spectrum

Hypothetical

My son, age 30, sits close beside me, copying for the millionth time the Fujita Scale of tornado strength. The scale only goes to F-6, but he insists that I describe for him the theoretical damage of an F-7,  an F-12 . . .   

Browsing the science news on my laptop, I come across a journal called Medical Hypotheses. Doctors speculate that a certain growth protein abundant in breast milk might protect at-risk infants from developing autism. 

fourteen months

suckling my baby,

our gazes locked in love . . .

yet still the wild winds

tumble through his brain

                            ~Haibun Today 8:1, March 2014

his paintings
purple, indigo and rose
with bolts 
of lemon lightning—
autism spectrum

                            ~Ribbons 9:2, Fall 2013