While Driving Home

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.

Author: Frank Hubeny

I enjoy walking, poetry and short prose as well as taking pictures with my phone.

39 thoughts on “While Driving Home”

  5. 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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    1. 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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  10. 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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  16. 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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