Tish Davis

By Tish Davis
Concord Township, Ohio, USA

so many
so far from home
winter rain

I’m an American in China working to restart the supply chain disabled by the worst flooding in Thailand in half a century.

translating work instructions—
the universal language
of the office clock

As I walk through the narrow aisle between the cubicles, a woman calls to me from one of the window-lit offices reserved for visitors. It’s one of the Thai engineers.  She’s extraordinarily petite and in her conservative blue dress, reminds me of Bemelmans’ Madeline.  After rummaging through a paper bag, she presents me with a gift—a small package of white cookies shaped like miniature straws. I don’t mention that I have allergies and cannot eat them.  Instead, I sit so as not to tower over her, and express my sorrow about the flooding.”How are the temples in Ayutthaya?” I ask.

She shakes her head.

“And the immense statue of the reclining Buddha on the grounds of the Wat Yai Chai Mongkol? And the row of Buddas in the courtyard—the ones in saffron robes?”

These too have been damaged.”And the monks? What about the monks that live there? And the dogs, the temple dogs?”

All were rescued as the government sent in boats.

By now she’s crying. I never mention that I’ve forgotten her name.

touching
for the first time
a winter orchid

first published in Haibun Today, Winter2012

Author’s Note:  The 2011 Thailand flood is still one of the country’s worst humanitarian disasters and the most expensive flood loss on record for the global insurance industry. 1

• The key takeaways from this Economic insight are:
  • Thailand’s rapid urbanization of areas around large river systems exposed it to significant flood risk.
  • A combination of weather events and flood mismanagement resulted in USD 15 billion of insured losses in 2011 (USD 18 billion today).
  • High accumulation of property risk, due to the success of Thailand’s manufacturing sector, resulted in insured losses that exceeded all expectations.
  • As climate change increases extreme rainfall events, adaptive measures such as flood-resilient urban infrastructure will be crucial to manage flood risk.

1. Swiss RE Institute:    https://www.swissre.com/institute/research/sigma-research/Economic-Insights/the-costliest-flood-thailand-flood.html

By Tish Davis
Concord Township, Ohio, USA

The African Violets are about to bloom on the sill next to her bed. She taught me how to split these plants in two and how to stimulate the roots by pouring water into the dish that holds the clay pot. Sometimes when I visit, she cuts a slit in a small square of heavy paper and then inserts a single leaf.  She always asks me to add the water to the glass jar.

On this first Mother’s Day without my mom, I try to surprise this other one.  After the nurse wheels my friend to the dining room for lunch, I hang a hummingbird feeder in the tree outside her window.  It takes a while, but the tiny birds finally arrive.  Hovering in place, they sip from small plastic cups. 

They can even fly backward . . .

light rain
the cemetery vase
also finds me

Author’s Note: Social isolation is a growing public health concern that affects many older people including residents in Long Term Care facilities.  Globally, up to 50% of older persons over 60 years of age are at risk of experiencing social isolation and the potential for accompanying mental health issues. ¹  

Last month, the White House released its first-ever staffing minimums for nursing homes that receive federal funding. The new staffing rules require each resident to receive at least 3.48 hours of care per day. They also require that care facilities have a registered nurse on site 24/7.  This is going to present a challenge for states like Kentucky who’ve faced nursing home staff shortages since the pandemic. ²

1. National Library of Medicine: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8236667
2. Spectrum News: https://spectrumnews1.com/ky/louisville/news/2024/05/07/new-nursing-home-staffing-minimum

By Tish Davis
Concord Township, Ohio, USA

Fireflies
Light beamers
Never tell
Story-keepers

Youthful frolic
Moon minors
Memory flickers
Old-timers

Keepsake lanterns
Summer stars
Always released
From these glass jars

By Tish Davis
Concord Township, Ohio, USA

A few rose petals have fallen away from the vase that rests on the patient’s night table. I add water to rejuvenate the stems, but it’s hopeless. The flowers are dead.

The elderly woman tells me that she enjoyed watching the flowers change. She always grew roses in her garden.  She drifts into detail—of pouring boiling water over the soil to sterilize it, of covering flats with a screen to protect the grains from mice and ants.  Sometimes, the containers would spend a second winter outside to give the slower seeds another chance to germinate.

At the beginning of autumn, she’d return each tool to its proper hook in the potting shed then relax on the porch swing with her husband. By now she is unable to stay awake. The light changes.  As she naps, I notice that the roses donated by our church have dried perfectly.

bells
beyond the garden
the garden beyond

 first published in Modern Haibun & Tanka Prose 2 (December 2009)

By Tish Davis
Concord Township, Ohio, USA

Lake Erie—blue water and sky become one. I sit in the sand not far
from the place along the channel where my father and I used to fish.
The beach is smaller now, cluttered with garbage cans and signs.
The driftwood too, scattered along the edge, entangled with leaves and
plastic bottles.

The gulls return again and again to the edge of the pier as they did
when we cast our lines. My father would tell the same story every time
I was bored. The Iroquois, a confederation of five nations — Seneca,
Cayuga, Onodaga, Oneida, Mohawk—defeat the Eries . . .

I remember our bobbers rocking back and forth in these waters—

the only legacy that bears their name.

receding tide
another feather
stranded

first published in Ink, Sweat, & Tears, May 14, 2008

By Tish Davis
Concord Township, Ohio, USA

as blood seeps
from the soldiers’ ears
handmade bone dice
tumble out of crevices
in the hastily built stone wall

After touring the museum, I ride the escalator up and onto the battlefield.  An attendant directs the crowd into the chaos silently motioning us to step in closer, to step down onto the dimly lit viewing platform that encircles Philippoteaux’s, Battle of Gettysburg.

I stand, by chance, near an exploding caisson.  Wood bites from a splintered carriage carve jagged cuts deep in my skin; gunpowder dust—brushed hot and thick—swells my lungs. A wild eyed gelding— riderless, powerful legs in long strides—gallops madly through the cannonade; through the heavy, humid air; through the massive toll.  

first published in Bright Stars, volume 5, Autumn 2014

By Tish Davis
Concord Township, Ohio

A local artist sketches him in full Indian headdress.   At the entrance to the trail, two painters read the short biography about Bill Moose before setting up their easels along the north rim.  A viewing platform overlooks the ravine where brown leaves ferment along the bank of a stream.  Glacial erratics are scattered along the bottom— fallen warriors on flat limestone. Indian Run Falls, heard but not seen.  Voices in the abandoned village.

I’m a few steps behind carrying my camera.  The sunlight is filtered by Maple, Blue Ash, Shagbark Hickory.  An occasional opening exposes roots, granules of dirt freshly creased.   I slip off trail and follow the sounds to the secluded basin where Indian Bill once washed. I remember the biography that I‘ve read: He slept outdoors every night during the summer and once a month in the winter with only a blanket for cover.

Moss covered formations cling to the ledges.  Flowering rockcress juts out into space.   The camera, now wrapped, hidden under a giant sycamore; the light in the spray against my skin.

leaves in a shallow pool
paragraphs of fine print
tacked under glass

*First published in Frogpond, 32:1 (Winter)

Ref:  https://uahistorytrail.upperarlingtonoh.gov/bill-moose-memorial/