National Cherry Blossom Festival

cherry blossom boughs
along the Tidal Basin ...
Japanese tourists

Photo credit: JCardinal18, via flickr // CC BY 2.0

Squeezed

ubiquitous green grasp
choking life from the trees:
deadly embrace of kudzu

Photo credit: Robert Michalove, via flickr // CC BY 2.0

Curly Top

curly cirrus clouds
waving with the autumn wind
Mother Nature's hair

Photo credit: k4dordy via flickr // CC BY 2.0

Tidal Force

small arms in motion
teaching the ocean to wave -
nature's conductor

Photo credit: Erik (HASH) Hersman, via flickr // CC BY 2.0

Post - Tempest

The storm sighs softly,
drawing her final breath;
exhaling leaves from the trees,
she cries herself to sleep.

Note: This poem was inspired by the poetry of Tina Nguyen.

Photo credit: Ellie, via flickr // CC BY 2.0

Squawk Thoughts

Dancing on wet sand, seagulls pivot,
flap their wings above the incoming tide.

***

Their webbed toes tickled by foam,
seagulls give chase as the tide runs away.

Photo credit: Jan Smith, via flickr // CC BY 2.0

Curtains

such delicate lace
gracing my dusty windshield
insect's fragile wing

Photo credit: inajeep, via flickr // CC BY 2.0

Simple brilliance

dandelion suns
a galaxy in my yard
their smiles radiant

Photo credit: Ruthanne Reid, via flickr // CC BY 2.0

Happy Poem in Your Pocket Day!

April 29th is Poem in Your Pocket Day. To celebrate, I participated in the "Envelope Project", where you take the first line of a famous poem and use it as a springboard to write your own poem. This year, the first lines were all taken from Emily Dickinson's work.

I chose "The Murmur of a bee." You can see the sentence in it's original context here. My poem is below.

The Murmur of a Bee

The murmur of a bee
as he talks to the flower,
he softly strokes her petaled face
before the coming shower.

Then, damp and dewy, he flies home
buzzing loudly in his haste,
with her pollen on his mind
her memory, his to taste.

[Update: This poem was honored by Poem in Your Pocket Day NYC as an "outstanding poem."]


Photo credit: Christine, via flickr // CC BY 2.0

Burst

party pink flowers
stark against naked branches
silky leaves asleep

Photo credit: Dendroica cerulea, via flickr // CC BY 2.0

Happy Easter!

laden with blossoms
trees dressed in their Sunday best
Easter corsages

Photo credit: terren in Virginia, via flickr // CC BY 2.0

Snow at Dawn

crisp winter, pre-dawn
waiting for the air to breathe
snow gently falling

Photo credit: Jason Hollinger, via flickr // CC BY 2.0

Guardians of Dusk

magical dragons

reveal themselves at sunset ~
fire-breathing clouds

Photo credit: *Micky, via flickr // CC BY 2.0

Meditation

majestic fir stands
crowned with glorious snow caps
arms outstretched in prayer

Photo credit: Sharon Mollerus, through a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic License via flickr.

Nature's Act of Contrition

fierce incessant wind ~
anguished sobs at my front door
her pleas for mercy


Photo credit: Gordana Adamovic-Mladenovic through a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic License via flickr