The Fifth Day . . . and Other Bitesize Prose Poems

By Chieko Persimmons

Chieko Persimmons successfully utilises flexible genre of the prose poem,
making out of ordinary experiences a rich and evocative meditation, with
consistent warmth and humour.
This is a piquant, inventive collection (Roger Cardinal, art critic,
emeritus professor, University of Kent).
These pieces reach for intangible (Patricia Debney, poet, Canterbury
laureate, 200708).
One is reminded all at once of Zen Koans, Piet Hein, John Clare, and
even Beckett (Todd McEwen, author of four novels, a former editor of
Granta magazine).

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris UK
• Release date: Nov 24, 2010
• ISBN: 9781456808341

Chieko Persimmons

Born to a Siberian painter mother and a Japanese architect father, Chieko Persimmons was brought up in a German Catholic convent, and spent most of her adulthood in England. She was graduated from University of Kent, worked in economic research and financial strategy, travelled, married, and now lives in a Kentish farm with fruit orchards, fields, rabbits, foxes, woodpeckers, and the big open sky above them.

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Copyright © 2010 by Chieko Persimmons.

Library of Congress Control Number:       2010916349

ISBN:         Hardcover                               978-1-4568-0833-4

                   Softcover                                 978-1-4568-0832-7

                   Ebook                                      978-1-4568-0834-1

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This book was printed in the United States of America.

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Contents

THE PARTNER

A FORTY-EIGHT-HOUR DAY

TROMBONE

UNEXPECTED

SNAIL’S PROGRESS

WEDDING MARCH

THE FIFTH DAY

A SLEEPING BEAUTY

A THICK FOG

ON A SPACESHIP

A LONE SINGER

RACING CIRCUITS (OR M20)

PERFECT SANCTUARY

LIFE

MOSAIC BODY

POCKET FURNACE

AUTUMN TREE

STUCK

A BLACK FLY

FEEDBACK NEEDED

IN SEARCH OF LOST TUNE

A LITTLE MOUSE

THE SUN RISES AND

THE SUN SETS

A SHETLAND PONY

THE SISYPHUS WRIST WATCH

WAKING UP

DON’T GET ME WRONG

INSATIABLE LONELINESS

A JOGGER’S LIFE

My special thanks to

You, the reader!

In memory of

Gregor Samsa

Antoine Roquentin

THE PARTNER

A colleague of mine has been single for all her fifty years. She tried, in the past, to find a partner but in the end prefers to be on her own.

‘Ah, but you don’t understand, I do have a partner. Come and see us.’

She invites me to her house for a supper. As