Haiku About Death
Haiku about death come in two temperaments. One faces the subject on purpose. Gene Grabiner’s poem, titled Bushido, advises meditating on death TO BE CALM FOR THE STRUGGLE
, and the last line adds that the aim is to be fierce in the moment. The idea is that thinking about the end makes the living part braver. The other temperament looks away, as Anna Cates does in a short poem under an ASHEN SKY
in which the speaker simply passes a hearse.
Small deaths
Jenny Sanders holds a HOPELESS FEATHERWEIGHT
, a bird gone quiet in the hand, and the poem ends on A TINY STILL HEART
. Artie Fischer shows the opposite approach: a DEAD COLD AND WET BIRD
that has DECAYED THERE TWO WHOLE WEEKS
, face down on bright rocks. One poem is tender, the other is plain, and both trust a small animal to carry the subject.
What stays behind
Gabriel Bates finds THE PETRIFIED MOTH
while tracing the dust on an urn. The moth has outlasted what the urn holds, which is the poem’s quiet joke. Nancy Gauquier turns the page: THE SPIRIT SOARS
, like a new bird discovering THE USES OF WINGS
, a poem that makes the afterlife a first flying lesson.
Autumn as a deathbed
Brea McConnal puts death in a bloom: IN AUTUMN SHE BLOOMS
, a pale shadow of summer, READY FOR DEATH
. Everything is turned toward the season’s end, and the bloom is the last act.
40 poems
BUSHIDO
MEDITATE ON DEATHTO BE CALM FOR THE STRUGGLE,FIERCE IN THE MOMENT
Issue #6, page 77
ASHEN SKYI BYPASSA BLACK HEARSE
Issue #7, page 95
YARD VERSE #1
HOPELESS FEATHERWEIGHTSOFT BIRD, QUIET IN MY HANDA TINY STILL HEART
Issue #9, page 45
DEAD COLD AND WET BIRDDECAYED THERE TWO WHOLE WEEKSFACE DOWN ON BRIGHT ROCKS
Issue #4, page 49
OUTLINING DUSTON MY GRANDFATHER'S URNTHE PETRIFIED MOTH
Issue #10, page 87
DEATH
THE SPIRIT SOARS, LIKEA NEW BIRD DISCOVERINGTHE USES OF WINGS.
Issue #5, page 53
IN AUTUMN SHE BLOOMSTHE PALE SHADOW OF SUMMERAND READY FOR DEATH
Issue #9, page 13
REVELATION
AS THE SNOW CLEARSHEADSTONES ARE UNCOVERED…THE DEAD COME TO LIFE
Issue #1, page 65
SOFT CARPET OF LEAVES
SOFT CARPET OF LEAVESLIFE-FORCE GOES BACK TO THE SOILBUT WE MUST FALL TOO
Issue #7, page 37
NURSING HOME III
WORLDLY POSSESSIONSLOCKER AND IN THREE DRAWERSAND AWAIT THE END
Issue #7, page 45
CROSSROADS
BESIDE THE CROSSROADSTHEY LINGER LIKE HITCHHIKERSTHE ROADSIDE CROSSES
Issue #7, page 105
THE BEAUTY IN DEATH
GREEN TREES CATCH ON FIREGLASS LEAVES SHATTERED BENEATH FEETRED AND ORANGE DEATH.
Issue #7, page 33
Show all 40 poems
SHUTTING DOWN
FOUR WHITE WALLS AND LIGHTSHINING DOWN, TIRED SOUL THINKSOF ENDLESS QUIET.
Issue #1, page 53
WINTER
TREES LAYERED IN DEATH,CHAMPAGNE AND SWEAT MIXED ON SHEETS,BLACK LEAVES FROM LAST YEAR.
Issue #2, page 37
PHOTOGRAPHED IN STONE
PHOTOGRAPHED IN STONEYOUR LAST MOMENTS CAPTURED TENMILLION YEARS AGO
Issue #2, page 93
CONSISTENCY OF BEING AWAY
LYRICS LIKE STREWNCARCASSES ON WINDOWPANEDREAM OF FLIGHT, BUT DECAY.
Issue #3, page 27
GRAFFITI MARSTHE GRANITE CLIFF’S FACE –ROADSIDE CROSS
Issue #4, page 13
AT THE END WE WILL SEE OURIMAGES IN GLASS,REFLECTIONS CAST IN STONE
Issue #4, page 77
RAZOR WAITING
WINTER TAP WATERSLOWLY WARMING, POURS ACROSSHIS SLEEPY FINGERS
Issue #4, page 107
LITERARY FIGURE OF SPEECH
HE TOLD HIS FRIENDS THATHE WAS HANGING IN THERE, WHICHWAS HOW THEY FOUND HIM
Issue #4, page 109
A MILLION DEADFLOWERS- THE WINDA USEFUL RAKE
Issue #5, page 31
WONDERING ABOUT TREESUSING HUMAN SKELETONSBUILDING HOUSES
Issue #6, page 107
WINTER
NEW WORLD UNDERNEATHEMPTY FROM ALL THE DEBRISDEATH LIES UNDER SNOW
Issue #7, page 31
THE REEF
PREDATORY PLAYGROUNDSUNKEN SPLENDOR HIDESDEATH IN LANGUID SHADOWS
Issue #7, page 69
NORTHERN LIGHTS
NORTHERN LIGHTSSTILL DANCE ABOVE SAND AND SALT-A DEAD WORLD
Issue #10, page 43
A LITTLE BLACK DRESSAND PALE LEGS ON THE ASPHALT.HER SHOES ARE MISSING.
Issue #10, page 105
APRIL HAIKU 1
SOMEHOW AT SUNSETNOT YET DEAD OR QUITE ALIVE,I CALL TO THE OWLS.
Issue #11, page 83
SEPPUKU
SAKURA BLOSSOMSIN WAVES OF RED WATERFALLSSPILLS OUT MY CENTER
Issue #12, page 29
PUSHING DAISIES
WHITE PETALS YELLOWDAISIES PUSHING FROM BELOWTIME FOR ME TO GO
Issue #12, page 83
AVALANCHE
SEND ME TO MY GRAVETRAPPED BETWEEN THE MOTHER’S HILLSBREATHLESS IN HER DRIFT
Issue #12, page 85
RECALL WHITE FEATHERS
RECALL WHITE FEATHERSBLOWN AGAINST BROKEN WINDOWSAT SUNSET, DEAD SWAN
Issue #14, page 48
BONE FOREST
THE BIRDS MOURN THEIR LOSS,DARTING THROUGH A BONE FOREST,COLORS AMONG DEATH.
Issue #14, page 56
CHRISTMAS PASSING
SILVER AND BRASS BELLS,A SLEIGH OR CARRIAGE TURNING—ST. NICHOLAS, DEATH?WHERE SNOW LEAVES NO DISTINCTIONIS DECAY, FROSTBITE CREEPING.
Issue #15, page 9
HANDS TRACE NAMES OF DEAD,WITNESSES TO INFAMY --PEARL HARBOR IN FLAMES.
Issue #15, page 49
ISOLATION
SILENTLY STARE OUTEYELESS WINDOW REFLECTIONDEATH RATTLES NEXT DOOR
Issue #17, page 13
A SOMBER MOURNING
BABY SEAL PASSES,LAST BREATH STARING AT MOUNTAINS,SOMBER WAVES MOURNING.
Issue #17, page 16
THE SNOW ROSE
THE SNOW ROSEOVER THE DEADWINTER BLOOMS
Issue #17, page 52
SMOKE
LUNGS FILLED WITH SMOKECHOKING ON THE DEATH YOU BRINGDROWNING IN MY LIFE
Issue #17, page 53
THE WHISPER OF WATER
WATER LAPS THE PIERWHISPERING SECRET STORIESOF SHIPWRECKS AND DEATH.
Issue #18, page 19
PARAMEDIC
AMBULANCE SIRENSFLASHING RED AND YELLOW LIGHTSDEATH-FIGHTERS AT WORK
Issue #18, page 44
Questions readers ask
Is a death haiku the same as a death poem?
Not quite. In the Japanese tradition a death poem, called jisei, is written near the end of a life. The poems here are about death from the living side, as an event seen or a thought held.
Where do I read about the loss of a particular person?
On the grief page. That page stays with the one who is left behind, and this one looks at death as a subject.
More themes to read
Loss and GriefFaith and SpiritIllness and the BodyTime and AgingAutumnAll themes
Last reviewed November 2026. Poems are the work of the poets credited and link to their pages in the original issues.