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Patricia Donegan, Friend of The Haiku Foundation

It is with sadness that we relate the passing of Patricia Donegan, in her native Chicago, on 24 January 2023, following a short but onerous illness brought on by an allergic reaction to medication. Donegan served The Haiku Foundation as an Associate, as well as a judge in its HaikuNow! Contests. She was a champion of women haiku poets in Japan and around the world, and was, of course, a world-class poet herself. A Sukhavati will be held Friday, 27 January 2023, at 7:00 pm CST. A Zoom link for those wishing to attend from a distance will be made available.

This Post Has 10 Comments

  1. May the soul of the dearly departed rest in Nirvana in the Western Pure Land. Let the soul be the jewel in the lotus.
    Oṃ maṇi padme hūṃ …
    🪷

  2. Thanks, Jim, for this notice.

    I have two of Patricia Donegan’s books: ‘Haiku Mind’ and ‘Chiyo-ni – Woman Haiku Master’.

    From the latter:

    tsuki mo mite
    ware wa kono yo o
    kashiku kana

    I also saw the moon
    and so I say goodbye
    to this world

    note “This is Chiyo-ni’s last haiku . . . The “also” infers that she had experienced everything in life including the full autumn moon right before she died. The word ” kashiku was usually used by women in those days at the end of a letter to say goodbye ; shows her clear and calm state of mind.” – p 190 – ‘Chiyo-ni – Woman Haiku Master’, (c) 1988 by Charles E. Tuttle Publishing Co. Inc.

    Patricia’s words that Dave gives us certainly are a match for Chiyo-ni’s, so I believe this is her last haiku :
    .
    “I go willingly into the sound of the crickets.”

    I go
    willingly into the sound
    of crickets — Patricia Donegan
    .
    This draws me in. May we all go this way.

    My condolences to Patricia’s family and all who knew her personally.

  3. I read that some of her last words were:

    “I go willingly into the sound of the crickets.”

  4. one less star
    still burning
    in our verbal universe;
    through her poetry
    her light still reaches us

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