marlene mountain
other-line haiku sequences
1971

as is

neighbors

they ask if we like
our house
then talk of winter

for a year
i stay inside painting & writing
the leaves change fall & come again*

fed only by a stream
the creek
rising in the rain

though the stream is small
its banks
are wide with rain

the cabin
lonely--
now the poor tenant

weeks after the moonshiner
is caught
he has a little to sell

the old prostitute
talks to her daughter on the phone
talks of men

the prostitute's son
talks of his mother's plans
a pony he's getting

the old man
walking his neighbor's land
claiming it with each step

unable to read or write
he talks of laws
and what he owns

the old man's son
young last year
now walks like his pap

the old man talks of the past
his sons
fight his battles

eager
we plant early
the farmers watch for frost

*mm note: this relates to a year in georgia
and perhaps should have been written in past-tense
or deleted

back to 'other-line haiku sequences contents'