The first time I drove these fast, multi-lane interstate highways connecting Chicago and northern Indiana I was alone and I thought I was going to die or get my butt kicked since I wasn’t supposed to be on them. I was driving a cheap, used car I bought from a classmate without asking my father’s advice because I didn’t have a brain in my head. A week later, after the car and I survived I-94, that car suddenly lost oil and brought me, safely, to its final stop on a country road. Driving back to my childhood town these memories take advantage of the opportunity to hold my attention. My sister is still there with her family. There is also my former teacher. His children, who have children now, I remember as children whom I baby sat while their youngest sibling was being born. My parents are both there, side by side, but where they really are, and perhaps who they really are, I will find out in the not too distant future. One by one, they joined my youngest brother whose misfortune with automobiles was worse than mine. I can still see my father opening the door for me as we gathered that day. How he cried! I hear Omar Alfanno’s “Un Hombre de Verdad” playing from my phone over the car’s speakers. My heart tells my mind that enough is enough and they give me a chance to listen. I touch repeat.
APRIL’S EYES HAVE CLEARED
EARTH WAITS WARM AND PATIENTLY
BLOOMS SMILE EVERYWHERE
Linked to dVerse Haibun Monday hosted by Toni with the prompt to write a haibun about singing to a song while driving.
Wow. What an interesting and arresting haibun. The haiku is excellent as well. I like how you reversed the words in the last line.
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Thank you, Toni!
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A lovely memory and haiku, Frank
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Thank you, Robbie!
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A fatherly love. Your are bless having a father like him. Nice write.
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Yes, I was blessed having him as a father. Maybe I still am. Thank you!
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So poignant and beautiful, Frank. Reading your works is so often an emotional journey into depths I don’t as easily reach on my own.
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Thank you, Paul! I am glad they took you on that emotional journey.
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A very powerful and moving haibun Frank and your closing haiku is so poignant. The warm earth waiting patiently with the flowers smiling sends the message that all is well and full love on the other side.
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That is how I see it–full of love on the other side. Thank you, Xenia!
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Poignant haibun. The acceptance of death beautifully described.
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Thank you! I was planning on something more lighthearted for this haibun challenge, but then it seemed to center around death. That was what I was thinking of on my last trip to Indiana.
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i love the lines talking about your parents, they were very tender and respectful. very moving Haibun , then the Haiku lifts us up again.
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On re-reading it I think the haiku does lift one up again. Thanks, Gina!
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Lovely haibun and haiku! Thanks for introducing me to another writing style ☺♥
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Toni introduced the haibun to me. My first one was about six months ago. She provides haibun prompts every other Monday at dVerse.
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I especially love “blooms smile everywhere.”
🙂
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I like that line as well especially after all the darker emotions preceding it. Thank you!
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One of my favorite parts about remembering is that events that weren’t too pleasant when they happened can turned into wonderful memories when we are recalling them years later. January seems much less ruthless, when we think of the clearing Aprils to come.
Oh, another thing I particularly love about remembering past actions is that we almost always know better by the time they’ve simmered into memories. Thank goodness for time, and its ability to grow brains. 🙂
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Good points! Memories can bring out the truth of events. A present perspective gives us a chance to see things differently. Thanks, Magaly!
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Fantastically well done! Very touching, moving too 🙂
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Thank you! I am very glad it moved you!
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Oh that memory of your brother was especially touching…. I have memories of driving with a car (much too fast)… surviving stupidity.
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I have survived a lot of stupidity. Each time is an opportunity to do it better next time. Thanks, Björn!
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Funny how our brains develop after those teenage years! A touching haibun, Frank…with a hopeful haiku at the end.
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I think the heart dominates and the brain conforms to it. Eventually the brain starts giving the heart better advice. I am glad you liked it!
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Very touching haibun. Love the haiku. The smiling blooms make me think there’s always life and hope even in the darkest moments.
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Thank you, Lynn! I intended the smiling blooms to add back in the hope that the haibun may have led some readers to question.
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It worked perfectly.
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Trips of MeMories..
Route this or that on
Innerstate.. oF Spirit
thAT has no Distance
Space or Time.. Love
RoadS oN iN
Never
Ending SpiRaLs..:)
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There are never ending spirals. Thank you, Fred!
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Hope
Spirals..:)
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I can imagine how it must have feels to hear the song and have the memories stream back to you. Thank you for sharing the story and the earthy yet spiritual haiku.
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Thank you, Kathy! Usually when I go back to my childhood home these same memories come to my attention.
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you took us with you on this ride, Frank! 🙂 great job!
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Thank you, Rosema! Those are the things I usually think of when I drive back there.
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❤ ❤ ❤
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What wonderful memories, Frank.
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I’m glad you enjoyed it! They were nice memories, or the familiar ones I have when I go back to Indiana.
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