There is a tradition with Zen monks and Chinese, Japanese poetry to write a poem when you are dying. In the Japanese tradition, this has ended up being a death haiku – although some have been written in other traditions, like a Chinese poem rather than a haiku. Many of the stories relate to the very final few minutes of life. For instance,
Goku Kyonen died on Oct. 8, 1272. He was 56. Here is his death poem:
The truth embodied in the Buddhas
Of the future, present, past;
The teaching we received from
the Fathers of our faith
Can be found at the tip of my stick.
And the story:
When Goku felt his death was near, he ordered all his disciples to gather around him. He sat at the pulpit, raised his stick, gave the floor a single tap with it, and said the poem above. When he finished, he raised the stick again, tapped the floor once more, and cried, “See! See!” Then, sitting upright, he died.
Perhaps the story is “fake news” but it does seem to be handed down.
I think I am going to write my own death haiku to put in my next performance of Bigly | Death, if I do it again this year.
Death Haiku, Chogo
People I long for
People I loathe
End of autumn
I like this one as it centres around people. The image zings out to me. The sentiment is one I feel clearly, and so many of my friends and loved ones seem to feel at times.
We really miss and want to be with people.
Yes, sometimes, we really do not want to be with people.
And this can be the most important thing of a moment.
JP will often articulate this to me.
I do not want you with me, Daddy.
Sometimes, I want you.
But now I want to be alone in good fortune.*
JP has this with people. The presence of others is sometimes too much for him to bear.
(*This is a reference to Walt Whitman’s poem ‘Song of the Open Road'“, which JP often quotes phrases from.)
But, other times, company is enjoyed. Like most of us.