 The
world was shocked when Pope Benedict XVI announced that he would retire
on February 28, 2013. After all, popes do not normally retire; they stay
in office and work for the church until they die. No pope has simply
resigned his office for about 600 years.
On February 27, 2013, I was driving home and thinking about Benedict’s
decision. Haiku, I thought, might be a good form to use to reflect on
the retirement. When I got home, I began playing with the lines I had
been devising in the car.
The challenge of haiku, of course, is to
actually say something in very few words. I kept modifying the poem to
achieve a continuity that clearly linked Benedict’s action to that of
ordinary people, an ironic link, to be sure.
— LED,
2/28/2013
|
