sano is Spanish for “mountain of health.”

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About the Author

Terri L. French is a poet/writer and retired massage therapist. She and her husband, Ray, have four mostly grown children and one spoiled dog. For the past four and a half years they enjoyed the nomadic life of full-time RVers and are now building their forever home on a mountain in Huntsville, Alabama.

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