The following are selected memorial
poems I’ve written for haiku poets who have died, arranged in reverse chronological
order (most recent poem first). Two of these poems (for Kaji Aso and the first poem for anne mckay) were also Per Diem featured poems on the Haiku Foundation website in May 2014. Please also see the “Memorial Haibun” section of the Haibun page for longer tributes to these and other haiku poets.
“The highest tribute to the dead is not grief but gratitude.” —Thornton Wilder
tulips rising—
the last of the firewood
almost out
For Carol Purington
(died 8 December 2020)
trees still hung with moss
she moves into
the sound’s silence
For Winona Baker
(died 23 October 2020)
the silence between us
a quail finds its way
through the underbrush
For vincent tripi
(died 17 August 2020; poem originally written for vince in July of 1999)
last of the sunset . . . fewer scratches
in the chicken yard
For Marian Olson
(died 17 August 2018)
where has he gone . . .
his cat’s tail
forms a question mark
For Carlos Colón +
(died 30 October 2016)
news
of her death . . .
this year’s falling leaves
a little more lonely
For Jane Reichhold
(died July 2016)
daffodils in bloom—
the mint in my mouth
still not done
For Gary Barnes (Soji) + +
(died 12 March 2016)
Eric Amann’s name
sinking deeper and deeper
into the red leaves
For Eric Amann +
(died March 2016)
total eclipse—
our shadows curve
and then disappear
For Kat Creighton +
(died 15 January 2014)
spring woods . . .
a distant voice
falls silent
For Hortensia Anderson
(died 21 May 2012)
autumn haiku meeting—
all of us smile at the poem she says
isn’t any good
For Jay
Gelzer +
(died 29
December 2012)
rain again . . .
the moon brightens
the cloud’s other side
For
Helen Russell +
(died 10 January 2011, age 101)
day lilies—
her last letter
still unopened
For Peggy Willis Lyles
(died 3 September 2010)
gone from the woods
the bird I knew
by sight and song
For Paul O. Williams + +
(died 2 June 2009)
spring’s deepening green—
beside the silent heron
our long shadows touch
For Robert Major +
(died 18 May 2008)
winter sky—
her palette still
with all the colours
For Francine
Porad +
(died 27 September
2006)
blue
September sky—
the wordless things
we want to know
For
Francine Porad +
(died
27 September 2006)
after the
brushstroke,
his head stays
tilted
to a sun-dappled
sumi-e
For
Kaji Aso
(died
11 March 2006)
fog .
. .
just the tree
at the bus stop
For
Jerry Kilbride
(died 3 November 2005)
her last breath—
the strings
vibrating
on her dusty
harp
For Elizabeth Searle Lamb
(died 15 February 2005)
Iraqi
sunset—
a sand dune begins to build
around his bootprint
For
Navy Lt. Kylan Jones-Huffman +
(died
21 August 2003, in Iraq)
for
her this spring
the greengoing
woods
still greening
nightflowers
the smell of cigarettes
still in her book
For anne mckay
(died 4 March 2003)
Asilomar dunes—
she rests her hand
against the tree she planted
For Kiyoko Tokutomi +
(died 25 December 2002)
a wrenching in my chest—
the white peony
pulled from the garden
For Keiko Imaoka +
(died April 2002)
scattered ashes . . .
how still each reed
and its shadow
For John Wills
(died 24 September 1993)