Tuesday, August 25, 2009

To plant a tree is
an act of faith in the earth
An act of hope for the future
An act of humanity towards
coming generations
Who will enjoy its fruits
After we shall be gone
L. Mercier

I would ask all readers to add to this post and to Haiku and  Garden Poetry.
(c)  2003 illustration by  Jean Withrow, edited by Herb Senft

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

A Requiem for a Hummingbird

So tiny
This precious fragment of our Universe.

So innocent
And eager to savor Life.
Non-judgmental.

But forgiving of any obstacle
That might perchance
block its way.

'Twas perhaps its first visit
To an early bloom --
And that was its fate.

The brambles of an untended vine
Caught its fragile wings
Still shimmering in gossamer green
And poised as though
I n glorious flight.

'Twas now enmeshed
In insect webs,
Spent thorns and brambles.

Stilled forever in its earthly ventures --
May the Great Spirit
Who notes every sparrow
In its fall
Be merciful to this tiny
spirit-soul.

And welcome it to
His joyful kingdom.

By Lee Thoma Ostlund (c) 1993

Thursday, December 25, 2008

Garden related Calenders ... what is this month to you?t




Example: What is January/February?... and it's meaning to you? What do you need in February and subsequent months. Ten words each. No discrimination allowed between adjectives, adverbs, nouns or verbs. Clever propositional phrases count as singles.

You may note that I cheated! I also added a few thoughts about what each month might need to make it a bit brighter.

Spell the month out vertically and give a meaning to each line.

JANUARY: is

January is a weaver of grayness...ice and snow of silences and the stiffness of deciduous limbs.
An earth that leans way from the sun, and misses it's orientation.
Needful, nasty , filled with long nippy nights, nailed in snow and ice
UUnarguably cold as well as Unavoidable, and sometimes just damn unbearable.
A season of loving. It spreads its warm gray blanket and then tucks in in. Tighter, warmer closer.
Remember the homeless, who call packing crates their homes and their fear of back alley wolves.
Yew trees bedecked with berries and Yerba buena tea

January needs:
Fire makers and the faithfulness of fire tenders -- the blessings of families. The Spirit of transformation found in light, warmth and laughter. Gifting's of a sun that will soon re-waken.
Compassion for all forgotten flowers --locked or forgotten in winter beds, cold indeed. Remembrances that we too can be so transplanted.
January is:
"Wood in the kitchen stove, bouquets of apples and cloves. Wintergreen, horsetail, rose hips in the tea." Nancy Bell

Herb Senft

FEBRUARY: is the month most mispent
.

Florally deprived
Eventually spring will come
Burr
Rain
U R my Valentine
Almost spring
Ready for soft warm earth
Yeah! It's almost SPRING!

February is the trickster's month. February is a valentine to open hidden doors, to springtime waking the heart of poetic words. Valentine smiles and warm relaxations ignite warmer flows. Love, dreams and fantasies meld this month into the lion's heart of March.
Herb Senft

A February edit was sent to me by Diane Reinhold
She reminded me, that not only was it the birthday month of two of our greatest presidents ... it also bestows the potential of one being born on the 29th, resulting in those lucky souls of being perpetually youthful.
(But what of Social Security, I wonder?) Be careful of what you wish for!

MARCH:


APRIL IS:
April showers on April days
Pouring raindrops through the sunrays
Roses budding under the dews
In shades of deep shimmering hues
Leaving me smiling, through and through
Yosemite Cyn


MAY:
JUNE:
JULY:
AUGUST:



SEPTEMBER:

OCTOBER IS:

O' the skies and trees appear in rosy blushes
Clouds swirl about over the crisp Autumn thrushes
The candy and yams are all abundant and sweet
Or are the hams, turkeys, and roasts enough to eat?
BBrrr, could it be that winters around the corner?
Enjoy this wondrous month now, or come November
Roasting your toes at the oven is where you'll be...


October is revolution, black cats, and green noses
ruby reds, carrot tops, and lightened mosses
Every part of nature soothes and flows
with molasses dances of slow wind and nest bound crows

When school is still new enough, naught to worry
and the snows have not come in all their flurries
The world is half dark, half light, all spice
pumpkins, cloves, ale, apples, and well fed mice

Everyone in their homes packed in real nice.


Shelby Senft


NOVEMBER:
DECEMBER:




New ventures often have trouble completing their goals. I invite you to contribute poetically and most of all to enjoy. I hope to hear from you. What are these months to you? What do you need in March, and subsequent months. Try to keep descriptions short, no discrimination allowed between adjectives, adverbs, nouns or verbs. Very clever prepositional phrases are exempted from size limitations. Help me out on January ... but that month is taken for. All others are for the taking, with credit or links to your own sites. All Garden Poets out there waken and contribute.

(C) Herb Senft 2008

DRIFTWOODS -- There are two driftwood logs intertwined on a rough Pacific Coast beach. They have remained together for year after year,,,




Clouds that melt into the sea,
Rain gray blankets that tuck you in.

Mountains that disappear
before rainy fingers
that touch and whisper
to every nook and cranny.


Dark green forests that lay
even more quietly
under this
dampening silence.

Beaches take the time for loving
Once the heart of living trees

Driftwoods -- how inadequate

To describe two lovers
who still dance together.

Limbs entwined
Like Spiritfingers
caressing this beach
with such touchings
and awakenings.


.

The sky is restless, and the rain it comes

knitting with the sun --
the undying spirit
of these trees,
and their 'Winter's love,'
so eloquent --
so strong.


Spirits rising so quietly
out of these cold liquid depths.
Hoping to wake those who would listen,
and see different skies,
past flat surfaces,
and lands
no longer there.


To find silences released,
and memories of different eyes
now revealingly distinct --



Warm voices waken
from these stranded roots.
Patterns of earlier seasons,
still pregnant, still drifting...

What stories these cedars whisper,
of birth
of forest roots,
of dreamings,
intertwining.
Of centuries flowing past,
of rains,
and storms
and memories
coursing through their leaves.



Will our footprints leave such rich patterns behind?

Was it a storm,
or the coldest tremor of them all --
a man
sharpened with a saw who penetrated their flesh
and put an end to these ancient lives.

These Driftwood Spirits washed into this ocean
onto this beach
into this solitude,
so new lovers
could hear their whispers
embrace once again --
and imagine
that leaves
still dance .. somewhere

Locked tightly,
these Lovers,
these sun-bleached
driftwoods
still drifting,
through seasons
not yet tasted.

Heartbeats, still locked together
Driftwoods that lift up to angels.

© Herb Senft