263

Hi, Ma, how are you?
I’m well, but it’s your father
Will you talk to him?

262

She calls Ben later
From a back room, whispering
So Tom cannot hear

261

The food sustains him
But provides no nourishment
Life without healing

260

Driving to Tucson
And back to Phoenix. Two trips
And two sets of thoughts

259

Is he well behaved?
Does he listen to reason?
Will he help others?

258

Missing my children
But unable to show it
Must focus on work

257

Now eating the meal
Chewing and swallowing. Not
Talking about Ben

256

Go sit down, Sue says
Supper will be ready soon
We’ll call Ben after

255

He should want to call
I am his father. Why should
He need to be tricked?

253

Two Americas
Not split between rich and poor
But by left and right

252

He will, she assures
I’ll call, get him on the phone
Then pass him to you

251

He’s my son, Tom cries
Old wounds opening anew
He should speak to me

250

He trembles and whines
Cowers in fear. But he will
Not do what I say

249

She tries to evade
You know how busy he is
He has his own life

248

Did Ben call today?
Standing in the kitchen door
In his slippered feet

247

Cancer of the bones
We’ll remove your left pelvis
You’ll not walk again

246

She does not answer
Pretending she didn’t hear
It will upset him

245

At home now she cooks
While Tom sits and watches the news
Did Ben call today?

244

Bus driver helps Sue
Get Tom off his bus just so
The bus can go on

243

She shouts back, defends
Her man. He’s good. He works hard.
He’s just old and tired

242

The passengers yell
Wake up, get off, lazy bum!
We want to go home!

241

Just leave me be, Sue
I’m old and used up and no
Good for anything

240

Get up, you old fool
You've fallen asleep again
What am I to do?

239

Sue comes to get him
Waiting to make the bus stop
Shaking Tom awake

238

Tom sleeps on the bus
After working hard all day
Sometimes misses his stop

237

Started her business
Five years to make a profit
She’s well on her way

236

We are cynical
But we are holding out hope
This time is diff’rent

235

Ninety-minute talk
For one hundred CEOs
Forty thousand bucks

234

And most important
Two characters with only
One syllable names

233

What would it be like?
Each poem a discrete thought
Together a plot

232

Is it possible
To write a novel as a
Series of haiku?