After my sister’s divorce, I don’t call her former husband my “ex-brother-in-law” as it sounds like he’s been excommunicated or axed. Because we are still on friendly terms, I prefer to call him my “first-brother-in-law.”

		low tide... 
		learning to skip stones 
		from a man who couldn’t 

—Third-Place Winner, KYSO Flash HTP Writing Challenge

Sidney Bending

is a retired graphic artist. Her award-winning poetry and flash fiction have appeared in journals and anthologies such as ARC, Frogpond, Modern Haiku, The Heron’s Nest, and The Sacred in Contemporary Haiku. She is a member of Haiku Canada.