She complained no man/
was available to woo./
She never answered.

My 2nd cousin, Glenna Evans, passed away last week in a longboarding accident. At the time, I commented to her sister that, in the two times I’d met her and the times I’d talked and emailed with her, she always reminded me of the phrase “Go big or go home”, and that she went “home” going big.
On the way up to the celebration of her life (where these photos are from), and afterwards, I composed these haiku and text message poems on my phone. R.I.P., Glenna.

7/18/2010 6:44 a.m. — leaving Seattle for Vancouver
I met U just twice./
1st: Cheerful barista./
Last: inked artista./
1st buying me a cup./
Last offering up/
yer artistry./
I met U just twice./
Suffice?/
Yea. But it sux./
U Rawked.
(Original: “I met U just twice./
Alas! That must suffice!)

7:02 a.m. Haiku after picking a rosebud (given to Reegan, Glenna’s sister, at the memorial at Trout Lake)- on I-5 to Vancouver’s Trout Lake
Newly budded rose,/
not yet in full fragranced bloom./
You were plucked too soon.

12:11 p.m. Haiku during and after Glenna’s memorial celebration at Trout Lake, Vancouver, BC
In sorrow we, here,/
come together and learn how/
she lived happiness

My 1st haiku/
poem for you.

Tall, counting Woman;/
sandaled fun on the dance floor./
U rawked my sox off!

How can I forget/
you? I see Klompen in my/
phone’s dictionary.

I’ll again drive past/
the streets where you lived with no/
sad second glances.

Graying newspaper/
Woman, trying to survive./
Please don’t pick yer butt

I do not deserve/
to get kicked to the curb for /
being nice and kind.

The previous Haiku was wrapped around a single statement in an IM discussion. The Haiku came out of a discussion about my heart-of-hearts: What I see there. Who I think I am in my heart. My comment was that, in my heart of hearts, I just want to do go, be charitable, show love, and that I have no ulterior motive, or do it for me, for any selfish reason (at least, not in my heart. Sometimes my head might have one). That is something I’ve always believed, something I thought God blessed me with, something people have said about me: I have a great, kind heart. Her comment, instead, raises questions not only for me but for anyone who thinks they’ve been blessed with a good, sincere heart. It also raises questions about what was behind every good we’ve ever done, every kindness we’ve ever felt or shown.

“Sometimes, the good you want to do is good for you, but not for others.”

I love deep my heart,/
because with each beat it beats,/
it shows how love is.

OR
Love deeply, my heart/
because with each beat you beat,/
You show how love is.
OR

Love deeply, my heart/
because with each beat you beat,/
you show His love, is.