a smaller
slice of orange
Gaza sunset
The verse was written for The Haiku Foundation’s Monthly Kukai. The theme for March 2024 — orange.
After dinner one winter evening, my wife cut up a Cara Cara orange into slices smaller than she used to. Smaller sunsets, I thought.
My first draft —
a smaller
slice of orange
winter sunset
The final version —
a smaller
slice of orange
Gaza sunset
Final L3 came about when it crossed my mind that, somehow, the world of the people of the Gaza Strip at that time was similarly getting smaller. Sunsetting.