She always wore the same sweater. I’ve kept it all these years, and I wear it whenever my memories of her start to fade. Today, the last button came off, and I put it in the sweater’s frayed pocket for safekeeping. When it slipped through a hole, and dropped between the floorboards, I finally realized that she was never coming home.

heirloom quilt
sparrow prints embossed
on new snow

—Second Publisher’s Choice Award, KYSO Flash HTP Writing Challenge

Commentary by KF Editors:

This little button of a haibun reminds us of the set-up in “The Last Leaf” by O. Henry, in which the consumptive young woman thinks that she’ll die when the last leaf falls outside her window. “Coming Undone” avoids any clever plot twists and aims directly at the heart in a spare and effective way.

Debbie Strange

is an award-winning and widely published Canadian short-form poet and haiga artist. Warp and Weft, her collection of tanka triptychs, was published in September 2015 by Keibooks. She enjoys exploring nature with her husband in their 1978 VW camper named “Ludwig Van.” Every adventure brings her closer to the world and to herself.