Elegy for Eunice: Mono No Aware, For dVerse Poets 5/20/24

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When I was little, life seemed like one long summer day.

Elegy for Eunice

Most who might have mourned her
have followed or preceded her to dust.
Those few who still do,
think of her less often every year.
It is only in the fleeting moments
when beauty she might have appreciated
crosses our vision
or a song she once favored is heard
that a sweet pang of missing her
stabs into our busyness
and we remember
how she guided our footsteps,
taught us a gentle way with animals,
prodded us to attain more
and let us go.
This is an elegy to one we have forgotten
too easily and too soon.
One that calls her back to mind,
restores her to her rightful place.

The dVerse Poets prompt today is to write a haibun making use of mono no aware—the beauty of transience. My post is not a haibun, but I hope it meets the rest of the prompt. You can see how others responded to the prompt HERE.

Mono no aware is not simply a morbid attitude toward impermanence. Rather, it is accepting “the beauty of passing things.” As such, Mono no aware lies at the heart of Japanese poetry. Basho, the progenitor of the haibun, exemplifies mono no aware in an excerpt from his “Narrow Road to the Interior” that you can read on the dVerse Poets prompt above.

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About lifelessons

My blog, which started out to be about overcoming grief, quickly grew into a blog about celebrating life. I post daily: poems, photographs, essays or stories. I've lived in countries all around the globe but have finally come to rest in Mexico, where I've lived since 2001. My books may be found on Amazon in Kindle and print format, my art in local Ajijic galleries. Hope to see you at my blog.

30 thoughts on “Elegy for Eunice: Mono No Aware, For dVerse Poets 5/20/24”

    1. lifelessons's avatarlifelessons Post author

      My sister agrees that it was a ’49 model given our ages! It had visor over the front windshield and a space between the top of the back seat and the glass of the rear window big enough for me to lie down in. I remember riding there and coloring during this trip, then leaving the box of colors in the back window under the hot sun and the colors melting and spreading out all over that woven window well. I remember my mom trying to scrape it off after it hardened but there was always a slick layer of colors in between the weave.

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  12. Kim of Glover Gardens's avatarKim of Glover Gardens

    She is not forgotten, for as you noted:

    “This is an elegy to one we have forgotten
    too easily and too soon.
    One that calls her back to mind,
    restores her to her rightful place.”

    She cannot be forgotten when elegies bring her memory back to life.

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    1. lifelessons's avatarlifelessons Post author

      It was a trip from South Dakota to Idaho to see my aunt. When we arrived, I got out of the car and her little dog came hurtling down the sidewalk and bit me on the leg! I was frightened of dogs for years afterwards. Other than that, it was a wonderful trip. We saw geysers in Wyoming and visited my aunt and uncle and cousins in Wyoming as well as Idaho.

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