Two haibun by Elizabeth Crocket & markets for haibun and haiku

Contemporary haibun is a combination of prose and haiku poetry, sometime described as “a narrative epiphany” (from Contemporary Haibun Online).

The Gift

I am going to my father's house to do yard work before it is put up for sale, and am struck by how his garden has bloomed. Splashes of yellow daffodils and ruby red tulips greet me. I can hear his voice. "Pick a bouquet, honey, whatever you want."

 dad's headstone

a bouquet

of his favourites

  

 Trapped

I sit in the chemo suite and try not to wince as the nurse inserts the needle into the port in my chest. An elegant looking first timer walks past us, regally dressed in black satin and a mauve hat. I wonder why they usher her to a private room, but when we all hear her gentle sobs, we know why. A few of us exchange pitiful smiles, as we remember the grip that fear held on us too, as we entered this world of unknown, uncertain futures. My eyes dart to my watch, so I'll know exactly what time the bag will drip its last drop and I will be free again. Meanwhile, my daughter remains steadfast beside me, and we have no choice but to settle in with magazines and each other for the rest of the afternoon.

squirrel in the branches

bread too large

for its mouth

“The Gift” was previously published in A Hundred Gourds. “Trapped” was previously published in Shamrock Haiku Journal. Elizabeth has also had haibun published in Haibun Today.

Here are a few places you can send your haibun for publication:

Contemporary Haibun Online: Editors Ken Jones, Jim Kacian and Bruce Ross.

Haibun Today: Editors Jeffrey Woodward, Patricial Prime, Glenn Coats, Claire Everett and Ray Rasmussen.

 A Hundred Gourds: Editor Mike Montreuil.

 Notes from the Gean: Editor Colin Stewart Jones.

 Shamrock Haiku Journal: Editor Anatoly Kudryavitsky.

And check out other places to publish your haiku here, here and here.

See Brian Henry’s schedule here, including writing workshops and creative writing courses in Barrie, Brampton, Burlington, Caledon, Cambridge, Collingwood, Georgetown, Guelph, Hamilton, Kingston, London, Midland, Mississauga, Newmarket, Niagara on the Lake, Orillia, Oakville, Ottawa, Peterborough, St. Catharines, Stouffville, Sudbury, Toronto, Halton, Kitchener-Waterloo, Muskoka, Peel, Simcoe, York, the GTA, Ontario and beyond.