September brings so many thoughts, ideas and plans,
things to do, see to, begin, accomplish and enjoy,
that my subterranean reservoir fills until ideas
geyser up in a hot, fraught fountain of chaos. Continue reading
Tag Archives: California
Wildflower Wildfire
A wildflower wildfire
has set the California hills
ablaze in royal purple,
poppy-orange and
an exuberant yellow,
visible from space. Continue reading
Japanese Garden Magic
Magic hides in the quiet spaces:
Weights lift in the greening.*
Tree branches and bark take shapes
In the corner of the eye;
Lights flicker like fairies dancing.
A turned head, and the magic’s gone.
An arched bridge holds infinite
Possibilities for revealing
Secrets, just over the crest.
Only children can climb it.
Invite the magic to sup jasmine tea
And nibble an almond sweet,
And soon the whole day seems a dream.
Copyright 2014 Brenda Davis Harsham
* Note: This use of “greening” is meant to refer to the process of feeling younger in a garden, feeling the years drop away and spirits lift. Greening can be defined as the return to youthful characteristics.
Flame Skimmer Dragonfly
A wandering dragonfly pauses to mock:
“Catch me if you can,” he seems to say.
“I’m a loner, the cardinal of dragonflies,
“You won’t spot me again, if I have my way!”
Copyright 2014 Brenda Davis Harsham
Note: This dragonfly was spotted in the Japanese Tea Garden in San Francisco, California. Best I can tell, he is a mature male Flame Skimmer dragonfly. He looks a lot like the European Red-Veined Darter or Nomad dragonfly. I have a Scarlet Cardinal living in my yard, and his black eyes often find me in my garden. This dragonfly reminded me of him, even when I was 3,000 miles from home.
Silvery Sea Foam
Wet sand between my toes,
My feet sink lower with each wave.
Toes wiggling, soon I’m ankle deep,
Losing my balance and entranced by
Silvery sea foam, cresting the waves and
Soaking my rolled up jeans.
I laugh with each cold shock.
Copyright 2014 Brenda Davis Harsham
Cairn for the Sea
What offering can we leave the sea?
It has no need of you or me.
The moon can draw forth the waves,
but you and I are but slaves.
Inner anxieties diminish and worries
Lessen in the ocean’s furies.
Peaceful watching the water’s play
Is how I would spend my day.
And yet some sign of thanks are needed
For the peace and joy received.
One of us begins to stack a tall cairn of stone,
With each large rock lifted, a groan.
Each helps and with our effort, fixed on creating beauty
We fulfill our remaining duty,
To show our appreciation for this untamed land
Which gives peace and makes lives grand.
Copyright 2014 Brenda Davis Harsham
Note: I dedicate this post to the Artists for Peace, who are trying to make the world more peaceful, one beautiful piece of art at a time. We need more art, more peace, and less war and violence. The first link will lead you to their page of topics, the one for this August being friendship. I chose a topic of thankfulness, because I am thankful for our earth, and I wish to be its friend. I would like to spread a love for our earth’s wild places. If you click on the Artists 4 Peace logo, it will take you to their home page.
Stonehenge by the Sea
Rocks protrude, waves crash,
Mist embraces the shore.
What giant moved these rocks here,
To fight the tide and battle time?
This enchanted place calls to me,
Like Stonehenge by the Sea,
A crossroads between the past and future,
Nothing settled, always changing.
Even the sky changes in a heartbeat,
Water battling earth, air carrying their cries:
Elemental soundings, missing only fire.
Magic enfolds, perhaps the fire is in me.
Copyright 2014 Brenda Davis Harsham
Redwood Giants
Peace in the redwood forest primeval,
Cell connectivity is lost: thought without interruption.
Wandering beside ancient giants,
Glen temperatures were low and cool.
I gaze up to the sky, invisible under the canopy.
The tops of trees are lost in a bright, green blur.
My children and I hunt for gnome homes.
Dark places keep their secrets, as we stay on the paths.
Yet magic is in the very air, all things seem possible.
From the green twilight, we spy a glade,
Emerald grass shining with the first sunlight seen.
Surely the fae dance there, shimmering between worlds.
Notes:
Distances are deceptive in the photograph: the tiny bit of blue is a tall man, nearly swallowed by a distant curve in the path.
The oldest tree in Muir Woods is 1500 years old, born the year 514: it’s parent would have been capable of being born 3000 B.C., a distance in time to us unfathomable, yet only one generation apart in the forest primeval. Perhaps the spirits of the ancients still watch from beyond this world.
Copyright 2014 Brenda Davis Harsham
Visual Haiku: Grandeur Grown
Notes:
This is a visual haiku, or a picture that implies something rather than revealing it explicitly. To me, this photograph makes me think about the things missing: the tree’s connection to the earth and the sky. It’s so immense even the sun is implied rather than revealed. A camera can capture only a tiny section. For scale, I left a person in the lower right corner.
For other examples of Visual Haiku, you can look at Robin’s Egg, Shadow Painting, Tenacity and Come and Gone.
Edit, this photograph also dovetails nicely with Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge, which I have been admiring. This week is Wood or Season of Spring. Thanks for all the beauty you inspire, Cee!! And for the community you build and for all the FUN!!
Copyright 2014 Brenda Davis Harsham
Heart Tree
ancient fires
burned deep into the heartwood,
yet the tree lives on
Copyright 2014 Brenda Davis Harsham
Friendly Fairy Tales 