Haiku at Check-Out

My wife asked me to pick up
a fresh loaf of bread for dinner.

Stopping at the market, I grabbed
the bread, a bottle of pop for a treat

And a dozen white carnations
trimmed deep red on the inner petals.

At the check-out, the guy in line
behind me commented

‘Oh, the three basic food groups.’
‘Bread and soda, perhaps, but flowers?’

He replied:
‘White chrysanthemums
	No matter how close you look
		Nary a blemish.

That’s Basho, you know.
Take the flowers, off you go.
Maybe please your wife?’

Along with the bread,
And the pop, and the flowers,
I gave a haiku.

She liked the bread,
Eschewed the pop,
Arranged the flowers,
Laughed at the poem.

The End.

June 25, 2025
29th Sivan