Poem 249 – Haibun for the Eve Before the First Day of School

Haibun for the Eve Before the First Day of School

It is the evening before the first day of school
one of many firsts that will linger in our storybooks
and simon & garfunkel
serenade the bivouac of butterflies in my belly
migrating the stunning history of music through me –

This bridge over troubled water is rickety and rambling
in the wind of COVID weather that keeps fear sutured on my hip

But it’s the evening before the first day of school
one of many that will linger in our storybooks
and I am witness to my children’s beginnings
while nostalgia dances in my veins like a solitary monarch
migrating from my past into this present day that feels
like tomorrow I’m beginning something new too

We’re in the middle of this bridge weeping into troubled water
dropping wish-heavy coins into whitecaps of hope

May eyes lead the day
In light-bright kindness for all
Under masks smiles root