triveni spotlight A FEATURE EVERY ALTERNATE DAY! hosts: Teji Sethi and Kala Ramesh GUEST EDITOR: John Stevenson
Deathbed . . .
my old friend’s imitation
of a firefly
vincent tripi
The Heron’s Nest, 5.11
John Stevenson (born October 9, 1948, Ithaca, New York), professional actor, especially in playback theater, and haiku poet and editor. He began college as a visual art major and finished with a degree in theater. Before retiring in 2015, he worked as a human resources administrator for the New York State Office of Mental Health. His first poetry publication occurred at age 8, and his interest in haiku dates from 1992. He is a founding member of the Route 9 Haiku Group and its journal Upstate Dim Sum, and has served as regional coordinator, president, second vice president, treasurer, associate editor, and editor of Frogpond for the Haiku Society of America. In 2013 he received the HSA Sora Award for service to haiku, and from 2018 to 2019 he was the honorary curator for the American Haiku Archives at the California State Library. Since 2008 he has served as managing editor of The Heron’s Nest. His haiku collections include: Something Unerasable (1996), Some of the Silence (1999, 2008), Quiet Enough (2004, 2008, 2016, 2018), Live Again (2009), d(ark) (2014), and emoji moon (2018). He has received over 200 awards for haiku and haiku-related poetry. Since 1985 he has resided in the Village of Nassau, New York. _()_ Thank you so much, John.
This reminded me of my father's last days in ICU. Almost there yet not present there!
Bone Cancer - we came to know of it only in the last few days.... its almost ten years now.
Deathbed in ICU
His breath was so strong and yet flickering like this firefly. Not an imitation.
Thank you!
Poignant. I can imagine the friend's consciousness surfacing and submerging like the blinking light of a firefly until it is no longer visible.
Unusual poignant. Life wrapped up in just eight words.
What a range of emotion elicited by eight words! So masterfu!
Deathbed . . .
my old friend’s imitation
of a firefly
vincent tripi
This is most poignant.
I've always enjoyed vincent tripi's haiku and this is no exception. Fireflies live only for a day or so and they die. I can imagine the friend imitating a firefly. What a positive way to take death.