“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?!
Awful week of three senseless public shootings by U.S. citizens at garlic festival in Gilroy CA, Walmart shopping center in El Paso TX, and popular nightclub neighborhood in Dayton OH.
We wonder why domestic terrorists perpetrate violence against unsuspecting victims? Why should innocent people die while enjoying their life? Why is our society spiraling down into a culture of hate and mayhem?
Why is it legal for mothers (whose nature is nurture) to pay doctors (whose profession is healing) to dismember their preborn infants? Why do fathers abandon or abuse their own children after conceiving them? Why do we insist our lives are superior and consider other lives expendable? Why not choose to love and protect one another, starting with our family?
Perhaps there is some connection here, an unnatural progression from selfishness, disrespect, broken relationships and alienation into a macabre culture of death. The shooters are guilty of crimes against humanity but we are all culpable.
We lament with this family suffering awe-ful grief. Beloved infants lost at 26 weeks gestation; twin grandbabies happily anticipated. Expectant mother, more than halfway through pregnancy, heard heartbeats and viewed ultrasounds but no more… no more expectations, no more movement, no more fast swooshing of babies’ hearts beating their distinct rhythms. Only mother’s lonely heart beats now, heavy with slow sorrow.
The relentless spring rains mirror this drowning grief. Tears falling in torrents, flooded emotions. Erosion of the soul. What kind of broken world is this, where little lives can be cut short by the cord that was their lifeline? We may ask “why?” yet not receive an acceptable answer to the anguished questions. We have only our faith in God himself to cling to. Lord, have mercy on your children. As we remember precious twins taken; remember us too, for we are dust.
Join dVerse Poets where Lillian quotes Eccles. 3: 1-8, a time for everything.
“all is vanity,” says the preacher
life’s breath ~ “chasing after wind”
somewhere in the weary world
newborn baby first sucks in air
toddler tosses pebbles into pond
young girl twirls a wedding dance
farmer plants seed in hope of harvest
lovers laugh to embrace ~ weep, to not
developer digs dirt in hope of homes
man grieves loss of beloved wife
old woman stacks stones on beach
dying man expires with final sigh
somewhere in the weary world
“all is vanity,” says the preacher
life’s breath ~ “chasing after wind”
Chèvrefeuille at Carpe Diem Haiku Kai invites us to find a haiku from our archives and re-write it. I decided to post a haiku I submitted to a poetry contest last year…and make it a tanka. Death is part of life in our natural world.
a poem in my pocket 
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