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Is there room for humor in death haiku? I certainly hope so! The fact that we are born, grow up, get sick, work hard to achieve, accumulate and accomplish, fall in love (perhaps several times) only to deteriorate and die in the end, suggests ever-so-slightly that life contains more than a hint of absurdity. Ah, but to capture that hint in a haiku is easier said than done. Humor can't be too leaden or the poem sinks to the bottom of the lake; or so light as to float away into the clouds. It is a touch of death awareness that anchors a poem in the ungraspable while infusing it with compassion for the sorrows that inhere in life.

no, she says, you can't
be buried in
your Halloween suit