Marjorie Buettner

Hatsu-Yume

The first dream of the new year has informed my days now for over a week. The frail bird that I picked up with my bare hands is still throbbing warm. I can feel its heart beating furiously as it curls itself around my fingers seeking refuge or escape, I cannot tell. There are other animals, too, in my dream: perhaps a mouse or maybe a wild cat, its nails digging into my skin reminding me of the pain of existence: how life can change in an instant from a beginning to an end …

Day of Epiphany
my heart outracing
itself

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About the Author

Marjorie Buettner has two books of poetry published by Red Dragonfly Press: Seeing it Now (haiku and tanka) and Some Measure of Existence (haibun), the latter of which won the Haiku Society of America book award. She lives in Chisago City, Minnesota.

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