[Note: There are many interesting, caring and compelling folks at St. John the Baptist Episcopal Church in Lodi, California. Tom Hampson has been deacon there since early 2020, and in many ways has made us feel welcome there and in the Central Valley more generally. Last Sunday the congregation there celebrated his time among us and marked his retirement. He has supported my poetic efforts and so it is appropriate that I mark his retirement with the following poem.]
Haibun is a Japanese literary form combining prose (often about a journey) and one or more haiku, in this case: 5½. The haiku are often shorter than standard (for example 12 syllables).
Word journey: If we listen, the deep roots of the English word “deacon” can tell us a lot about Tom Hampson, St. John’s deacon for the past five and a half years. The word deacon comes to us through Latin from the Koine Greek diakonos, originally meaning “servant”, used in the early church to refer to a “servant of the church”, specifically a person who assists the priest or does the Gospel reading. The Greek diakonos in turn comes from dia, meaning “thorough” or “from all sides” and konos, meaning “to endeavor or try”. Travelling back in time even further to about 5,000 years ago, we get to the source of konos: a Proto-Indo-European root *ken-, meaning “to set oneself in motion”. A little-used contemporary cognate in English is “conation,” a fancy word for will or motivation.
Haiku 1: (for animal lovers:)
Old shepherd leaves [4]
Flock: Lost? Sheep dog stays, (5)
Knows flock well [3]
Haiku 2 & 2½:
(theological, Gospel of John:)
Church servant tries [4]
To be everywhere: [5]
Feed my lambs [3]
(alternate version:)
Church servant tries [4]
To be everywhere: [5]
Risks burn-out [3]
Double Haiku 3&4: (philosophy of action:)
Act of will [3]
Deacon connects Being [6]
And Doing [3]
Makes through-line, [3]
Anchors us through times [5]
of test and change [4]
Haiku 5: (good-bye:)
So much action [4]
And serving. Time to rest? [6]
Sheep are OK [4]
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