Ephemeral Mist: We Exist Then Disappear Haiga is a Japanese concept describing a refined visual art of combining brush painting, Haiku (or sometimes Tanka, as here), and calligraphy. A traditional Haiga requires all three of these elements. Like the poetic form it accompanies, Haiga is based on simple, yet often what one hopes are profound,..
Winning the brownie For Lindsey Reed When I was a child growing up in Georgetown, Ontario, I loved playing little league baseball. The American side of my family was made up of baseball fanatics, including a second cousin who was a renowned semi-pro. I was a pudgy wanna-be star. My goal throughout my six-year..
New Canadian class: Canada Day 2026 On August 21,1968, my late wife Anne’s country was invaded by the Soviet Union. The invasion of Czechoslovakia took place the day before Anne’s 10th birthday. The Soviet Union was intent on putting an end to what is known as the Prague Spring, a period of reform in Czechoslovakia..
Riding the Insomnia Express I have suffered from insomnia since the age of about four years old, when the minister of our local United Church convinced me that all my cursing and swearing would lead me straight to hell, where unimaginable torment awaited. Going To Hell – Robert McBryde I am now a wretched,..
Upon Being Banished from the Palliative Care Ward, April 15, 2026 Anne sits alone in her erstwhile chamber where sunlight no longer spills. Silent, ineffable words lost somewhere in the hush of her transfigured mind, yet nothing escapes her notice. She counts each kindness of nurses, counsellors, personal caregivers, by its weight, the shape..
Terms of Endearment: St. Vincent’s Hospital, palliative care wing, March 18, 2026 Because Anne’s brain tumour has caused ongoing incontinence that impacts both her comfort and dignity, a catheter insertion became a necessary step in managing her care. Understanding how frightened she was of the procedure – her trembling, whimpers, and tears revealing the depth..
Anne chooses a song for her celebration of life AND IT’S WINTER/ ET C’EST L’HIVER F. Hamelin – Marie-Claire Séguin A beautiful, poetic song for an interminable winter https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rhKIlLhWHxg When Anne and I were first together in 1979-1980, she loved this hauntingly beautiful poetic song, which she would sing continuously..
The Cruelty of Daylight-Saving Time For Anne, in the thinning light Daylight saving arrives; they tell us to spring forward, to claim another hour of sun, but I watch the clock betray us, an hour stolen, not earned. Anne, your strength dwindling as the calendar hurries on; the world insists on more light but..
Anne Listens to the Ethereal Music of Ludovico Einaudi In the hush of evening’s slow retreat, Anne drifts on gentle piano tides; Notes unfold like soft blankets, tracing memories over the contours of her quiet room. Every chord holds a breath, a promise, spilling light into corners where fear once gathered. Einaudi’s music enters..
Falling in Love with another Anne Or how I’ve fallen madly in love with the same, yet radically different, woman twice Once feisty Anne, her laughter sharp, opinion a shield, principle her armour, she’d pace the halls of life, anxiety folded taut, but neat, beneath a silk scarf, eyes tracing the lines of every..