Northwest Plants and FlowersFirst published in Poetry Nippon (Third Series, Edition Number 1, October 2010, in which I was featured poet), pages 12–14. Originally written in August of 2009, the following are twenty-three haiku in a sequence of forty-five written mostly about Pacific Northwest plants and flowers (a few plants are not native but have been transplanted to the area). Four of these poems and three additional ones on this theme were also featured on the Daily Haiku site in 2009.
red birches— the sunset mellows as we amble
roots of the river birch— a salmon’s carcass still a bit red
a sweet gum tree tips toward the pond— distant thunder
dawn redwood roots the tangle of dendrites where I love you
shore pines creak in the wind— your offshore love
Japanese barberry for dinner you suggest sushi
redtwig dogwoods the neighbour boy with a bat feigning innocence
she tells me it’s a red osier dogwood how would I know she loves me?
cutting salal away from the house the young widow
shrubby cinquefoil taking over the puppy’s grave
Douglas’s spirea newly planted our gloved hands touch
bridal wreath spirea all the centerpieces on the center table
gold sweetflag glowing in the sun my daughter’s smile
the deadness of wood anemone your letter at last
ice-dance sedge edging onto the trail missed chemo session
pink fawn lily the abandoned bunker wet with graffiti
daylilies nodding the commuter train sounds its horn
crickets stop a lost golf ball in the royal fern
an undergrowth of Western sword fern my forgotten pills
barren strawberry she tells me now of her first marriage
black gum trees bend toward the trail impending storm
bald cypress woods the naturalist practices her birdcall
Chinese tupelo for some reason I think of flutes |