April Haiku

I just returned from the Trails and Trilliums Naturalist Rally held at Beersheba Springs Assembly near Savage Gulf State Park, one of the gems of the Tennessee State Park system. During some excellent instructional sessions, I improved my drawing and looked for fluorescent millipedes. I also learned about the geology of the Cumberland Plateau. I participated in an author’s panel and gave a poetry reading.

I have some new Haiku and a set of linked Haiku in today's edition.

Rushing here and there
I am startled by hyacinths
Beauty breathes in me

Fruit follows flower
But bees must intervene
The harvest awaits

The old oak gave shade
Cut before it could fall
It warms the house

Naked branches reach 
Skyward until buds open
Flowers bless my view

Collecting nectar
Bees rest on bright flowers
Lawnmower arrives

Pines cut for paper
Seedlings reach skyward, but they
Are not yet a forrest

Yesterday's bare ground
Flowers change everything
Trilliums blooming

Following are two Tanka

Water cool and clear
You could drink from that stream
Remember those trout
The stream holds no trout today
The water is a cesspool 

Smoke blows in the air
Dont drink from any creek
Trash lands in the water
I lnaded there one morning
Left the tent and dove right in

My book is still available from Walnut Street Publishing. Ingram Content Group offers wholesale copies to vendors. BarnesandNoble.com, Walmart.com, and other vendors who do business with Ingram offer the book at retail.