A eulogy for our friend, Harlan Kooima, who died in farm accident while loading cattle…
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A farmer is a man with simple needs who learns to follow weather in the skies he watches corn grow tall from kerneled seeds enjoys his morning coffee with the guys.
His wife beside him, faithful thru the years she was his only chosen, youthful bride and tho’ their troubles sometimes caused her tears she listened to his stories, saved his pride.
They raised two lovely daughters, three strong sons took them to church and taught them of God’s love life on the farm made hard work seem like fun grown green with rain and sunshine from above.
This farmer’s sudden passing came too soon we’ll miss his presence here, his smiling eyes he now whistles some bright celestial tune… we trust God’s grace to keep us all our lives.
Tillie slumps in her wheelchair under hand-stitched patchwork for warmth. She’s shrunk with age, both body and mind. She stares, emotionally flat…until they place young grandson on her lap. They sing “Jesus Loves Me” off-key together and watch little birds chirp behind glass.
Eight years of Alzheimer’s…enough for anyone to suffer this long goodbye. Her breathing shallows as family gathers round. Last grandson arrives as they hold matriarch’s cool-veined hands in prayer. She quietly exhales one final breath after family members murmur, “Amen.”
lap quilt for keepsake
her once sharp eyes, now shadowed
trust we’ll meet again
…
Haibun on “momento Mori” linked to dVerse poets where Frank Tassone hosts pub for Memorial Day.
“When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: Death has been swallowed up in victory.” (I Cor. 15:54)
Mono no aware is not only “a Japanese idiom for the awareness of … the transience of things.” It’s a paradigm through which the Japanese view life.Linking this haibun to dVerse where Frank hosts.
Neighborhood cats chase one another through backyards, loudly caterwauling in the night. Five interested toms follow one breathless tabby who flees under the deck. Food dish is ignored in this spring mating frenzy. Once she’s bred, hormones calm, kittens develop and toms slink away.
Lilacs bud in May, one of the first blossoms to appear. The tight buds open to a thousand tiny flowerets, blooming in bunches of profligate purple display. The delicate scent of each cluster concentrates on fragrant breezes. After a few days, the heads wither and flowers fall.
Young couple speaks wedding vows on sunny May day. The bride wears sleeveless lace gown with tiny corseted waist and magnificent hoop skirt. A fingertip veil, lacey wristlets, and ballet flats complete her bridal finery. She dies of asthma complications a month past their 4th anniversary.
brief season of life actors pass across the stage cherish spring vignettes
crickets ‘n crawdads sing off-key in surreal dream left condemned on river surrounded by marshland of carolina’s backwaters…look away like empty windows that stare coldly as lonely boat cradles dead body in hull…cut memory loose, let it drift through mind’s dark tunnel beyond plaster and bricks’ clayed dilapidation
Written in response to d’verse ekphrastic prompt featuring art by Lee Madgwick. The previous evening, I’d watched the film, “Where Crawdads Sing,”based on book by same title.
“After last night’s storm the tulip petals are strewn across the patio where they mortally fluttered.”– from Church, a poem by Jim Harrison
She lost her best friend… husband and loyal confidant, devoted father, avid fisherman; a man for his time and beyond who served country, church and community well. He bloomed.
Did he enjoy flowers? He receives them now with thin-petaled eyes closed, smile line of lips stilled, silent as the cancer that spread.
Like delicate flowers, we too are seeded, planted, nurtured, watered, weeded, sometimes uprooted, and lovingly tended to our fragile end… when God plucks and gathers us into his eternally beautiful bouquet.
“The grass withers and the flowers fall…”
Thanks to Linda Lee Lyberg for dVerse poets prompt to write inspired by line from Jim Harrison’s poetry. Written in memory of Norm De Boom…for Sherry.
“This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live.” –Deuteronomy 30:19 NIV
Palinode poem where first verse is refuted by second…link to dVerse poetics with Grace hosting today.
searching for any witnesses,
he questioned as if suspect:
“where were you?” he probed
“in my room,” a shocked reply
(nowhere near bloodied body)
at least, victim didn’t feel much,
unexpected and instantaneous.
trucker on road never slowed,
could not see in night’s blackness
didn’t notice impact, drove on.
circles under eyes mark grief
remembered as good mother;
affectionate, gave warm gifts.
she’d lived life until the ninth
when bad luck found black cat.
how often we commit dark deeds;
does ignorance prove innocence?
Linking to dVerse poets. This “mystery” poem fits previous prompt (shades of black) and current prompt (changing perspective). Written in third person about our barn cat found on the road but also thinking of a former acquaintance who was struck by a truck and killed. It’s always sad when animals die but how much more a human being?!
a poem in my pocket 
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