Mark Arvid White

Fully Cocked, Without a Hitch

I
met
the girl
and her dad,
strangers on a train
heading somewhat north by northwest
in the rain, and we three shared a table for dinner.

Her
eyes
were green,
and she seemed
young and innocent,
though appearances can deceive,
and I wanted to believe she was notorious.

I
asked
her name.
"Rebecca,"
she said with a smile,
leaning close as her father slept.
"Are you the wrong man? Is there the shadow of a doubt?"

"No
doubt
at all."
I watched her
as she slowly rose,
watched each of her thirty-nine steps,
feeling a bit of vertigo as she hovered close.

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Bio

Mark Arvid White lives in Alaska, and has been writing poetry and stories for a number of years. He is devoted to haiku and other Japanese forms, but also loves to write in many other non-Eastern styles, including Fibonacci. His publication credits include such print and online journals as Modern Haiku, Frogpond, Candelabrum, Permafrost, Japanophile, Wild Violet, AlienSkin, and many others in the U.S. and abroad. He has received best of issue awards, appeared in numerous anthologies including A Haiku Moment, and has won various contest awards. He is the founder of the Shin Tao Haiku Retreat, a gathering place for poets online in the virtual community of Second Life.

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