Broken – Page 35 – Iron Haiku

staring at myself
I see that I have become
what I feared the most
–
predawn-
coming awake
in a stranger’s mind

years of wasted time
of opportunities lost
and then you were gone
–
ancient water-
black scales sink
beneath the surface

every single day
regrettable decisions
I can’t seem to stop
–
waiting in vain-
a puddle
of streetlight

driving down the road
catching a glimpse of my wife
in the passing train.
–
flat water-
migrating geese
pass overhead

the window broken-
in the unlit house glass shards
crunching underfoot
–
descending silence-
a wizened elm
uprooted

subtle subversions
deflection, misdirection-
tools of the liar
–
a rocky stream-
mockingbirds
in the wood

I may be different
but I am not a problem
that needs to be solved
–
fly fishing-
different clouds
under the same sky

stalks of winter wheat
growing through the rusty frame
of an old tractor
–
rising light-
a tattered scarecrow
greets the sun

worn and creaky stairs-
cobwebs draped in the corners
of her addled mind
–
rising fog-
a futile search
for clarity

inhaling my breath-
fresh clay from the river banks
shaped in my image
–
amber leaves-
a broken vessel
returned to the earth