Tuesday January 19th, 2016

The exercise:

Write two haiku about: trauma.

Max had zero interest in going to daycare this morning. At one point he did agree to go if both Kat and I dropped him off, so we went with that to get him out the door. Sadly, that momentum didn't even last long enough to get him into his car seat.

Long story short, we got him there eventually, Kat went in to stay with him for a little bit until he got comfortable, he didn't get comfortable while she was there, Kat left while he was bawling his head off.

Kat and I sat and talked for a long time in the car about whether or not this whole rigmarole is really worth it. We definitely considered going back in there and taking him home. Eventually we drove away, but Kat did call the centre to make sure he was doing okay, and not still freaking out.

Two minutes.

That's all it took before he was totally fine and playing with the other kids.

When I picked him up this afternoon he told me he didn't want to leave because he was having so much fun. And then he told me about how great a day he'd had. And he was his usual, bouncing around the house, chipper self after we got home.

It's like he'd completely forgotten about the start of the day. You know, the one that left his parents just a little traumatized.

Mine:

Hmm. What do I do?
I have fallen down and the
bone is sticking through...

*     *     *

He is laughing now
but my ears hear crying and
my eyes see his tears

5 comments:

morganna said...

Anger, fear, regret
The lingering emotions
Of traumatic days.

Sobs when parents near
Smiles, giggles when they leave
Who's traumatized now?

Greg said...

@Morganna: I really like your second haiku this week, though the first one would be excellent all by itself. But the last line sums it all up so neatly for the second... great work!

@Marc: As I'm sure you can see in hindsight, you did the right thing with Max. And by the time you're on to child number three you won't even notice that they're being difficult as you bundle them up and dropkick them through the day-care door on a drive-by ;-)
I like your second haiku better this week too, as it clearly ties into the tale you had to tell first. Nicely done :)

Trauma
Tricky winter ice
Realigns the wheels...and crash!
A brutal trauma.

Upset, crying, hurt.
Mum feels abandoned – you leave,
Autumn classes call.

[Not great but the acrostic proved a little trickier than I was expecting this morning. I'm blaming busy days and long evenings at the moment!]

morganna said...

Greg -- I do like the 2nd one of yours, though. Thanks for the kind words about mine.

Anonymous said...

I have some prompts saved in an email from one of my class days that I'm just getting around to posting. Sorry.

Trauma:

With blood spewing out
And arms and legs falling off,
They rush through the doors.

~~~~~~

The car crashed right there.
And, though she was not inside,
She is still haunted.

Marc said...

Morganna - I really like your first this week. Though your second obviously speaks to me as well.

Greg - child number three? I don't think so, sir.

I like your first as well. Great imagery, and I love the choice of realigns in the second line.

Ivy - ooh, I cannot pick a favorite between these two. The imagery in your first is powerful, but the emotion behind the second... just might make it my winner this week.