Spices

Pulling out the old, tattered chili recipe, I can’t help but reflect on the man who created it and our tumultuous relationship. You’d think after the abandonment of my “real” dad, having a stepdad who showed up, supported my mom and her two kids and wrote chili recipes in his spare time might be a winner. But there remained the personality clash. Is it a thing for a parent to not get along with a child? Shouldn’t an adult know how to converse with a child without arguing? When does a child start owning responsibility for the parent-child relationship? I’ll never know…he left me years ago.

tiny bowls of spice
savory scent bringing forth
memories days past

Author’s Notes: The above poem is written in a form called Haibun. Haibun, is a prosimetric literary form originating in Japan, combining prose and haiku/senryu/tanka. The range of haibun is broad and frequently includes autobiography, diary, essay, prose poem, short story, and travel journal.  Learn more about various poetry styles here.

Similar to Haiku in structure (an unrhymed poetic form consisting of 17 syllables arranged in three lines of 5-7-5 syllables respectively), a senryu is generally more focused on human nature and tends to be more ironic or satirical.

Hey y’all, thanks for visiting the Go Dog Go Cafe and I hope you enjoyed reading today’s selection. I am Donna Matthews, a born and bred Texan who can usually be found writing, painting, taking pictures, or traveling the world on foot. I’m all about love, people, sharing, and doing life together and would love to get to know you. I host two blogs…the first, The DJ Ranch, documents my personal adventures while the second, Slay The Chaos, focuses on mindsets, technology, productivity and organization. Come on over for a visit sometime 💙