Haibun: Time-out
Tonight’s dinner at Chuck-E-Cheese’s is a mad medley of color and cacophony. We enter with a child and get our wrists stamped with a snail tattoo. We order our pizzas and drinks while the little girl goes to explore the rides with her mother.
I sit as far as possible from the scintillating lights, the creak of the undulating yellow car, the groan of a merry- go- round ,the screech of mechanical animals ,the jingle jangle 3-D video games which remind me of the slot machines, in Las Vegas.
Bug eyed children, rush from game to game where they catch apples in a basket ,crawl through a tunnel, slide, ride, jiggle joy sticks, to go through virtual reality worlds peopled with ogres, demons and dragons while their bedraggled and disoriented parents follow.
We share the Play Doughy pizza ,soggy French fries and a mixed fruit punch which tastes of plastic. Now it is time to redeem her fifty six coupons, for which she gets a small dark blue plastic dinosaur and a red balloon.
I think of the last time I had been to a Chuck-E-Cheese’s, almost twenty years ago with our son and his friend ,both nine years old. Back then the bedlam didn’t seem so bad. I tell the parents they should bring their ear muffs the next time they take her there.
blessed quiet…
asleep, as clouds scud across
a gibbous moon
(c) Copyright 2016 Angelee Deodhar
Dr. Angelee Deodhar, an eye surgeon by profession as well as a haiku poet, translator, and artist, lives and works in Chandigarh, India.Her haiku, haibun and haiga have been published internationally in various books and journals, and her work can be viewed online too. To promote haiku in India, she has translated six books of haiku from English to Hindi. She has edited both Journeys and Journeys 2015, an Anthology of International Haibun, just released on Amazon, which has a total of 145 haibun by 31 poets of international repute.
Thank you so much dear Mike,I am honoured indeed,to be a part of the April Poetry Month series on your site,with best wishes,angelee
Thanks for participating.
Enjoyed as usual
Well written as usual Angelee ! such a lived experience ! kudos 1 love,arvinder
I too have lived through such an experience. Well done as always, Angelee.
I enjoyed how you depicted this slice of life, Angelee. Thank you for introducing the haibun to Mike’s 30 for 30!
An eloquent and poignant description of one of many passages one must endure as a parent .
Lovely haibun Angelee. Enjoyed the subtle humour.
This is wonderful. I can relate to it so well, especially given that I was present on that fateful day. Thank you for immortalizing it in your Haibun.
Dark yet subtle humour depicting a clash of generations and mindsets. I liked the almost Tibetan tranquility of the haiku contrasting the very American Chuck-e-Cheese.
I don’t see haibun half often enough. This was a real treat.
Dear Angelee,
It was good to read this poem again. It sure brings back memories for me. You are such a talented haibun writer. What a wonderful ending with a vivid haiku.
Keep up the good writing, my friend. Congratulations on your publication!
Blessings,
Karen