Category: poetry

Peacock

Haiku for a peacock butterfly

Two eyes gazing up

Staring blindly up above

Gone in a moment


Yesterday I saw my first peacock butterfly of this year. However due to a couple holidaying in Hornsea asking directions I only managed a blurry photo. I was a little disappointed to miss out on photographing such a lovely specimen at its full potential.

Then today after putting Alice down for her morning nap I saw a dark flash out the window. I rushed out to investigate, heart fluttering, to see it was what I thought. Another peacock. This time settled on my hydrangea. The hydrangeas would probably not have been something I’d choose to plant. They came with the garden, but they are very vibrant at the moment and make a rather pleasant backdrop.

 

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Focus on small tortoiseshells

Having covered the more drab speckled wood I decided today I’d research something with a bit more colour: the small tortoiseshell.


These are common garden butterflies, but numbers have taken a bit of a pounding he last few years. One theory explaining why blames a parasitic fly killing the caterpillars. Numbers are lower in the tropical South of England where the parasite does better. Might be grim up North, but better for tortoiseshells. 

The eggs are usually laid in large batches, of 60 to 100 eggs, often on nettles, so leaving a little wilderness for caterpillars will do them a world of good. When the caterpillars emerge from their eggs they form communal webs before spreading over more plants. The nettles form their main food supply.
Interestingly the butterfly can be found almost all year round on the wing if the weather is warm enough. So keep your eyes on the look out all year.

Haiku for fairy rings

Grow wild are encouraging a love of fungus through poetry this month. Mark Grist performs his here. This seemed like another suitable act of wild for 30 days.

Fungi perform vital roles in our world breaking down organic matter. But this useful recycling skill didn’t fill me with inspiration. So I’m sticking with fairy folklore. 

Fairy rings are rings of mushrooms that occur naturally. But there are many tales of folklore of these rings appearing as good and evil omens. Here is my haiku to fairy rings.

Joyous the elves dance

Create their fairy portals

Door to unknown worlds

30 days of wild 2017: 9- wild haiku

Watching this evening out of the window I could see and hear a blackbird silhouetted on a tree branch. For me the blackbird is the quintessential garden bird. Always close by. I was taken by the bird, so wrote my wild poem in the form of a haiku.

Shadow on the branch

singing softly up above

brings much joy below.

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In my garden the hanging basket of sweet peas are flowering. It’s the weekend now, so hopefully manage some bigger wild acts over the weekend. Wish me luck.

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Haiku

Today is a day for indulging in the traditional Zen activity of creating haiku’s. With Alice not sleeping well my daily acts of meditation help a little towards my alertness and calm. A quick little poem following the traditional haiku subject of the seasons.

Autumn leaves falling,

Drifting down to the wet ground,

Crunching under foot.

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I have managed to get Alice down in her cot. A rare event during the day. We’ll see how long this lasts.

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And on the subject of seasons the Wildlife Trusts anthology on Summer is on offer on kindle at the moment.

From the blurb:
Capturing the high point of the year’s progress, Summer presents prose and poetry spanning eight hundred years. Featuring new contributions by Simon Barnes, Michael McCarthy and Esther Woolfson, classic extracts from the work of Charles Dickens, Mary Webb and Philip Larkin, and diverse new nature writing from across the UK, this vibrant and evocative collection will inspire you to go out and enjoy the pleasures of summer.

Summer anthology-Mellisa Harrison (Ed.)

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