burning haibun for penelope

in a far away time there is a mother, a wife, a daughter. beside her a son, a hero, a warrior. in some distant place his father, her husband. the time is unknown. war is fading from our senses. i rewrite, respin: war is its own myth. the mother fights her own battles, the hero rejects his place as the son, the father his place as a husband. a tale as old as time, they say. a tale as old as yourself, i reply. the family is its own myth. the mother is no longer a daughter as soon as she gives birth. the mother is no longer a wife as soon as her husband leaves. the mirage of belief is its own myth: perhaps a star falls down in your place. perhaps you were never there. they have taken your name to mean journey, they forget what you left behind. my elegy, my eulogy, i cannot find the tune. i blink, you’re gone again.
//


                                                         mother                                                                    son,
                                                father                                                                        war
    rewrite, respin
                                                                                                                                                               a tale as old as
 yourself
                                                                                                                                                         the mirage of belief is
 its own myth                  a star falls down in your place
                                                                                                                                           my elegy, my eulogy,
                                           i blink, you’re gone again.

//


                                                          mother                                                                    son,
                                                father,


                                                                                                                                                         the mirage of
                                                                                       your place

                                            i blink,                         again.

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