And now for our (optional) prompt! Sergio Raimondi’s poem, “Today Matsuo Basho Cooks,” plays on the following haiku by (you guessed it), Matsuo Basho:
Crimson pepper pod!
Add two pairs of wings, and look—
darting dragonfly.
For today’s challenge, write a poem in which you respond to a favorite poem by another poet.
It pierces my heel
as I walk in the bedroom
my late wife’s comb
Buson from Haiku Inspirations
Today, Master Buson is in pain
Heel spurs, the friend said
Plantar Fasciitis, the doctor
I push down on golf balls to test my threshold
Sharper the pain, I’m convinced, quicker I’ll heal
Teeth have appeared every day in poetry this month
Clouds have teeth, thoughts have teeth, mornings are
fanged
Even the master’s heel is pricked by teeth on a page
I chance upon
The teeth pierce through him, pinning him to the shape
of absence
Like we pin our flesh, our aching bodies to advice
As if to say, look, something hurts but I don’t know who
to ask for help
Ten minutes max, the doctor said, then rest your feet
I sit, nursing my heel, like Buson must have done, making
space for grief
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