July 31

July is over.

Cat watches out the window,

striped tail twitching.

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July 30: Painted Ladies

Morning meditation:

Watching butterflies shift

among coneflowers.

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July 29: Smoke

loosening my hair

as we get ready for bed--

bonfire smoke

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July 28: Bluebird

Above the berry patch

shadow of a bluebird

slipping through the leaves.

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July 27: After rain

The rain has stopped.

Across the harbor

a cardinal resumes his song.

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July 26: Saturn rising

Summer evening--

Saturn in the telescope,

whiff of nearby skunk.

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July 25: Camden Harbor

Busy harborfront park--

much for the Laughing Gulls

to find amusing.

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July 24: Moth mail

Out of the mailbox

flies a small, paper-white moth--

what's the message?

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July 23: Botanical gardens

Lavender in bloom--

among the bumblebees

pinching a fragrant sprig.

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June 21: 6 a.m.

Falling back asleep.

Red-eyed vireo chanting

his morning mantra.

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July 20: Neighbors

I show him a bluebird,

he urges me to pick

his raspberries.

 

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July 20: Dawn

Awake too early.
Letting birdsong replace
the chatter in my head.

July 19: On the lake

line-up of boat trailers

boats moving through

the mountain's shadow

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July 18: Harbor fog

Late afternoon fog--

the red boathouses

slowly lose their color.

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July 17: Waking dream

Awake at dawn.

Three silent crows

perched in the apple tree.

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June 16: Family Crow

Crows with their fledglings.

My father points them out

while we're driving.

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July 15: In memory

Memorial service.

A dog outside

barking relentlessly.

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July 14: Weather

looking for stars

on a cloudy night

moths lit by streetlight

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July 13: Moth

fluttering moth

on my computer screen--

is it the light or the words?

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July 12: Garden Party

End of the garden party--

the photographer

moves on to flowers.

 

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July 11: Haiku Workshop

Today I taught a day-long workshop on haiku at the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens. I was so grateful to have such a responsive group of students, open to paying attention, being creative, and sharing their poems. And we couldn't have asked for a better setting for a (partially) plein air class. The gardens are an endlessly inspiring landscape for the arts.

 

In the Five Senses Garden

 

A few of my in-the-moment jottings from our writing exercises out and about in the gardens:

 

(Five Senses Garden)

 

Stopping to touch

the black stone rabbit

warmed by sun.

 

Above the lily pond

black-and-white dragonflies

coordinate with her kimono.

 

Construction noise--

the dragonflies

go about their business.

 

(Children's Garden)

 

Rooted in mud

the yellow waterlily

seems to me perfect.

 

Junco visits our table

hoping for crumbs.

All I have are words.

 

Finding a small patch

of old-man's-whiskers

in the children's garden.

 

(Vayo Meditation Garden)

 

Purple love grass.

If only my life

could be so exciting.

 

Warbler still singing

in heat of the day.

Hay-scented ferns.

 

Alliums gone by

 

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July 10: Peas

out on the back porch

shucked peas plinking

into a tin bowl

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July 9: Fairy houses

My niece informs me

fairies are attracted to

blue forget-me-nots.

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July 8: Haying season

Early morning clouds.

Three crows gleaning

in the newly mown hayfield

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July 7: Afternoon

online Scrabble

at the end of day

still no rain

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July 6: Summer night

Watching the light fade.

Fingers stained red

from eating strawberries.

 

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July 5: Eleven

Eleventh birthday.

Three boxes of sparklers

then, fireflies.

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July 4: Fireworks

Watching ducks flush

over the harbor

by the light of fireworks.

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July 3: Glimpse

The Gray Catbird is, as its name might indicate, a smooth slate grey color all over, with a black cap. But its undertail coverts, which we glimpsed when it was feeding at a suet block hanging by our kitchen window, are a surprising rusty red. A bit like catching a glimpse of a nun's fancy underpants.

 

On the window feeder

catbird flashes us

his red undertail.

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July 2: Chasing butterflies

Morning walk.

Butterfly flits off

each time the camera's focused.

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July 1: Pebble Beach

Variations on a Theme

 

Pebble Beach--

bell buoy clanging

within the fog.

 

Pebble Beach--

every stone its own story

of heat and pressure.

 

Pebble Beach--

cries of a plover

from within the fog.

 

 

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