Origami Cranes
by
Mark Tulin
My new patient refused
to talk in therapy,
and, instead—made origami cranes
He took a yellow paper,
creased and folded it
into a crane,
then put it aside
and repeated with a blue sheet
He tied them on a string
and hung them from the ceiling,
hooked them to the lamps,
swam them in koi ponds
and lined them on the bookcase
I make them so I can save
my dying father
I have to make a thousand
and transform these flat squares
into a miracle
I scratched my head
There was nothing I could do
to change his mind—
so I asked him to teach me
how to make a crane
and before too long I joined him
making cranes
way past a thousand,
too many to count
Now, I have the obsession.
I’ve become an origami freak
trying to make my cranes aerodynamic
so they could take off
The boy’s father died anyway.
Bio:
Mark Tulin is a retired therapist living in California. Mark authored Magical Yogis, Awkward Grace, The Asthmatic Kid and Other Stories, Junkyard Souls, Uncommon Love Poems, and Rain on Cabrillo. His work has appeared in Scuzzbucket, Beatnik Cowboy, The Haight Ashbury Literary Journal, Fleas on the Dog, and others. Website: www.crowonthewire.com, Twitter: Crow_writer.
Punk Noir Press 