I am reteaching myself to read the clouds. The August air is thick and sticky, turns my lungs into tired chewing gum. Standing on the wharf packing my pipe, I listen to the whispers of the old men in my memories. They remind me: the weight of the clouds, how they crawl across the sky. Fast or slow or in-between. I am reteaching myself to read the clouds. Geography matters. River valleys are different than coastal towns from big sky country. I can close my eyes and see the southern Arizona desert, the layers of suspended dust, the haze of heat bouncing off cement, the urban lights. Storms that come up from the south follow the river like a man in search of a lost limb. August is a haze that’s moved in a week early.
that cool breeze
a tease portendimg
the lightening
Tag Archives: Haibun
[the native returns home a stranger]
the native returns a stranger
rain clouds hang
over the seven hills
the warm kissing wind: telling
re:
Other than maybe the jail, the last working payphone in downtown Cincinnati is at the greyhound station, which you’d miss in the shadow of the former Sheriff Simon Leis’s retirement fund (aka now called the Hard Rock Casino, where statistically probable losers are greeted by a #johnlennon quote: “You may call me a dreamer, but I’m not the only one”).
There used to be a payphone at the corner of E Central and Main that only cost a dime, well into the early 00’s. This was when communication was still primarily a public enterprise.
The coffee at @coffee_emporium was amazing, as was the jam-filled scone I allowed myself (not pictured.)
This city has always been a love / hate thing. Home but not home. Escape but not escape. It’s beat me up before and it’s set me free before.
And this isn’t even the place I was born.
