Godfrey Niblett was a mystery even to himself. He was born in Tanganyika to a virgin, at least that’s what his mother claimed. His sister rode the wave of virgin-birth and became a successful faith healer. Godfrey, known most of his life as Niblett because he never grew higher than a giraffe’s knee, tried to distance himself from the virginity claim, but the fact he never knew a woman, as it was put in those days, only added to the mystery.

blue moon
the house gecko’s laugh
bouncing off the walls

When Godfrey died and got to heaven, the angels gasped upon seeing him, gathered him in their feathery arms, and lifted him onto the throne. Godfrey Niblett was elected Supreme Being in a snap election. As the previous God Almighty had abdicated eons ago, this was a major coronation. More than one harpist broke a string and a few sopranos fainted and tumbled off the risers.

clear skies
not sure which star
to wish upon

Meanwhile, back on Earth, his sister lost her touch and went out of business and his mother clutched her shadow like the hem of a dress and disappeared. Niblett tried to determine who among men might be his father, but they were all so tall. Maybe, Niblett thought, maybe it’s true.

Bob Lucky’s

latest book is a collection of haibun, My Wife & Other Adventures (Red Moon Press, 2024). He is also the author of My Thology: Not Always True But Always Truth (Cyberwit, 2019), Conversation Starters in a Language No One Speaks (SurVision Books, 2018), and Ethiopian Time (Red Bird Chapbooks, 2014). He lives in Portugal.

More on the Web: By, About, and Beyond

⚡ Book Review: My Wife & Other Adventures by Rich Youmans in contemporary haibun online (20:3, December 2024)

⚡ Bob Lucky at Haikupedia.org (September 2024)

⚡ A Tribute and Commentary on Bob Lucky’s new collection, My Thology: Not Always True but Always Truth by Ray Rasmussen in cho (15:4, January 2020)