Haibun

THE CIRCLE 

My circle is shrinking. For years it expanded.  Yes, there were gaps when someone left, but others came. Always more. Grandma and Grandpa gone. A new uncle and twin cousins came. Aunts and uncles gone. A brother-in-law, a niece and nephews filled their spots. A husband, children, grandchildren and friends kept the circle expanding. It was a loose circle, but so wide for so long it was easy to ignore time and the loosening of someone’s hand until it slipped away.  And they do slip, some slowly and painfully–cancer, emphysema;  some instantly–a lightning strike, a heart attack. It does no good to hold on tightly. I do anyway.

blowing bubbles

before they leave the wand

each one is mine

 

UHTS Cattails samurai haibun contest, FIRST PLACE, December 2014