comatose to sin
Credit: Freepik, kuritafsheen77
trapped in cold death-like torpor
reptilian claws
aggressive if awakened
fallen out of eden’s tree
iguana culture
20 Feb 2026 Leave a comment
in senryu Tags: ashes, death, tree, sin, eden, iguana, comatose, torpor
Credit: Freepik, kuritafsheen77
taken in his time
26 Jun 2025 3 Comments
in rhyming verse Tags: death, faithful, family, farmer, God, wife, work
A eulogy for our friend, Harlan Kooima, who died in farm accident while loading cattle…
______________
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.
momento mori
27 May 2025 4 Comments
in haibun Tags: Alzheimers, breath, death, grandson, quilt
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.
(im)mortality
15 Dec 2024 2 Comments
in senryu Tags: death, doorway, grave, immortality
“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)
stand by open grave
hear hallelujah chorus
death’s narrow doorway
brevity
29 May 2024 1 Comment
in Uncategorized Tags: baby robin, death, grief, hope, lawn, May, murder
grass grows like mad in may
failing to see his brother, i
commit murder with mower.
ashamed…i finish lawn only
to flee indoors from grieving
parents frantically hopping…
hoping a better future for this
adolescent on the edge of life
and flight training; he chirps
mournfully, poops on the deck
railing…still reeling, he flies low
to refuge under lilac’s shadow…
i pray the cats don’t find him.
mono no aware
21 May 2024 18 Comments
in haibun Tags: bride, cats, death, life, lilacs, spring
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
heron’s haunts
14 Sep 2022 9 Comments
in ekphrastic Tags: abandonment, death, gloom, loneliness, marsh
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.
epitaph
25 Jan 2022 31 Comments
in Uncategorized Tags: cancer, death, friend
“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.
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.
all must die
26 Dec 2021 2 Comments
in Uncategorized Tags: death, fear, psalm, sin, wisdom
“Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.” Psalm 90:12
note gray hairs
another wrinkle
an ache in bones
or problems with
private plumbing
forget a name or
why (oh why?) you
came into the room
then go back again
to seek missing key
the key to wisdom:
remember you die
but why (oh why)?
death comes by sin
it’s without & within
fear of death and
God’s wrath; we
deserve both yet
He bore worst of
both for you, me
believe in Son
sent from the One
in whom justice
and mercy meet;
our Father & home
Inspired by sermon on Psalm 90 today by Pastor John Lee.
our choice
06 May 2021 19 Comments
in Uncategorized Tags: choice, death, life, palinode
I.
embrace death
it is everyone’s end
accept the coldness
into your spirit well
before it strikes you
down, go down to it
II.
choose life
to live every day
accept what it gives
with an open spirit
don’t let life slip away
step up, live up to it
“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.
harvest coming
03 May 2021 31 Comments
in Uncategorized Tags: death, hospice, pastor, quadrillle, seed
The day my father died,
warm body barely cooled,
Holy Spirit nudged pastor
to visit; he offered prayer
as hearse driver waited.
We circled to hold hands
with hospice social worker,
asking God for His peace.
Pastor said, “Death is
like planting a seed…”
Linking to dVerse poets invited to write quadrille (44 words) on “seed” theme.
riot-ous indig-nation
04 Jun 2020 19 Comments
in rhyming verse, tercet Tags: breath, death, dignity, justice, violence, virus
twenty-twenty’s canceled year
contagious virus threatens death
people hiding at home in fear
victim fights for final breath
under law officer’s cruel knee
“racism!” claimed as shibboleth
martyr suspect held up to be
reason for more murder and mayhem
lady justice still cries to be free
every violence we must condemn
learn to listen before we speak
protect dignity of all shades of men
____________________________________________________
Frank challenges us to write verse in triplets (tercets) at dVerse today. I used ABA BCB CDC rhyme scheme for my current events poem. Pray for America!
a poem in my pocket 
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