haiku retrospective xxi

samhain night

tomorrow as you
watch your costumed children,
remember bonnie.

eyes behind those masks,
bodies decked with fantasy.
bonnie will be there.

carved pumpkins welcome
visiting beloved friends.
come on in, bonnie.

set an extra place
at the samhain night table
for a guest gone beyond.

weave another wreath
with all my love for bonnie
cast it on the fire.

love just doesn't die
though our bodies age and fail.
my heart remembers.

the samhain spirits
are not evil ghouls of fear,
but beloved souls.

those we've loved and lost
beyond the veil of darkness,
westward with the sun.

ancestor worship?
acknowledge those who have gone
before, life to death.

i never told her
about my conversations
with the dark goddess,

her feared enemy.
did bonnie see in her hand
the gift of mercy?

did she make her peace?
another prayer for bonnie,
a wish, release.

one more samhain night.
the feast of the beloved dead,
honor, remembrance.

30 October 1997