a flight of angels, said Princess Haiku

flowers and angels belong together said, Princess Haiku

transparency of an angel said, Princess Haiku

Blue clouds passed through the angel reflecting the transparency of the heavens.

eternal repose of an angel, said Princess Haiku

The Italian Cemetery
Colma, California

an angel in the clouds said Princess Haiku

The Italian Cemetery
Colma, California
early 1900s


I asked the angel if the heights made them dizzy said, Princess Haiku and they unfolded their beautiful wings.

angels at play said, Princess Haiku

The Italian Cemetery
Colma, California
Late 1800s

At twilight I could hear the voices of children at play in the Cemetery. "Aren't you supposed to be sleeping," I asked?  They just laughed as children will and I found consolation in their little patter.

the angel did not envy said, Princess Haiku

Angel, Cypress Lawn Cemetery
Colma, California early 1900s


The angel and I spent some time conversing said, Princess Haiku. I am absolutely convinced that she was not one of the ones who envied Annabelle Lee & Eddie.  She seemed quite content in her heavenly role, although she did ask me to watch  the cemetery while she attended to personal affairs. I was too polite to ask what those might be although I wonder...

Annabel Lee

BY EDGAR ALLAN POE

It was many and many a year ago,

   In a kingdom by the sea,

That a maiden there lived whom you may know

   By the name of Annabel Lee;

And this maiden she lived with no other thought

   Than to love and be loved by me.

I was a child and she was a child,

   In this kingdom by the sea,

But we loved with a love that was more than love—

   I and my Annabel Lee—

With a love that the wingèd seraphs of Heaven

   Coveted her and me.

And this was the reason that, long ago,

   In this kingdom by the sea,

A wind blew out of a cloud, chilling

   My beautiful Annabel Lee;

So that her highborn kinsmen came

   And bore her away from me,

To shut her up in a sepulchre

   In this kingdom by the sea.

The angels, not half so happy in Heaven,

   Went envying her and me—

Yes!—that was the reason (as all men know,

   In this kingdom by the sea)

That the wind came out of the cloud by night,

   Chilling and killing my Annabel Lee.

But our love it was stronger by far than the love

   Of those who were older than we—

   Of many far wiser than we—

And neither the angels in Heaven above

   Nor the demons down under the sea

Can ever dissever my soul from the soul

   Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;

For the moon never beams, without bringing me dreams

   Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;

And the stars never rise, but I feel the bright eyes

   Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;

And so, all the night-tide, I lie down by the side

   Of my darling—my darling—my life and my bride,

   In her sepulchre there by the sea—

   In her tomb by the sounding sea.

an angel with a secret said, Princess Haiku

Angel, Cypress Lawn Cemetery
Colma, California
early 1900s


The angel was preoccupied with their own sadness said, Princess Haiku.  It cannot be easy attending to the souls of others for eternity.

the angel and I said, Princess Haiku

The Angel and I came to an understanding said Princess Haiku, for ghosts too belong to the other world.

Angel, Cypress Lawn Cemetery early 1900s

a moment with an angel is an eternity, said Princess Haiku

I came upon a sorrowing angel in the Italian Cemetery in Colma, California. This small cemetery established in the late 1800s is replete with angelic beings,

profound silence in a city of souls said, Princess Haiku