At the Enduro
An enduro is an off-road motorcycle race, usually including obstacles and other challenges. My father used to ride in them. This haibun is about a time he took me to watch one he wasn’t riding in.
Haibun, like haiku, originated in Japan but is now practiced worldwide. As with haiku the form and constraints vary depending on who you ask but it most often consists of a short piece of prose accompanied by a haiku. The connection between the prose and the haiku is typically obscure, rather than literal. I’ve probably broken somebody’s rule with this one, shocking nobody.
At the enduro, bundled up against the cold, my father hands me my first cup of hot sweet milky coffee and half a sticky cinnamon bun. Steam rises from the coffee, joining with my visible breath. The whining motors grow loud as the riders repeat their loop in front of us. An unfortunate rider goes down on the muddy track and curls in a fetal position as the other motorcycles fly over or veer around him. I hold my breath until he rises and wheels his bike off the track.
my dead father
every time I cough
every time