2/03/2007

Fresh snow

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fresh snow -
your whiteness strikes me
once again




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We were woken up in the early morning by the local policeman.
Grandma Stonefield was missing since yesterday! All are out searching for her, using long poles poking the weeds and brushes at the roadside.
Divers were checking the nearby pond.
Night came so early. By morning it was well below five degrees centigrade.

At sunrise, the search continued.
Dogs from Okayama police department were deployed.
Toward nightbreak, a bark close to the ditch:


fresh snow -
the paleness of her
dead body



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We often met on my walks to the local shrine.
With her 88 years, she was much more sure-footed at the steep slopes between the rice paddies than myself. We would sit on the small path and chat for a while.
She had lived alone in her old farm for more than 20 years now, tending the vegetable garden and some fruit trees. She was born here in Ohaga and never left the place.

Dear Grandmother, we will miss you so much!
Namu Amida Butsu.



funeral parade -
black robes wandering
through the white snow



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. WKD : Graves and Funerals .


Read my Haiku Archives


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6 comments:

Gabi Greve said...

oh gabi
I got chicken skin reading this...
blessings to you dear
aloha
shanna
..................................
Thank you, Shanna san!
We are still in shock and snowed in.
GABI
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Unknown said...

お気の毒に!!
ご冥福をお祈りします。

南無阿弥陀仏

sakuo

Anonymous said...

really enjoyed this one, Gabi -- despite the sad subject matter.
An interesting, and engaging, combination of poetry and prose.

-- Richard Kay, 2 February, 2007
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/simply_haiku/message/18409

Anonymous said...

.
oh gabi san, such a melancholy picture. I bow and add to yours, michele

cold as snow
this fallen flower
still beautiful


http://groups.yahoo.com/group/simply_haiku/message/18410

Anonymous said...

> cold as snow
> this fallen flower
> still beautiful

Now that poem, Michele, is simply exquisite!

-- Richard Kay, 3 February, 2007

you're very kind, Richard.
But the credit must go to the picture so clearly painted by Gabi and her haiku. She was the full inspiration.
sincerely, michele

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/simply_haiku/message/18425

Anonymous said...

Haiku from Norway:

Kyoto in winter snow
barefoot
the lacquer bowl empty

The sky is clouding over
terrified child runs
Mt Fuji still exists

Roy from Norway

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