from “147 Million Orphans: A Haybun”

Author Note:

A "haybun" is a combination of hay(na)ku and other text. The hay(na)ku (http://haynakupoetry.blogspot.com) is a 21st century diasporic poetic form invented by the poet; its core is a tercet-based stanza with the first line being one word, the second line being two words, and the third line being three words. Each word forming a hay(na)ku in "147 Million Orphans" is listed chronologically from an 8th grade project by the poet's adopted son, Michael, to learn English by studying 25 new words a week.