Monday, March 28, 2016

Haibun: Appointment with Death



Cherry Blooms in 2015 by Grace

Haiku by Issa:

"what a strange thing -
to be alive beneath
cherry blossoms"



I read the news with sadness - the tragic ending of a 2 year old boy, who was lost and found dead from drowning in the nearby creek.   My heart bleeds for the parents and family of  Chase, just as it bleeds for the victims who were injured and died in the latest bombing in Lahore, Pakistan last Easter Sunday.    

The specter of death came closer last week - an officemate's husband just suddenly collapsing on his work table, and dying a few hours later in the hospital.   My young colleague with two young sons, is now on leave, trying to organize things after the unexpected demise of her husband.    

How fortunate I am to be enjoying the Easter dinner with my family, catching up with news and renewing our ties. I search for the budding of hope on my hands.  I am thankful for the blessings, and call on the gift of kindness, inside my heart, to spring forth like a  river.  To bloom with joy even during the darkest of nights.


at dawn, half-moon lingers
above cherry bloom trees, still bare-
while our heart beats with rain



Posted for D'verse Poets Pub - Haibun Monday, hosted by Kanzensakura

Thanks for the visit ~


The title is from my favorite author, Agatha Christie's book, Appointment with Death.   I have been watching the series on Hercule Poirot on Netflix for the past month.   

23 comments:

  1. There is so much pain in the world, that we ought to be grateful for our good days and lives.

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  2. Oh, no. Grace, this is all so tragic! I do love your haiku, though. So much. Everything you write is beautiful.

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  3. We just never know indeed. One moment can be there and the next not. Death isn't pretty.

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  4. What tragedies, Grace. Both the two-year-old and your office mate's husband dead too soon. We really need to appreciate life as we have it, knowing it could end sooner than we know.

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  5. We are surrounded by such terrible things aren't we Grace but all along we have family and they bring grounding and hope to our lives. Hope you are doing well today....

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  6. I noted that so many of us have touched on melancholy, no doubt influenced by all the tragedy that seems to just crush us. Your haiku is just superb, Grace--that final line...

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  7. What a beautiful haibun and the haiku so speaks to the sorrow of the loss of these people. Rain in the heart...so incredible this comparison. My heart rains too for these people who died so suddenly and their families. You beautifull express these emotions and brought such depth of feeling in this writing.

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  8. Such deep sorrow for the death of a two year old (of course I reflect on my granddaughter) and the untimely passing of an officemate's husband. A most touching and melancholy haiku, Grace.

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  9. The blessing is in your poem ...

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  10. It is so sad to hear about the death of a child. Your haiku sums up the emotions beautifully.

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  11. This is sad; thank you for sharing, Grace. However, the desire to go beyond the pain to realize the beauty in those lives is evident. You beautifully remind us life does go on and flowers still bloom

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  12. Not exactly sure of the rules of a Haibun, I do like the sentiment of a bare spring heart beating with rain (tears?).

    I wish I could continue to relate to the power of grief. Babies dead, family collapsing with no warning, generations passing well before they aught. But because death in all its might holds nothing more of a mystery to me, it will come for whom ever, whenever--I have seen too much of it on streets and in caskets to fear it or ponder on it anymore.

    It is one of the reasons I have isolated so much away from both the analog and digital worlds; I have seen enough, offered enough to them who are left behind. I simply want that silence between the noises now.

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  13. the pain of all this loss to the hand of death is ours, the living. hopefully, what is integral in the belief that the spirit of all these souls lost now have a peace and calm.

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  14. Love the line "while our hearts beat with rain". So much pain felt by those who have lost...especially those unnecessary deaths like in Pakistan.

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  15. Your sadness is shared as our Haibun trace the same dark lines. Comfort to you and your acquaintances, Grace. Peace.

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  16. "To bloom with joy even during the darkest of nights."

    It's amazing the power in love.

    Your closing haiku is perfect...my heart is heavy with rain for the sadness here. Beautifully expressed, Grace.

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  17. Death is such a loyal companion, Grace, and a traitor too, most of the time. We can never trust death, for sure, but his presence in our everyday life makes him a good teacher too. The last line in your haiku is quite really sad. Great Haibun, Grace! :)

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  18. Hope is powerful and dependable just like the spring. Very sad stories but you gave us hope in the end.

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  19. YoU kNow.. iT's
    sO trUe.. LiFe iS
    bLoom wheRever..
    wheNever.. whoMever
    iT iS foR noW.. gRoWinG FReE...

    SpRinG
    liVeS iN
    eYes.. FReED..:)

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