Brother
the heart monitor
revealing my brother’s dream –
a late, late sunset
Travis Schuhardt is a writer from Long Branch, New Jersey, who specializes in short-form poetry and fiction. His writing is informed deeply by his relationship to his older brother, who spent much of his childhood in-and-out of hospitals due to a prolonged illness.
This is a beautiful haiku, Travis.
It’s inspiring to think that something like an EKG tracing–cold and clinical- could give rise to a beautiful comparison to a sunset.
Just for my own understanding, I’d like to ask/confirm if the EKG tracing reminded you of a horizon at sunset? Is this something you discussed with your brother? Or maybe he has/had a creative way of coping with his illness?
Thank you for taking the time to read my haiku and comment. Sincerest apologies for the delayed response — I love your reading of the poem as a comparison between the two, especially when thinking of the cold and clinical (as you say!) compared with the more emotive and dreamlike sunset. I was hoping that the comparison might be helped, too, by the repeating sound of “late, late” in the final line — the repetition… Read more »