Sidewalk Haibun Poem by Michael Pruchnicki

The story goes that when the ragged man came into
Papa's bakery and asked for a crust of day-old bread,
my sister cursed him and ran him out into the cold.
'For Christ's sake, get out and stay out! Homeless
bum! ' Before gray morning light and the last snowflake,
I lost a sister to owl-eyed despair and a father to
a final sleep in his room over the bakery.

owl-eyed sister
thorn in my heart-
drifting

skintight jeans
see-through blouse-
in lieu of hairshirt

a wilted spring flower
rue anemone-
rue for you and me
dearest sister