Mark Arvid White

...Do Us Part

What
of
marriage?
Her last name
is the same as mine
but we live in different towns.
To strangers, she introduces me as her husband,
and yet we never touch, and yet we never kiss, and yet my toothbrush lies by itself
as my hand reaches for her side of the bed,
clutching only the sheet, the spread...
It is my marriage.
Its not much.
Its all
I
have.

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.