Walking Chicago Streets
A Little Drunk on Facades,
Towers, and Shared Lore
Category: History
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Bruised by Our Knowledge
We Make Our Lives Sublime With
The Gift of Belief -
The Archaeologist’s Dilemma
Just Because Our Past
Is Writ in Stone Does Not Mean
It’s Less Mysterious -
15 Years
Time continues to weave its mysterious tapestry out of my aspirations, my attachments, and my history. It’s been 15 years since the first post of A Year of Haiku and this has become one of my favorite places in my life bringing joy, comfort and challenge all wrapped up in a delightful bundle. As noted below I started this little project to bring me more present to my daily life. Who knew that was a fractal journey, always with a path further in, always familiar and always delightfully new. Thank you all who have followed and encouraged me along this path.
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The Great Plains Hold On
To the Sacred, Even as
Our Memories Blur
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Every New Blossom,
Full of Hope and Joy, Recalls
Blooms That Came Before
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All Our History
Is Shared. Each of Us Wants It
Unique, Ours AloneWe turn to Glory
And Away from Blood Until
We are OverwhelmedTaken by the Chaos
Of Forgotten Memory
And We Cannot BreatheAs That Memory
Weaves our Shared Tapestry More
True than Any FactFull of Glory and
Our Bloody Hands, Survived By
Our Forgiving Hearts -
Remembering Kent State
Now Fifty Years On
We Still Argue in Guns and
Violence and HatredWill We Never Learn
To Answer With Something More,
Different, Beautiful?Trade Violence For Calm,
Hear Hatred With Love, Guns with
More than Blood and BreathA New Kind of World,
Not One Gone All Blind In a
Furious Eye for EyeSalvation Is Ours,
Found Only With Gentle Hands
Open Hearts, and Time -
This Day, First Things First
Surprise, Delight, Gratitude
For Our Connection -
Walking Long Blocks with
All The Years Written in Tall
Trees and Small Houses -
Grief Unpacked Its Bags,
A Sudden and Unwanted Guest
With No Plans to LeaveLoss on Every Shelf
Sorrow in Every Drawer
Pain Beneath the BedWe Could Not Quite Breathe
Wondering if That Moment
Might Not Ever EndBut Time Does Still Pass
And Grief Turned Towards Us With
All Its Open HeartAnd We Also Found
Among the Sorrow and Loss
A Shining HonorThe Consolations
Of Shared Memories, the Breath
Of Persistent LoveSo It Turns Out That
This Life is not Perfect and
Grief is not a GuestBut Our Souls do Rise
To Every Occasion and
Our Hearts Will Reach OutAnd We Will Carry
Honor, Memory, and Love
As We Find Our Way -
Allen Miller 1918-2015
An Old Photograph,
Tattered Edges, Creased and Scratched
Faded and FuzzyBut She’s Turned Towards You
Smiling, And Your Joy Shines Through
All the Time That’s PassedLighting Memories
That Float and Glow Like Fireflies
In the Late Evening -
Lt. Col. Paul J. Finken and Family
Thankful For Soldiers
And All Who Do Their Duty
Uniformed Or Not.
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Shine On, Wisconsin,
Call Us “Forward” to the Streets
To Make History
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Self evident truths
Feared lost, now honored again
A world breathes deeply
A Year in Haiku 