Hatsu Bon Poem For Shihan Wayne Norlander

One year ago today, Shihan Wayne Norlander was taken from us. Today’s training and the following Hatsu Bon Poem are offered to his spirit. Should today’s readers so desire, please join us and perform a kata of your choice in memory of Shihan Norlander and a fallen comrade you may wish to remember. May Shihan’s spirit find our training and poem worthy.

HATSU BON POEM

Please don’t cry before my grave
That’s not where I am
Nor am I sleeping for eternity
SEE!!
I am already part of the breezes
numbering a thousand
I am part of the light
that brightens this world
Like a diamond glittering in the snow
Like the sun that coaxes seeds to sprout
And in the Fall I become the gentle rain
that nurtures all.
When you open the window in the morning
I am the breeze
That causes your hair to flutter;
And at night, I am the star
That watches over your sleep.
So, please . . . don’t cry before my grave
That’s not where I am.
I am not dead.
I have been born anew.

 

Sincerity in sweat, Sensei.

Sensei John Szmitkowski

To view my Sanchin Kata-Hatsu Bon at Sensei’s gravesite (August, 2012), please click the following link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ASAVKhh-Hhs