Illinois Leave-Takings
A senryu series
dad’s visitation
his drinking buddies show up at
the wrong funeral home
her favorite hula-hoop
now encircling
her tombstone
funeral procession
hearse runs over a squirrel
final smoke
dad’s last pack of cigarettes
cremated with him
funeral director asks my age
graveside service
mourners’ eyes tear up
from the fresh-cut grass
dad’s favorite brand—
the cemetery trash barrel
filled with beer cans
post-funeral lunch
an unkempt man
goes back for seconds
broken
the granite heart serving as
a grave marker
opulent in Queen Anne’s lace the potter’s field
Editor’s note: Haibun by John J. Dunphy appears in a past issue of Cable Street, here.
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