murdered poet gifts
words crowds magnify Renee’s
voice radiates Good
After finding out the day after her murder that Renee Nicole Good was a poet, I woke up Friday morning with the idea for this haiku in my head. I worked on it and sent it to the nearly-impossible-to-make-the-cut Rattle Poets Respond, which requires submissions by Friday midnight that relate to news from the last week and were written in that time.
After the anticipated rejection arrived, I pondered whether to try another venue or publish it here. I had the rare opportunity to meet with the Grapevine Poets yesterday and decided that I should share it here so it would be available in a timely manner.
I used to meet with the Grapevine Poets for early-evening workshopping every other week but haven’t been able to for most of the last two years due to my health situation. Yesterday, we had an afternoon craft discussion, which I could manage because I could muster enough energy and brain power at that time of day.
During this time of health struggles, I haven’t been able to write poetry very often, so I’ve seized this opportunity. I like writing haiku and tanka and those forms hold the additional appeal of being very short, which matches my limited energy and ability to focus. I haven’t shown this to anyone so this is just coming from my own head and heart.
A feature of this haiku is that I chose to forgo punctuation and capitalization, other than Renee’s name. This gives the opportunity to read the lines with pauses in different places, which places emphasis on different words. It also makes this haiku particularly dense. I’m not sure if this works for other readers or not, but I would appreciate any comments that anyone might like to share.
This post is part of Linda’s Just Jot It January. Join us! Find out more here: https://lindaghill.com/2026/01/12/daily-prompt-jusjojan-the-12th-2026/
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Joanne Corey 
It’s a lovely piece. Thank you for sharing it with us.
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Thanks, Devon!
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This is powerful. Thank you so much for sharing it with us
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Thank you, Beth,
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My friend. Somethings I will never understand. The agent shoots her three times, and he call her bitch. Where does this kind of human come from? Renee Good, heavy on my mind. It is time for the people of our country to demand the end of mask men roaming our country. I feel so much sadness for her son and her family. What did they tell the poor son?
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It is beyond comprehension. Renee’s 6-year-old son had already lost his father, too. Such a profound loss for such a young child.
There is a lot of work that we need to do as a society when so many people accept violence, hate, and bigotry. I appreciate that millions of people are expressing their love and compassion and pray that those qualities will transform those clinging to hate and bitterness.
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I’m from Minnesota. We’re still grieving her loss as the nightmare continues. But community response to this and these other events have been catalyzed!
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Thank you, Liz, for the update. I am in awe of the people of Minnesota who keep their sense of community despite all the many challenges and tragedies that have affected you all.
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We had a lot to learn from George Floyd…
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❤ It was so sad that Renee was killed so close by to the site of George's murder.
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