Talking to the Dead Two Haibun by Deborah P. Kolodji

Talking to the Dead

In California, the night is swollen with lemon blossoms. Easily lulled by porch swing sways and creaks, my eyelids start to droop and I dream talk with an aunt in Minnesota.

sudden leaf rustle
my father calls about her
funeral arrangements

Drought

Our address is odd, which means we can only water our yard on Tuesdays and Fridays. The sycamore tree is dying and the liquidambar is already dead. There isn’t a green lawn in the neighborhood.

lizard
in the living room
desert-colored carpet

Deborah P Kolodji moderates the Southern California Haiku Study Group and is the California Regional Coordinator for the Haiku Society of America. She has published over 800 haiku and 4 chapbooks of poetry. Her full length book of haiku, highway of sleeping towns, is upcoming from Shabda Press.