Broken Wing ~ haibun

/ Ken Gierke / rivrvlogr

Broken Wing

Before I retired, I worked as a driver and dock worker for a trucking company. My job was to drive a truck called a yard horse. I used it to move trailers in the terminal yard, including moving them from door to door or pulling full trailers from the dock to be hooked later to road tractors.

One night, I was all caught up with moves, so I walked onto the dock to check on the progress of a trailer that was nearly ready to pull. As I walked onto the dock plate to look into the trailer, I bent down to pick up a broken piece of pallet wood, so the dock worker wouldn’t have to drive over it with his forklift. As I bent down, Juan glanced over his left shoulder to be sure the way was clear. I stood up and proceeded towards his left as he looked over his right shoulder. Seeing the way clear, Juan backed into my right side, knocking me to the concrete dock. The eight-thousand-pound forklift then rolled up my boot and stopped on my ankle. They say I screamed like a little girl before Juan realized what was happening and pulled forward. I believe it! Juan was especially apologetic, although the accident was my fault as much as his. In fact, probably more so.

I was taken by ambulance to a hospital, where my broken ankle was fitted with a cast. Waiting for me were two coworkers, Dennis and Jim, who had finished their shift and were concerned for my well being. Dennis even took me home, twenty-five miles in the opposite direction from his home. I was thankful to be working with such good friends.

bird in nest
watches falling leaves
broken wing

This haibun is my response to Haibun Monday 11/22/21: Giving Thanks,
the prompt from Frank Tassone at dVerse ~ Poets Pub.

Image source: hss.edu

15 thoughts on “Broken Wing ~ haibun”

  1. I put myself through 4 semesters of college driving fork lifts & loaders & the worst thing that came of that was a broken pinky toe. Guess I should count my blessings, eh?
    Thanks for sharing, Bro.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • The doctor in the emergency room asked how the ankle wasn’t crushed. Of course, it was only one of four wheels, but there is a massive counterweight on the back of a forklift to counter any weight on the forks (they were empty), so those two wheels carry a large portion of that eight thousand pounds.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

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