Caring About Our World Reflecting About Life
luscious spring blossoms
soon fall back to their roots
these tree leaves will last
offering summer shelter
as spring fades to a dream
buds unfurl to leaves
marking the passage of spring
woodland flowers fade
while a fresh canopy grows
spring sparkles as memory
~
©2018 Ontheland
The theme of Frank’s Haikai Challenge #34 is ‘passing spring’
plowed fields
furrows puckered
to kiss the sun
~
lifted window sash
with no screen
morning dances through
~
Waiting room bubble
country radio blaring
from ceiling
hanging picture is slanting
no wireless signals here
~
©️2018 Ontheland
soft catkins
pearls of willow
line slender stems
first flowers along the road
robins chirp high above
~
©️2018 Ontheland
the cherry tree waits
gnarled limbs breathe in April mist
anticipating
spring splendour that brings the bees
first the leaves then blossom clouds
©️2018 Ontheland
A tanka in response to Haikai Challenge #26 First [Cherry] Blossoms. I have always enjoyed blossoms when they appear but never before had I wondered when they would show up. Now I know that here, at 44 degrees North, cherry trees bloom in late April or early May. The photo is courtesy of Pixabay.com.
Adults asked “What do you want to be when you grow up?” Most of us find ourselves buffeted between dreams, plans, and opportunity… and there are different types of opportunity. Being born is first, second are the circumstances you are born into and then the possibilities that arise each day. In a grade 7 writing assignment I wrote that I would live in a house by the ocean in Scotland and write books about the lives of classical composers…a romantic thought, inspired by vinyl records I listened to at home. My vision was a fantasy of the moment, not something pursued. Yet decades later, once given the means, I moved out of the city, closer to nature and now, almost every day, I pick up a pen and write.
branches snap
in capricious wind storms
a buffeted being
tossed in many directions
held steady by sturdy roots
©️2018 Ontheland
~
A haibun in response to Carpe Diem #1407 Opportunity (haibun without rules)
down the centre aisle
rows of potted lilies
Spring for sale
before daffodils sprout
before tree buds swell
©️2018 Ontheland
I wonder about where plants originate. Easter lily plants are probably grown in greenhouses and gardens across Canada and the United States, but the mass cultivation of their bulbs occurs in a farm region bridging California and Oregon.
“One hundred percent of all Easter lily bulbs used in the United States and Canada are grown on coastal bottom lands in northwestern California and southwestern Oregon. Production of Easter lily bulbs has been controversial because pesticides used to grow the lilies are polluting streams that feed the estuary of the Smith River, California’s healthiest and most important river for salmon and steelhead…”
Prior to 1941 the North American supply of lily bulbs was from Japan.
Photo credit: Pixabay.com, tagged “Easter lily”
A response to Haikai Challenge #27 White Lily or Azalea
tulips! daffodils!
in surreal sleeping dreams—
in daylight, green moss
hugs the earth along my path
another world stirring near
©2018 Ontheland
~
Reading the Jalauddin Rumi poem below literally coloured my dreamworld last night. Though the landscape here is bleak, there are ‘green ones’ rising from below—such as the moss out back.
Again, the violet bows to the lily.
Again, the rose is tearing off her gown!The green ones have come from the other world,
Tipsy like the breeze up to some new foolishness.Again, near the top of the mountain
The anemone’s sweet features appear.The hyacinth speaks formally to the jasmine,
“Peace be with you.” “And peace to you, lad!
Come walk with me in this meadow.”Again, there are sufis everywhere!
The bud is shy, but the wind removes
Her veil suddenly, “My friend!”The Friend is here like water in the stream,
Like a lotus on the water.The narcissus winks at the wisteria,
“Whenever you say.”And the clove to the willow, “You are the one
I hope for.” The willow replies, “Consider
These chambers of mine yours. Welcome!”The apple, “Orange, why the frown?”
“So that those who mean harm
Will not see my beauty.”The ringdove comes asking, “Where,
Where is the Friend?”With one note the nightingale
Indicates the rose.Again, the season of Spring has come
And a spring-source rises under everything,
A moon sliding from the shadows.Many things must be left unsaid, because it’s late,
But whatever conversation we haven’t had
Tonight, we’ll have tomorrow.© Jalauddin Rumi
In response to Carpe Diem #1393: Spring is Coming
