Warning - Haibun is sad so if you want skip to the haiku. It is a rewriting of something from years ago.
NO STONE TO SET
Aimlessly wandering the world a blur a mother's grief unrelenting. I find myself in an old cemetery
searching for a grave I couldn't bear to face in 20 years. Yet, I come having no other place. He was in the Catholic section, wherever that was. I run my hands over cold marble, tracing my finger in the carved letters. Finally in a back corner a statue of the virgin mother, the grass overgrown. I search, search for a lamb. I discover a small stone half covered; a tiny etched lamb. Disappointed I pull a handful of grass "See I will not for get you I will hold you in the palm of my hand" plays over and over in my head. I carefully tend the marker. His was not the courage of the battlefield, but enemies fought within. His bravery was of needles and bone marrow transplants. The courage to smile through it all always thinking of others. I could never be as brave as my brother. Why did I end up here? Time passing without reason. I talk about my sons, changing denominations, rambling on...
searching for a grave I couldn't bear to face in 20 years. Yet, I come having no other place. He was in the Catholic section, wherever that was. I run my hands over cold marble, tracing my finger in the carved letters. Finally in a back corner a statue of the virgin mother, the grass overgrown. I search, search for a lamb. I discover a small stone half covered; a tiny etched lamb. Disappointed I pull a handful of grass "See I will not for get you I will hold you in the palm of my hand" plays over and over in my head. I carefully tend the marker. His was not the courage of the battlefield, but enemies fought within. His bravery was of needles and bone marrow transplants. The courage to smile through it all always thinking of others. I could never be as brave as my brother. Why did I end up here? Time passing without reason. I talk about my sons, changing denominations, rambling on...
At the end of my prattle I ask him to watch over my little one lost with no grave, no name. I hear his laughter echoing a sense of peace fills the air. All fades I awaken, the morning light illuminating my room and I am bathed in some sense of contentment and sanity.
on the edge of dreams
guardian angels play
leaving footprints
hearts of sorrow
touched briefly
by angel wings
touched briefly
by angel wings
laughter
guardian angel’s
sweet kiss
guardian angel’s
sweet kiss
