As we mentioned last week, today is being observed as One Day of Blog Silence at weblogs throughout the blogisphere to pay respect to the victims of the Virginia Polytechnic Institute massacre, as well as worldwide victims of violence. In general, the world could use more silence — mostly so that we can learn to listen better to eachother. Rather than silence at this weblog today, however, I want to acknowledge:
- the deep feeling of loss for the families, our nation, and the world, due to the deaths of those 33 unique individuals at Virginia Tech;
- the realization that the VPI campus was an excellent example of how the love and desire for education can bring the world closer together — with our nation serving a positive role nurturing learning and community;
- my growing frustration over groups who put grandiose or absolute assertions of individual rights over our society’s joint, interdependent, and fundamental need to take reasonable, effective steps to protect itself and its members from violence of all kinds.
There is no single way to appropriately mourn any one person, much less so many, diverse and undeserving victims. And, mourning will have many meanings as the seasons and years pass. The best that I can do is this collection of haiku and senryu from the f/k/a Honored Guest family of poets:
the first notes
squeezed from bagpipes
small town parade
cricket sounds
rise into night
the names of the dead
…………………… by Peggy Lyles from To Hear the Rain
news of his death
the cigarette smoke rises
straight up
another year
the tallest trees shade
the oldest headstones
spring evening
knowing a new moon
is behind the clouds
…………… by DeVar Dahl
“news of his death” from New Resonance 3
“another year” – Simply Haiku (Spring 2005)
“spring evening” – WHR, Robert Spiess Tribute, March 2002
strewn driftwood
a boy asking
about his father
summer’s end—
riding a borrowed bicycle
past the graveyard
……………….. by paul m.
“strewn driftwood” – A New Resonance 2
“summer’s end” – from finding the way
Stillness of sand
in the hourglass bottom–
the sound of wind
autumn evening —
yellow leaves cover
the plot reserved for me
An obituary
circled in the newspaper–
pale winter moon
Snow tapering off . . .
at the graveyard, one tombstone
leans on another
My small family gone–
ants crawl on their graves
in the pale autumn sun
…………………… by Rebecca Lilly
“Stillness of sand” – Acorn #18 (2007)
“Autumn evening” — Modern Haiku XXX:2, and A New Resonance 2
“An obituary” – edge of light (Red Moon Anthology 2003); Acorn 10
“Snow tapering off” — Modern Haiku XXX:2; A New Resonance 2
“My small family gone–” – Shadwell Hills (Birch Prees Press, 2002)
missing in action.
she dusts off his guitar,
returns it to the shelf
funeral procession . . .
snowflakes blowing
into the headlights
……………………………. by Randy Brooks from School’s Out
cherry blossoms
the one that falls
on mother’s headstone
eulogy…
an amber crow sits behind
the altar glass
. . . . . . . . by ed markowski
old tombstone
losing its name
faint first star
…………………….. by George Swede – The Heron’s Nest
after her death
composing roses
instead of words
Mother’s Day alone —
a neighbor’s first iris
pokes through the fence
after her death
finding the old scar
in my eyebrow
………………….. by Pamela Miller Ness
“Mother’s Day alone-” – The Heron’s Nest (Sept. 2003)
“after her death” – The Heron’s Nest (Dec. 2002)
among the graves
of strangers
forsythia
… by paul m. from called home (Red Moon Press 2006)
