The hollyhock
regally presides
over August.
Details
The seamstress for the fairies
tailors fashions out of fuchsia
leaves with scalloped edges
Garden Alchemist
The mystical powers
of Solomon’s Seal
turns the medicine wheel.
Sleepy Heads
Wearing gossamer nightgowns
ferns slowly stretch
toward spring’s morning.
Whala Viola!
Vivaciously
johnny jumps up
splashing color
Green Dreams
A soft memory slowly focused
into a vision of Spring.
Portrait of a Winter Day
In the stillness
all possibilities
are incubated.
Dried
Before the first flake falls
the dried wild flower
shares a flurry of beauty.
Homemaking
seeds take
feathered flight
for monarchs’ sake.
Old Man Frost
leaves his whiskers behind
when he runs through the woods
chasing moonbeams and sunshine.
Stories
Like the grain in wood
the grain of decay in the fern frond
tells the exquisite story of its life.
Mum
the garden’s secret keeper.
Our Two Chairs
Let us take our willow seats
and savor a few more garden moments with the geraniums
before the the frost comes and sends us all inside.
Beloved
September’s astonishing blue sky is for you.
Delicate lichen blossoms on stone are for you.
All of nature’s beauty awaits you.
Bonsai
At the edge of the forest
where enchantment begins
grows a tiny tree of goldenrod.
Blackberry Lily
seed masquerades as fruit
seducing birds
a wily plant’s propagation plan.
Coral
Geranium makes the garden’s coral
a blossom so shimmery, fresh and delicate
it might have come from the ocean floor.
Space
Solace can often be found
in the space between.
Belonging
oh to be a bud in the cluster
a part of a tribe
together in the center of life’s circle.
Balm
There is no room for worry
amidst all the color and beauty.
Come and stay awhile.
Style
This plant wears its pigtails
in fancy french braids
Monarch
The brightest colors
are put on display
when royalty visits.
Harvest
As the workers toil in the carpet of sage
they hum and buzz their dictum
“from each according to their abilities, to each according to their needs”
Milkweed
Mother to monarchs
nurturer and protector
shepherd of beauty.
Spiral
A spiral staircase from the forest floor
like an Escher leading everywhere and nowhere
all at once.
Succulent Rose
Perfection appears
in a tangle of winter’s residue.