Friday, April 27, 2012

Haiku Friday: Posthumous Words


IPLawGuy sent me an idea for Haiku Friday this week: Write your own obituary... in haiku!

Don't ask me why he wants this, but I kind of owe him one after the whole "Vail Incident." I have to admit, there is probably a high probability that my obituary actually will be in haiku-- I'm kind of asking for it, I suppose, by doing this every week. Notably, several of my students wrote their evaluations of my class in haiku last semester (thanks, guys!).

So, here is mine:

Mark Osler sure had
Some crazy professor hair
And sometimes could cook.

Now it is your turn! The winner gets a bio here on Monday-- just make it 5 syllables/7 syllables/5 syllables. If is is just too hard to do your own obit in haiku, feel free to do one for IPLawGuy.

30 comments:

  1. Justin T. has died
    after a brave battle with
    2000 brown bears.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Christine T Swanson
    Wanted to be a swimmer
    now wears water wings

    ps. off to a swim meet and hope that I don't drown....

    ReplyDelete
  3. What obit? There will
    Be too much wailing, weeping,
    to read clearly. Duh.

    ReplyDelete
  4. New Christine9:53 AM

    New Christine is Hushed!
    Life returns to words, not her
    lengthy paragraphs.

    Her heart mostly kind.
    Could her purgatory, a
    deserted isle be?

    ReplyDelete
  5. Never an expert
    but decent company all
    the same, God bless her.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Robert was a good
    bowler, and a good man. He
    was one of us. He

    was a man who loved
    the outdoors… and bowling, and
    as a surfer he

    explored the beaches
    of Southern California,
    from La Jolla to

    Leo Carrillo
    and… up to… Pismo. He died,
    like so many young

    men of his time, he
    died before his time. In your wisdom, Lord, you took

    him, as you took so
    many bright flowering young
    men at Khe Sanh, at

    Langdok, at Hill three-
    sixty-four. These young men gave
    their lives. And so would

    Robert. Robert, who
    loved bowling. And so, Robert
    Randolph Little, in

    accordance with what
    we think your dying wishes
    might well have been, we

    commit your final
    mortal remains to the heart
    of the Pacific

    Ocean, which you loved
    so well. Good night, sweet prince.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Daughter of a cop
    She played the accordion
    And made good pesto

    ReplyDelete
  8. I refuse to comment, b/c RRL has already won.

    ReplyDelete
  9. I don't even think I can write anything I am so moved by RRL's entry. What a wonderful poem,even the style speaks to me powerfully.Although it is quite cheeky of him to quote Hamlet.

    ReplyDelete
  10. I tried to dump him into the Pacific once already. Wait, no... that was in Atlanta, but it was a large body of water.

    ReplyDelete
  11. In just ninety years
    Maureen perfected the art
    Of finding lost shoes

    ReplyDelete
  12. Oh Atlanta. What a magical trip that was.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Hmmm... maybe that wasn't water. It may have been an abandoned auto plant.

    ReplyDelete
  14. This isn't anywhere as meaningful or inspiring as RLL's but Maureen's mention of shoes got me to thinking....

    Family, dachshunds,
    friends: Jill loved them all. But Coach
    bags ranked up there, too.

    This girl had mad skills
    in choosing bags perfectly
    styled for ensembles.

    Wallis Simpson said
    one can’t be too rich or too
    thin. Jill knew better:

    One can never have
    too many Coach bags, and her
    closet bore this out.

    The bucket, the tote,
    The duffel, the crossbody:
    Now they sit, lined up

    Like soldiers in a
    parade. Empty. Just waiting
    to be filled again.

    One wishes humans
    had as good a warranty
    for our lives as Coach.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Her House blew up once.
    Lived with a goat. Mom, Wife. Found
    Bill's wallet 4 million times.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Anonymous1:48 PM

    Like his Granddaddy,
    Wore an old fashioned collar,
    Only backwards. Priest.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Derek Hansen was
    loud, boisterous, never dull
    and loved that hustle

    ReplyDelete
  18. Died of a broken
    Heart after witnessing the
    The decimation

    Of his personal
    Collection of more than 2000
    Orphaned brown bear cubs.

    With his dying breath
    He gently whispered the words,
    "Sic semper ursidae."

    Contact Mark Osler
    If you are interested in
    Contributing to

    "Save the Baby Bears,"
    A memorial fund set
    Up to honor CTL.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Awwwwww,Chief! Love it. Wonderful.Carrie,you made me laugh so hard.

    ReplyDelete
  20. She tried to keep doors
    Open,threshhold blanketed
    Welcome of red roses.

    Heart cracked, thus open,
    She tried to mend holes
    Of hurt by listen.

    Kept herself whole with
    Paintings,rhapsodies,poems,
    Eyes flew out to meet things.

    Antarctic wind froze
    Herself to solid ice;she
    Forgot who she was,but...

    Certain souls recalled
    For her,miracles bloomed and
    Spring returned.The End

    ReplyDelete
  21. Seriously, I just revisited several hours (and a few glasses of wine) later, just to read RRL's haiku again. Still wonderful.

    ReplyDelete
  22. I finally know what RRL stands for and he likes bowling

    ReplyDelete
  23. Renee your poetry is epic and Calliope just a humble muse. By the time I hit "Publish Your Comment" a tear that barely hangs is falling. Obit Haiku Heaven.

    ReplyDelete
  24. Jill. I have a Coach duffel sac...use it every day. It was my moms. Purchased: 1982. Mahogany.

    ReplyDelete
  25. Everyone knows the very best haikus have the word accordian in them.

    ReplyDelete
  26. Anonymous12:32 PM

    I agree with tydwbleach -- Susan's Obit Haiku is EPIC!
    Bob

    ReplyDelete
  27. Anonymous12:36 PM

    Robert F. Darden
    NEVER ate at McDonalds
    In his entire life
    Bob

    ReplyDelete
  28. Don't anybody die...ever. I love you! It is astonishing that such a place as Osler's Razor,which really exists nowhere on earth except in an ephemeral zone,can so move us to appreciate one another,make us dear to one another. Among other things.

    ReplyDelete
  29. She loved glazed donuts
    with a smile upon her face
    Christine died happy

    ReplyDelete
  30. Descanse en paz,
    Mediavalista español,
    Ya se acabó.

    ReplyDelete