Spooked

by Jackie Chou, Michael Dylan Welch, and Richard Tice

First published in Tandem 2:2, October 2022 (actually June 2023). Written 15 October 2021 during a Haiku North America online rengay workshop.

night manor

the clanking

of chained feet Jackie

a shriek in the dark

my shoelace untied Michael

dusty cobweb

bats scatter

from the belfry Richard

the creak creak

of basement steps Jackie

fleeting reflection

a rotten shutter

clatters to the weeds Michael

crows take wing

at a banshee’s wail Richard