For the Fourth of July, we drive our kids—ages seven and three—to the fireworks display in Smyrna, just a few minutes from home. We find a spot on the open grass and spread our blankets.

We have juice boxes and snacks to pass the time before the show begins.

Close enough to the launch site that the shells seem to explode right overhead, the sound is overwhelming—we cover our ears during the thunderous salute shells, especially the finale, when dozens go off at once in a deafening barrage.

After the show, with embers still falling, we fold blankets and begin to make our way to our green station wagon. Weaving through the crowd, we realize the seven-year-old isn’t with us.

We panic and start pushing through the people and calling out his name. He simply isn’t there. Thinking the worst, we go to the car, trying to decide who to call first.

He’s sitting on the roof waiting for us.

survival instinct 
finds sanctuary 
shooting stars 

Thomas Smith

spent 18 years in academia in Life Sciences and has articles and book chapters published in the scientific literature. COVID changed his creative focus. He has free verse poems, rhymed poems, haiku, tanka, haiga, and limericks published in a number of literary journals. He lives in Austin, Texas, with his family.

Author’s website: https://authorthomassmith.com

More on the Web: By, About, and Beyond

⚡ Different Stories, haibun by Thomas Smith in O:JA&L (17 June 2025)

⚡ Appearances, haibun by Smith in O:JA&L (16 June 2025)