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| Anteater stack |
In the same week I discovered my old horse Star was blind in his right eye a dolphin swam up a river and a sperm whale swallowed a boy on a kayak then spat him out again – his father filmed the whole thing talking to his son all the while telling him to stay calm - stay calm slipping around on a whale’s tongue a la Geppetto who actually ended up in a whale’s stomach and waited it out until his son Pinocchio came to his rescue – a monkey turned off the electricity in Sri Lanka sending the country back to the dark ages - a fox followed my middle daughter home on Wakehurst Rd, Clapham - a moose said hello to my son in a carpark outside a bar in Jackson – the male anteater carries its family on its back, baby on top of mum on top of dad - how many ants do anteaters need a day for that level of exertion I wondered as I did my daily hand-flick beside Star’s good eye hoping it keeps seeing – he’s a real whinny-er now - there’s nowt so noisy as a blind horse who wants to see – anteaters eat thirty thousand ants a day – that’s a daily consumption of one hundred and eighty thousand ant legs – good to know they’re getting their protein – octopuses have three hearts.
all over the planet
animals promise
emotional rescue
Author note:
The above is Jane Bloomfield's first attempt at Haibun. Popularised by Basho in 17th Century Japan - a Haibun is a poem using a combination of prose and haiku. Hopefully, I've sort of nailed it. A fun if tricky writing exercise. Give it a whirl, poets! Inspo - Rattle Mag Spring Issue #87's Haibun feature with the most excellent curation of Haibun, and an interview regarding writing the poetry form between Timothy Green and Lew Watts.
