Monday, July 31, 2017

July 31

July is over.
Cat watches out the window,
striped tail twitching.

Sunday, July 30, 2017

July 30: Painted Ladies

Morning meditation:
Watching butterflies shift
among coneflowers.

Saturday, July 29, 2017

July 29: Smoke

loosening my hair
as we get ready for bed--
bonfire smoke

Friday, July 28, 2017

July 28: Bluebird

Above the berry patch
shadow of a bluebird
slipping through the leaves.

Thursday, July 27, 2017

July 27: After rain

The rain has stopped.
Across the harbor
a cardinal resumes his song.

Wednesday, July 26, 2017

July 26: Saturn rising

Summer evening--
Saturn in the telescope,
whiff of nearby skunk.

Tuesday, July 25, 2017

July 25: Camden Harbor

Busy harborfront park--
much for the Laughing Gulls
to find amusing.

Monday, July 24, 2017

July 24: Moth mail

Out of the mailbox
flies a small, paper-white moth--
what's the message?

Sunday, July 23, 2017

July 23: Botanical gardens

Lavender in bloom--
among the bumblebees
pinching a fragrant sprig.

Saturday, July 22, 2017

June 21: 6 a.m.

Falling back asleep.
Red-eyed vireo chanting
his morning mantra.

Friday, July 21, 2017

July 20: Neighbors

I show him a bluebird,
he urges me to pick
his raspberries.
 

Thursday, July 20, 2017

July 20: Dawn

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

Wednesday, July 19, 2017

July 19: On the lake

line-up of boat trailers
boats moving through
the mountain's shadow

Tuesday, July 18, 2017

July 18: Harbor fog

Late afternoon fog--
the red boathouses
slowly lose their color.

Monday, July 17, 2017

July 17: Waking dream

Awake at dawn.
Three silent crows
perched in the apple tree.

Sunday, July 16, 2017

June 16: Family Crow

Crows with their fledglings.
My father points them out
while we're driving.

Saturday, July 15, 2017

July 15: In memory

Memorial service.
A dog outside
barking relentlessly.

Friday, July 14, 2017

July 14: Weather

looking for stars
on a cloudy night
moths lit by streetlight

Thursday, July 13, 2017

July 13: Moth

fluttering moth
on my computer screen--
is it the light or the words?

Wednesday, July 12, 2017

Tuesday, July 11, 2017

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
 

Monday, July 10, 2017

July 10: Peas

out on the back porch
shucked peas plinking
into a tin bowl

Sunday, July 9, 2017

July 9: Fairy houses

My niece informs me
fairies are attracted to
blue forget-me-nots.

Saturday, July 8, 2017

July 8: Haying season

Early morning clouds.
Three crows gleaning
in the newly mown hayfield

Friday, July 7, 2017

July 7: Afternoon

online Scrabble
at the end of day
still no rain

Thursday, July 6, 2017

July 6: Summer night

Watching the light fade.
Fingers stained red
from eating strawberries.
 

Wednesday, July 5, 2017

July 5: Eleven

Eleventh birthday.
Three boxes of sparklers
then, fireflies.

Tuesday, July 4, 2017

July 4: Fireworks

Watching ducks flush
over the harbor
by the light of fireworks.

Monday, July 3, 2017

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.

Sunday, July 2, 2017

July 2: Chasing butterflies

Morning walk.
Butterfly flits off
each time the camera's focused.

Saturday, July 1, 2017

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.