Pompeii August 24th AD 79

AM

The city bustled

with gossip and news;

Vesuvius throbbed

PM

Escape? Where to? How?

Fear pulsed now as darkened skies

breathed gassy poisen.

EVENING

The city, news, life

are quiet now; buried. Time

entombed; wonder born.

Good Friday

This is from: The Forest Stations by William Fairbank seen at Lincoln Cathedral

Peace

Mum has passed from our hands
to God's;
her spirit soars, dancing in freedom.


My mother has been constrained by illness for the last four years and she has been bedbound for the last year. May she be in peace now. I wrote this haiku exactly a month ago -the haiku seemed to have been given to me as I woke at 2.30am with the words ready formed in my head. She died this morning.

Now

Tightly bound in the
corsetry of stress, focus narrows
and smiles dim.

Mum 2

The wind roars its song
as a chorus
while a life ebbs slowly away.

The Viola player

Mum

No food now, or words,
Her eyes sometimes see but
courage stays - and her smile.

Ebbing seas

Current weather

Beauty and chaos
Share the stage, as more snow falls;
We watch suspended.

Candlemas

Candles give the world light,
God gives our spirit light
What light do we give?