October 10, 2007

Web Haiku


web across my face
as I walk to the street
and bring back the news

I have been working on this haiku for weeks. Every morning, as I am forgetting again that the spiders have a longer reach than would seem possible, I walk through a web face-first and remember that I want to record this little moment for myself.

I'm not sure this is the final version, but it's at least a version that I can share.

Working on it in little bursts throughout these first weeks of October has also reminded me of a turning point in my life as a parent. I remember how, in the first sleep-starved months, it seemed hard for me to hold onto a train of thought that was more than a few sentences long. Then one day, way suddenly re-opened and I could think again. Not all the time, and not necessarily deeply, but with some cherished continuity. My thought became like knitting, something I carried around with me and could take out at any moment to work through a few rows of a pleasing pattern. And so it has remained.

(Cross-posted at Autumn Haiku 2007)

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

WHEN DOES THE THINKING TIME COME BACK?? I still feel like Harrison Bergeron, hearing trays of dishes crashing in my head.

(Vonnegut, "Welcome to the Monkey House")

Carolee said...

i really like this. A lot. And i'm not a haiku kind of girl. This is terrific ... worth all the work you've put in for sure!