Essays, Art and Plays by Dan

For this week’s haiku challenge, we had to write a review or comment on the poem below and my response was featured on the Haiku Foundation website.

The poem:

through the fog
footsteps and cane
footsteps and cane - by Richard Tice Kō, Autumn-Winter 1996

And my comment/response:

Yes old man, I can see you
moving through the morning fog —
slow, steady.

Footsteps and cane.
Footsteps and cane.
Same pace.
Same rhythm.
Like you were telling time
your own way.

My favorite uncle moved like that.
After the strokes.
After the war.
After the world lost its patience
for people who couldn’t move fast.

He never asked for pity.
He just kept walking.

And that’s what you did too—
walking like it meant something.
Like each step
was proof
you were still here.

Through the fog,
you disappeared,
slowly, like a memory .

Footsteps and cane
Footsteps and cane
That’s how I’ll remember you.
Not your face.
Not your name.
Just the sound
that you’re not giving up.