January 8, 2020

Liquidambar styraciflua

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Snow boots near spiky fruits

Seeds far from the capsules by now

Dropped in turds spread by birds

Away from the blades of a plow

Just the shell where it fell

After tumbling from a bough

debris under a tree

But still helping with life somehow

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Invented poetic form

Naturette

8 lines with the following rhyme scheme and (syllable count) about small finds in nature.

AA(6)

B (8)

CC (6)

B (8)

DD (6)

B (8)

EE (6)

B (8)

November 14, 2019

Root System Morphology of Oregon White Oak on a Glacial Outwash Soil

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Deep tap root with fire

And poorly drained soils, gravel

Creates laterals

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Read the Research

A Sciku

November 23

Winterizing

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So clever are these furry squirrels

Tails twitch, swirl, gathering food

So rude, around branches they twirl

Hurling leaves, nuts from altitude

Barking with attitude, spunky

Chunky things, feeder invaders

Compost raiders, birdseed junkies

Charm school flunkies, hawk evaders.

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(A Wreathed Octave)

November 21

Taxodium distichum

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You think it’s dead but instead it’s going dormant

In summer scenes it looks evergreen, so tricky

*

Not a Christmas tree you see it’s deciduous

In winter’s glare it’s completely bare of needles

*

Unlike other trees it sends up knees for breathing

Found in swampy spots and parking lots it adapts

*

Round top is skyward bound, leaves cover ground gently

Bumper lode of spherical cones explode softly

*

A tree is waters dark and large parks, majestic

A tree of mystery and beauty, Bald Cypress

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November 12

“The woods is shining this morning

Red, gold and green, the leaves

Lie on the ground, or fall

Or hang full of light in the air still.”

~ from “Grace” by Wendell Berry

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The woods is shining this morning

A little bit less from above

A little bit more from below

First hard frost causing the inversion

*

Red, gold, and green the leaves

Have finally fallen carpeting

The lawn and last year’s leaves

The gold standing out, gleaming

*

Lie on the ground, or fall

Into the soft piles of leaves

Surrounded by colors, engulfed

By the scent of transition

*

Or hang full of light in the air still

From branches you’ve climbed to see

The leaves from afar, like you could

When they clung to the canopy

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(A Glosa Poem) inspired by

Grace” by Wendell Berry

November 7

Psithurism

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They say this word is obsolete

But I don’t know how that can be

When it creates a thought complete

About the woods surrounding me

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(A Redondilla Poem)

(A Spanish Quatrain)

October 16

Katydid

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Nice try katydid but you are no leaf

Stick in cold pause in the October dawn

In slow motion until the cool is gone

Soaking in the sun’s rays for some relief

Up in the boughs you may never be seen

Down on the bark you’re the only thing green

This time of year the cool morning is brief

As sun steals the chill like a sly thief

You’re a target here now so green on the bark

Sure you were safe but it’s no longer dark

As the day brightens it’s nature’s belief

It’s time to conclude your chirps and your trills

Ending the night of adventures and thrills

‘Til dark katydid, go hide on a leaf

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(A Mabini Sonnet)

July 9

Splitting Thoughts

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Here the dark dead cells of the tree are the strongest

It is no coincidence it is called heartwood

Tough while the softness around it is peeled apart

Many times the heartwood does not last the longest

Silently rotting leaving a void where strength once stood

Invisibly weakened by life, so goes the heart

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(An Italian Sestet)

July 4

Sight seeing

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Watching fireworks through the trees

Flying flames highlighting lobed leaves

With every burst nature’s revealed

Pulsing as the embers cartwheel

Safe from the rain beneath the boughs

*

Still able to see all the wows

*

Watching folks high-end to low-brow

What brings crowds to watch explosions?

They’d run from dynamite or guns

Colorful blasts get aaaahs and ooohs

Somehow these explosions amuse.

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(A Puente Poem)