Now is the month of Maying

That portion of the Madrigal song introduces this set of scenes and words.

foreground dandelion embankment mostly gone to seed, background big brick buildings capped in blue sky

Each white stem a soul
More of the dead than living
Great cloud of being

retaining wall of broken sidewalk pieces, capped by flowering bord of white blooms er at waist level

Broken cement blocks
Holding up springtime flowers
Fleeting May morning

flowering red-pink crabapple hangs over camera with freshly mowed lawn and bordering sidewalk below

This morning so fair
Ev'rything growing freely
A gift for the eyes

newly unfurled leaves still tender and shiny at eye-level

This year's leaves appear
Generously dressing trees
Shady streets of green

foreground pond reflects 2m high pair of swan sculptures at city zoo entrance area

Elegant figures
Their plastic from darkest oil
Reflecting our times

edge of boardwalk with muddy pond shoreline beneath and fallen blossoms scattered

Pond boardwalk still damp
Late frost melting on petals
No frogs singing yet

straws of young fiddlehead ferns rising from winter slumber in the soil

Hopeful ferns reach up
The warm blue sky welcomes them
Another spring sign

low-level view of backlit dandelion seedheads mingled with ones still bright yellow

Now called 'no mow May'
Bees may thrive when mowers rest
Sweet smells the spring air

close up of tulip border bereft of petals, mostly stems remain

Tulip memories
Scattered among the bare stems
Their encore next year

Frogs sing fervent songs

While fish drift in cool water

Warmer days ahead

Bonsai forest fresh

Greets May visitors again

Back from winter care

large purple head of allium atop its slender stem, a shadow cast on the redwood-stained fence behind

Allium so proud
Atop its lengthy green stem
Smiling at the sun

purply blue of 'Virginia Bluebells' (Mertensia) along woodland trail

Bluebell meadow green
Greets hikers for a few weeks
Joyful spring walking

terra cotta planter on porch railing with pink begonias backlit

Begonia bath
Of evening springtime sun
Lighting petals bright

double-blossom orange poppy at right edge, the showy leaves and budding flowers behind

Poppies yet to be
Open for all to admire
Before summer comes

2-photo collage of trillium drifts along woodland trail

Trillium white groves
Invite hikers to go slow
Trees barely in leaf

streetfood for crow is English muffin bottom on road in foreground

Breakfast for the crow
Pulling things from the litter
Today a soft prize

cream tulip with hints of purple streaks soon to drop its petals

Final cream display
Tulip petals soon to fall
Bulb to rest again

unopened poppy droops away from lens to show the smooth sheen of its hairy stem

Silvery slender
Young poppy stem, bloom ahead
Bursting orange then

two yellow primrose in morning light, close-up

Primrose in morning
Light warming each passing day
Badge of spring this year

Comments

Defining "Photo Haiku," reflecting on " 写真俳句

https://shashin-haiku.org [added purple text] The webpage about "what is a photo haiku" stirs thoughts about some of the issues and considerations when putting visual and verbal layers together. The joining of word and picture is known in Japan by various references to the 5-7-5 structured image poems; for example, shahai , haisha , photo haiku, photo 575, and so on. The example in this screenshot from the webpage at https://shashin-haiku.org/写真俳句とは has a mother and child peering at the myriad koi (carp) filling a shady spot in a channel of moving water. One way to put the verse into English is: Mama and child / A moment at the streamside / Shining so brightly. Some people begin with their text and then seek a photo that relates somehow to the verbal "snapshot," either closely fitting the haiku, or more loosely associated with the feelings carried in the words. Others will see something that catches their eye for some reason and then later they come up with a ...

Between fall and winter's first hints

Visual haiku from October 6 to ice in birdbath 23 October 2023 Wet October bright Morning wetland colors true Shine in the cloudbreaks Too weary just now The cart can rest in the sun Mind preoccupied Leaves fall stiffly down The wet cement later dries Leaving time's traces Bodhisattva head Fluid essence now made hard Far from East Asia Fresh asphalt and paint Make riding such great pleasure Rolling through the days Racing morning clouds Fly over bright fall treetops Birds watch day breaking One tree so vivid Announcing cold days to come More colors ahead Myriad pond life Diverse microbiota Thrive in quiet rot Living roots' power Push through petroleum crust Thirsting for sunshine Fall color and sculpture Bathe in October sunshine Winter days coming White contrail above Streaks over the fall colors Apples bob below Dappling on green leaves Maples soon red flames to be The nights grow colder Glittering fall light Makes leaves of maple so bright Pushing winter back Pathway statue...

Mild February feels like March

Snow shovel at rest Winter takes a break these days Rising global heat Shaggy frost on stone Fades in the spring-like morning Comes again tonight A lone pine needle Bears the heavy frost for now Knowing it soon melts Winter sumac bows With frost its furry blanket Thinking of spring days Capped in copper frost No need to light the pathway Morning light is fine Gliding under ice Open water for breathing Chilly scales and tails Unmoving boulder Feels winter breaking a little Pines stand ever green Sun-bleached railings stand Zig-zagging across the pond Sumac on one side Boat landing frozen Eight or nine weeks yet to go Before it arrives Flutter in mild breeze February feels like March But winter stays still No baseball today It's still winter after all Teams come in two months Wetland boardwalk bright Buzzing drone high overhead Sees the baseball fields

Picturing Haiku

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