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MacQueen’s Quinterly: Knock-your-socks-off Art and Literature
Issue 30: Sept. 2025
Haibun: 241 words
By Kat Lehmann

An Interview for Floor Manager at the Haiku Factory

 

Tell me a little about yourself.

common blue damselfly
my name lost
to the river

Why did you leave your last position?

morning fog
the bumblebees and I
lost among lilies

Why do you want this job?

mountaineering
a polite decline
of the peak

Where do you see yourself in five years?

at the edge
of an autumn wind
ripe strawberry

How would you define your greatest strength?

morning meadow
the scent of chartreuse
collects a cloud

How would you define your greatest weakness?

morning meadow
the scent of chartreuse
collects a cloud

How does this position fit with your career goals?

nightfall
the crows assemble
a larger dark

What would you say is your core expertise?

river walk
the endless rushing
kaleidoscope

Describe a time you applied your skills a different way.

midnight working through the silence owls

Tell me about your last three jobs.

skunk cabbage dawn
still making sense
of the nonsense

Describe a failure and what you learned from it.

dark forest
warbles and croaks sketch
the shape of it

What are your salary expectations?

holstein dream
the arc of a day
outlines my back

Please provide a list of references.

inventing shapes ...
the constellations
that might exist

How can we reach you?

green lake
a passing trout
borrows my name

We will get back to you with any next steps.

beach walk
my footsteps fade
into fossils

 

Bio: Kat Lehmann

 
 
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