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Conscious Uncoupling

Requiem for Henry and Sylvia

The papers arrived today. I gaze out the window of our posh villa and witness yet another spectacular Tuscan sunset. To my delight, a red-billed leiothrix is flitting about the umbrella tree, as if searching for its lost mate. I rise, slip on my Bottega Venetas and pour myself another cup of Danesi Italian coffee. 

Memories flood my brain without my consent. There were happy times spent at the beach, endlessly searching for the prettiest or most unique seashells. Were they really good times? Maybe. It's all a blur now.

The large envelope lay on the expertly crafted Bocote table her artisan father made for us as a wedding gift. Rusty, our faithful corgi, rests at my feet. But he's not asleep. He's glaring at me with eyes of disdain, as if it was my fault she left. 

I ask Alexa to play Handel's Messiah, then slowly open the drawer to finish the task at hand. There is just one problem. Where did I put that damn Montblanc Royal pen?

musing on what was
under a Tuscan sunset
coffee tastes bitter

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thriveni c mysore Date: 5/27/2025 8:46:00 PM creative write. happy times at sunset. Beautiful Haibun dear poet. Login to Reply Tom Woody Date: 5/28/2025 5:03:00 AM Well, he's getting ready to sign his divorce papers so...

Mickey Grubb Date: 5/27/2025 12:43:00 PM Hey Tommy. A nice one. Very nice. The power of the haibun! Congrats, my friend, on your 1st Place Contest Finish. Well deserved. Login to Reply Tom Woody Date: 5/27/2025 12:47:00 PM Muchos gracias Mick

Karen Jones Date: 5/27/2025 11:22:00 AM Congratulations on your top win Tom! Login to Reply Tom Woody Date: 5/27/2025 11:36:00 AM Yes'm thx

I Am Anaya Date: 5/27/2025 10:34:00 AM Congratulations on your tropphy win, Tommy! I really felt all details , slippers expresso, nature, it it was warming and opened up the scenario. Be back Login to Reply Tom Woody Date: 5/27/2025 11:36:00 AM Thx Anaya

Anisha Dutta Date: 5/27/2025 9:49:00 AM Big Congrats to win Top Login to Reply Tom Woody Date: 5/27/2025 9:59:00 AM Thank you

Charles Messina Date: 11/15/2023 2:47:00 AM Great storytelling, Tom. One question I frequently ask Alexa is..."Alexa where is my glasses" (lol) A fine haibun written, my friend. Thanks for your visits! Login to Reply Tom Woody Date: 11/15/2023 11:04:00 AM Ha! Glasses and keys, right? Thx

Barbara Barry-Nishanian Date: 10/17/2023 7:42:00 AM Tom, I'm glad you said this was "all fiction'. I can only echo the lovely comment of readers as I agree! Login to Reply Tom Woody Date: 11/12/2023 1:03:00 PM Thx Babs

Valsa George Date: 10/13/2023 8:56:00 PM Memories come uninvited. Some are painful. The look of disdain in your dog's eye, I can feel. This slice of life I really enjoyed, but the question remains.... Why did she leave? If you wish, she will come back. Your haibuns can be read like a story Tom. Login to Reply Tom Woody Date: 10/14/2023 3:58:00 AM Thx much. Comments like this encourage me to keep writing

Weston Gregory Date: 10/11/2023 4:17:00 PM A seeming doorway lefted ajar and voyeuristicly scenes of another life is seen in its narrow lens. You casted an image in the piece that appear gloomy but not so I guess. Login to Reply Tom Woody Date: 10/11/2023 4:19:00 PM I'd say gloomy. Divorce even in paradise is still divorce. Thx for visit Greg

Eve Roper Date: 10/11/2023 8:14:00 AM It sounds like a beautiful place. You are always so good at writing stories. The disdain look from your corgi might be he or she needs out. I'm always asking Alexa to play music as well. Login to Reply Tom Woody Date: 10/11/2023 9:25:00 AM Ha! True. Maybe he's just got a guilty conscience

Richard Lamoureux Date: 10/11/2023 7:45:00 AM I really like this form. After reading some of yours and Sara’s I have enjoyed giving it a try. Login to Reply Tom Woody Date: 10/11/2023 9:25:00 AM A new one? I'll come take a peek. Thx

Bill Baker Date: 10/10/2023 4:30:00 PM Another fine Haibun, Tom. Very engaging story. I liked the detail you included with each item you described throughout the story. The Haiku summarized the story well. It was like you were told to write a brief about the story. Have a great week, my friend. Bill Login to Reply Tom Woody Date: 10/10/2023 5:01:00 PM Yes, it would be fun to write the whole story out. Thx Bill

Timothy Ray Date: 10/10/2023 1:55:00 PM ahh the remembrances here flooded of the movie Under The Tuscan Sun....good movie but like your poem it brings in warmth of the country therein....little glimpses we can expand on...but more so when i lived in Mexico i was to start a relationship with an Italian woman who wanted me to return with her...while i greatly appreciate the great introspection here...more so decades still later...i lament my decision not to go....thanks, great poetry touches all our depths Login to Reply Tom Woody Date: 10/10/2023 2:43:00 PM All of the what ifs... never to be revisited. Thx for visit

Andrea Dietrich Date: 10/10/2023 1:26:00 PM It seems you are in a phase of story telling and not writing about yourself? It makes me wonder if you are writing of people whom you know and doing it from the perspective of one of them. Great description. I especially like how your did your haiku. The juxoposition at the end was fabulous Login to Reply Tom Woody Date: 10/10/2023 1:37:00 PM Thx. I rarely write about my life, though I've done more this go round than ever before. This is pure fiction.

Anne-Lise Andresen Date: 10/10/2023 6:39:00 AM - What we call "happy moments/time" don't always take the direction you want - Great range of emotions, Tom - Lovely poem - hugs Login to Reply Tom Woody Date: 10/10/2023 6:40:00 AM Sadly they don't, especially when emphasis is on the wrong things. Thx

Ink Empress Date: 10/10/2023 6:32:00 AM Tuscan sunset! How beautiful is the way you weave imagery and do storytelling! Absolutely stunning! And that twist at the end, is brilliant! I love the way this flows with such melancholic and touching emotions, describing how one feels when they lose someone, and is left pondering, one way or another if it was their fault, and the worst is when some memories stay so fresh in our mind, refusing to leave, that can pull one down! Brilliant haibun! I guess im late to reading this! But love it Login to Reply Tom Woody Date: 10/10/2023 6:33:00 AM You're always welcome on this page inky, late or otherwise. Appreciate the review

Maria Williams Date: 10/10/2023 6:09:00 AM I love the imagery. I can just about see those baleful looks of your Rust and the expertly carved Bocote table, the papers sitting on it. You're so good at these. I second Silents comment. You should put out a book of Haibun. I'd buy one for sure. Thanks for commenting on my video Tommy always good to see you. Hugs Login to Reply Tom Woody Date: 10/10/2023 6:16:00 AM Are you kidding? It's a genuine treat to visit your page. Thx for support, always

Richard Lamoureux Date: 10/9/2023 5:28:00 PM You are so good at creating a scene. I love the imagery. Login to Reply Tom Woody Date: 10/9/2023 6:34:00 PM I'm a work in progress. Always learning from good poets like you. Thx

Juliet Ligon Date: 10/9/2023 2:46:00 PM Oh, wow, so descriptive. The self-projecton of the red-billed leiothrix searching for their mate and the deep reflections pair perfectly with the haiku. Such a poignant contrast between the spectacular sunset and the memories that made the coffee taste bitter. Login to Reply Tom Woody Date: 10/9/2023 2:55:00 PM Yes and thx so much for visit

Hiya Sharma Date: 10/9/2023 7:21:00 AM Sigh, this was such ane emotive read and the person in this haibun sounds so lonely.. But also living in a state of confusion as he is unclear about why his lover left, everything feels blur to him.. Maybe he knows deep within but doesn't want to accept that! When love stories remain incomplete and the quill yearns to scribble the next chapter but is held in guard by the roots of the past.. You're truly a brilliant Storyteller dear Tom, always enjoy reading your captivating haibuns really! :) Login to Reply Tom Woody Date: 10/9/2023 7:31:00 AM Very kind. Yes, it would be interesting to learn what the next chapter has in store. Me? I'm rooting for them to reconcile. Thx

Charlotte Puddifoot Date: 10/9/2023 5:17:00 AM ah is this the one i liked before? i think it is..been there, done it, got the scars, estranged though technically still married Login to Reply Tom Woody Date: 10/9/2023 5:50:00 AM Divorce is never pretty, even in paradise

J. I. Thomas F. Date: 10/8/2023 7:41:00 PM Stephen King levels of specificity in this one. Good scene building. Login to Reply Tom Woody Date: 10/9/2023 5:50:00 AM Much thx

Suzanne Delaney Date: 10/8/2023 4:51:00 PM I do love a good Haibun. This is clever as it shows why the love left due to how materialistic and narcissistic the narrator sounds. I was thinking Alexa was the new love already moved in but then I saw in the comments it was the AI Alexa. Good one, Tom, More please. SuZ Login to Reply Tom Woody Date: 10/8/2023 5:19:00 PM Ahhh glad you caught that Suze. Too much emphasis on stuff, not enough on relationship building. It happens.thx

Karen Jones Date: 10/8/2023 3:15:00 PM Tom this is interesting and engaging. I wanted to read more! Love the haiku! Login to Reply Tom Woody Date: 10/8/2023 3:47:00 PM Well, Charmaine below suggested a possible follow up so who knows. Thx

Charmaine Chircop Date: 10/8/2023 1:53:00 PM You are so great when it coems to Haibum..An amazing story telqet.I love the Tuscan Sunset..A pity she had to leave..too early..She could have Stated forever.Coffee tastes bitter without her crystal sugar,but Tuscany remains so magical..One could fall in love again.Wonderful post.I love it. Login to Reply Tom Woody Date: 10/8/2023 2:12:00 PM I know :) Charmaine Chircop Date: 10/8/2023 2:10:00 PM Sorry had my maltese dictionary on..Sorry for any typos...She should have stayed is what I meant.?? Charmaine Chircop Date: 10/8/2023 2:09:00 PM comes* Tom Woody Date: 10/8/2023 2:01:00 PM Hmmm... nice perspective. Maybe he will, though I suspect he may have been the problem. Dogs have an intuition about these things. Love your visits Charmaine

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