Sitting

by Michael Dylan Welch, Richard R. Powell, and Marilyn Powell

First published in Tidepools: Haiku On Gabriola (Gabriola, British Columbia: Pacific-Rim Publishers, 2011). See my introduction to the book. Written 20 July 2008 at White Hart Pub, Gabriola Island, and Tim Horton’s, Nanaimo, British Columbia.

family reunion—

the baby nods off

in her high chair Michael

touching old gum

under her desk seat Richard

eyes squeezed tight

for a final push . . .

birthing chair Marilyn

the sale tag snipped

from her new potter’s stool Michael

delayed retirement—

she sinks deeper

in the recliner Richard

after dessert

asleep in her wheelchair Marilyn