dans le jardin botanique
parmi toutes les plantes du monde,
je me suis retrouvé
translated to English:
in the botanical garden
amid all the plants in the world,
I found myself again
Copyright 2022 Brenda Davis Harsham (be kind to my first poem in French)
Notes: Exploring le jardin botanique in Nice, France, was like touring the world — I was surrounded by plants from all the continents, but one (can you figure out which was missing?). The City of Nice, spread out far below, rippled like a mirage in the waves of desert heat.
In the heights, surrounded by desert plants, I was reminded of a place I visited as a young woman, Bonaire. Heat, thorns, lizards, and grasses, parched to the color of sand, embraced the wide blue sea — that is how I remember Bonaire. Along with tiny jellyfish that stung my hands. Salt flats that rippled in ferocious sunshine. The one white flamingo in a vast pink multitude. I burned for days, from sun, jelly fish, and longing for something I wanted but didn’t yet have.
To what magic places have you traveled and where have you found yourself?
Writing Tip: Even if you aren’t sure your haiku is perfect, still your words tell a story — perhaps they say that I’m a novice in poetry. Or that I have a simple heart. Perhaps I reveal my rudimentary, elementary French. My French might be poor, and my heart simple, but perhaps I’m still understood by someone, and that is worth something. You can decide what sharing is worth.
21 thoughts on “à-côté de la mer — beside the sea”
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Friendly Fairy Tales 
Reblogged this on By the Mighty Mumford.
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Such a beautiful picture of the plant world you draw with your words!
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Thank you!
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Your words always transport me to other worlds!
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So many worlds to explore! 🙂
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Beautiful
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Thanks!
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this is incredibly beautiful and so happy to read this. i love your haiku and the simplicity of them in general. i wrote one today as well!
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I’ll have to come looking for it. 🙂 And thank you!
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Nothing wrong with your French
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Yay! I did work hard on it before I went to France, but I could never hope to understand it all. 🙂
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I think right now anywhere would feel magical because I really haven’t been traveling.! But this looks lovely. One of the magical places I want to travel to is Lake Louise. Fiji is another.
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Oh, yes, sign me up, too. 🙂
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Good throw back post! I am still finding self but I feel that I am in my element when I am by the jetty, jigging for squid or fishing for breams in Perth, Australia.
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That sounds like fun. Jigging for squid sounds like a dance move. 🙂
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Yes, I learnt the term jigging for squids from Australians😃
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I love the words Australians use. 🙂
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💕 Lovely, thanks for taking me “Beside the Sea” Brenda! Reminds me of when I was in the mountains in Spain, so long ago…
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I’ve been having lots of lovely memories lately. I’m glad to share. 🙂
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Lovely Brenda.
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Thank you!
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