Light and Colour I

Anyone who has met me knows that I don't really have a haiku vibe. I'm neither minimalist not serene, but in the interest of exploring different poetic forms, I wrote a few haiku for the 'Light and colour' issue of Echidna Tracks journal last year, and had two published.

This is the first one. The editors removed the word "where", but I prefer the symmetry of the 5-7-5 format.

When I read this now, over a year later, the word 'mourn' jumps out, but at the time, it was written with the intent of capturing a particular time and place.

Just over a decade ago, I was heartbroken after being dumped by someone who I'd been crazy about. I was living with a friend in Brunswick, in Melbourne's inner-north. The front of the house faced west, and in typical sharehouse style, we had an old couch on the verandah. I loved that I could have the comfort of the couch combined with the warmth of the afternoon sun.

The relationship had ended right at the beginning of winter, and even in my heartbroken state – oscillating between frenzied activity and lethargic despair – the sun had a restorative effect, as it has had for many heartbroken people before me, and many to come.

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Steph Amir, occasional poet

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