First Sakura

Pale pink petals unfurl
Minute against budding branches
Lingering chill of winter

The Old Town

The traveler had gone this way before
and the route was familiar in its bends
even though the roadside inns he had known
were shuttered closed and eyeless.

At a spring made from snowmelt,
he doffed his hat to cup the cold water,
dousing his sunburnt face
when he saw the town’s stone marker.

He brushed his thumb against it fondly
and in his mind’s eye he cut the forest for grass
returning it to cow pasture, full of forget-me-nots.

A shy girl he had asked to dance on May Day,
decades ago, had loved them,
and pressed them between old books
to preserve them through the seasons.

He rose from aching knees,
knowing he couldn’t stay any longer
or he’d forget where he was going.

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Seasonal Haiku

arbor rain smells
of chlorophyll and earth
worms and robins
muddied sneakers

a snowflake falls
on an early
snowdrop

lackadaisical:
a chime lounges
on a windless day

elegant trees shed
teardrops of red
and ocher

Note: It’s been a while…I hope you all are well. =)

Anew

a smiling photograph
recalls tender days
and a green friendship
that like the snowdrop
was most beloved
after a hard frost

Magnolias in Mid-April

beaten by a week’s harsh rain
magnolia blossoms
wither and brown
while budding green leaves
make their attempts
at succor

As Turtles Do

often have I sat
besides the river
with the sun upon
my face

shifting further down
the pier to catch
the errant rays

a strange
photosynthetic
animal

only marginally faster
than the reposing
tortoise

Growing Season

A ray of light piercing
the storm clouds
invokes thoughts of spring
and long days of summer;
a growing season
when I can, at last
lift my head
from the ashes.

Storytelling

purple crocuses
crowd around oak tree
rapt children

Anticipating Spring

A sun, long missed,
at last vitalizes;
those of us frozen
finally thaw

Songster

sing sweetly bird
and herald the spring
careless of those ears
that hear you