Reid Hepworth

Calm Before the Storm

Stella’s mum screams “stop that nonsense” just as the above-ground pool collapses. 9000 gallons of water and 6-8 neighborhood kids, feet and legs akimbo as we whoosh by lawn chairs, break through the neighbours fence and end up in a haphazard pile two houses down in Mr. McGiver’s veggie patch.

summer's end
the sudden stillness
of starlings

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About the Author

Reid Hepworth is a Pushcart Prize– and Touchstone–nominated poet whose haibun, tanka and related forms have been published in journals and anthologies internationally. She is a former associate editor at haikuKATHA and currently resides in wilds of Georgian Bay, Ontario, where she enjoys spending her time listening to the trees, talking to birds, and eating pastries.

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