with thanks to Denise Krebs who shared the hay(na)ku form on Ethical ELA today.
First draft:
On waking before dawn on the morning of a beloved friend’s funeral
Memory
Like morning
Shimmers with light
Gathering
For Christmas
Across the years
You
Playing Santa
Giver of gifts
Laughter
Colorful, bright
Exquisite as snow
Stories
Like wine
Better over time
Dinners
Savored moments
Ending too soon
Envisioning
Your eyes
Always Christmas-bright
Awe
At love
Given so freely
Embracing
Many others
Ever-widening circle
Gathering
Together today
In your memory
Celebrating
Your life
Colorful, bright, exquisite
Testimony
To faith
In Lord Jesus
Returning
your body
to your homeplace
Earth
Where our
Young selves walked
Gathering
For Christmas
Across the years
Now
In springtime
Oceans of flowers
Bloom
Like promises
Around your grave
Friend
No good-byes
Only more homecomings
Rising
From darkness
In heaven’s embrace
Memory
Like morning
Shimmers with light
