Standing by the crosswalk, I overhear a mother warn her child: “Not before it turns green!”
There are no cars in sight and I’m late for a meeting, so I make a dash for it. I can almost hear the mother tut-tutting from behind me.
Minutes later, in the office, I worry over how I will teach the same to my own daughter. I’ve spent a lifetime crossing streets at red light.
winter tea
having a tête-à-tête
with my chipped mug
is the author of between light & shadow: haiku & senryu and a member of the British Haiku Society. Her work has appeared in a variety of print and online journals such as Blithe Spirit, Contemporary Haibun Online, Drifting Sands, Haibun Today, and Prune Juice; and has been anthologized in Red Moon Press’s A New Resonance series. She received the Grand Prize in The Heron’s Nest Readers’ Choice Awards and was designated Poet of the Year in 2018. Her awards also include World Haiku Review Editor’s Choice, and Golden Haiku First-Place Award. She resides in London, England where she works as a college counselor.
