Penetrating smoke and haze…
the sun shines
through another day
Picking tomatoes,
A praying Mantis and I…
Surprise each other!
An umbrella’s palette...
blending
in summer raindrops
Mid-September#48
haiku
September, #47
1
Summer evening
Zazen in a guest’s backyard…
Crickets chirping
2
Before dawn
The empty patio table
welcomes a summer moon
3
Summer evening
Old poems, stories, and singing…
Bathed in sunset’s orange glow
Surface, #44
Piercing the surface
from the depths and the sky
without a ripple
In the wilderness, #43
Rockfall echoes,
Dust cloud follows the wind….
Passing the moon in Mirror Lake
No Shade, #42
No summer shade,
Trees ripped from trunks without a saw…
Where is the moon?
In Passing, #41
Through the basin
Wind blows
Summer thunder
Iris haiku, #40
Before leaving on a backpacking trip in the Wallowas I read the following haiku by Matsuo Basho:
looking exactly like
blue flag iris: blue flag iris
inside waters’ shadow
kakitsubata nitari ya nitari mizu no kage [^1]
In today’s blog I share three photographs from the hike as a study of Basho‘s poem:
1
2
3
[^1]: Jane Hirshfield (2011): The heart of Haiku, Kindle Edition: p.173
Breezy Point to Widow Peak, #39
(the closer peak to the right is Lookout Mountain)
1
I am grateful to have him as a hiking companion.
Hiking in from Breezy Point, we find ourselves on the edge of a burn area . The trees are like a black and white photograph, sprouting from the green growth of early summer reaching for the clouds.
In the meadow,
I stumble across
Conversations.
2
After a small rise we begin going down to cross a saddle between Breezy Point and Lookout Mountain. Just past the low point in the saddle, we find water and fill up our water bottles in the shade of the Hemlocks. We begin to cross patches of snow as we ascend Lookout Mountain. Will remembers a spot with a nice view which we easily find. We decide to stop for lunch. It feels good to stop and enjoy the many guests.
3
Walking across Lookout Mountain.
Freeze and thaw,
Fragments cresting…
I watch my step!
4
Coming across the saddle on the other side of Lookout Mountain we are back in the shade of the Hemlocks. There are many prints in the trail of deer and elk. The fragrance of birdsong fills the air. We cross two creeks and a spring. The water coming out of the ground flows cool and fresh!
Following the current,
Summer sun…
Dancing!
4
Arriving at Widow Peak I am am exhausted. My tiredness shows in my efforts to set up the tent and make dinner. It seems like a lot of time goes by before I sit and rest.
Clouds traverse the sky,
Riding the breeze…
Hemlocks waving.
Summer Afternoon, #38
Waving wild grasses
A Summer’s afternoon wind
I stop for a nap!
Pool, #37
Traveling down a dusty road
I came across
A pool for the moon