SPRING Plants

A Dictionary of Haiku
Jane Reichhold

apple blossoms

light carried in my arms
apple blossoms from a neighbor
on my doorstep

clusters talking
together in admiration
apple blossoms

sun transformed
into apple blossoms
the ground is level

the dam is broken
spring cascades into valleys
as apple blossoms

apple trees

apple trees
dead white before flowering
fuzzy buds

spring sunshine
too-early guests wait
under budding trees

abandoned orchard
desert apple trees bloom
pioneer spirits

beans

pea soup lunch
out in garden rows
planting beans

beeches

without rain
beech leaves unfolding
slick and shiny

blossoms

knotted fragrance
on spring bare branches
blossoms

cloud blossoms
brush strokes between clusters
story-telling branch

silence
in the blind wind's dance
blossoms

moonlight
among blossoming trees
a white parasol

silence
the blossoms
dance

bracken

a cascade
bracken sprouts unroll
spring

budding birches

snowy mountains
green shadows of budding
birches

mountain curves
unfolding in new green
birches

white and thin
the light of spring
where buds dare

budding limbs
clouds raked
into new trees

bushes

without a word
each man goes outdoors
talks to the bushes

late spring
lawn dwarfs disappearing
into a leafy bush

buds

shapes of space
a flower folded
in a bud

California poppy

expanding the warmth
the first poppies
in spring sunshine

calla lily

dizzy
at the end of its spiral
calla lily whiteness

late spring
a dried-up streambed
full of lilies

on all four sides
of the long-gone shack
calla lilies

cherry blossoms

mountain hollow
in the radiance of fog
cherry blossoms

hearing bells
cherry blossoms shaken
by a breeze

cherry blossoms
firelight comes down
to bare earth

fragrant
the sound of cherry blossoms
rattled by wind

lace
on her Sunday dress
cherry blossoms

cherry trees
in full bloom he photographs
his fat wife

amidst the cherries
he photographs his wife
the pimple on her nose

cherry blossoms
their only warmth
cool in moonlight

still beautiful
the barren woman admires
flowering cherry

a young beauty
cherry trees bloom
after transplanting

putting smiles
on cherry blossoms
photographers

balloon man
cherry blooms float
on tree-trunk strings

spring sunshine
floating among cherry trees
gay balloons

ah
the exhaled breath of tourists
cherry flow-ers

shaming the ladies
in bright colored clothes
cherry blossoms

cherry blossoms
a truck goes by advertising
"Wonder Bread"

cherry blossoms
permitting picnickers
a fragrant lunch

a child
offers the cherry flowers
a bite

after viewing cherries
he blows up a paper sack
and pops it

a bee alights
on a page of poems
cherry blossoms

across the border
soldiers and a cherry tree
relatives of mine

cherry budding

a spring nap
downstream cherry trees
in bud

cherry petals

a long journey
some cherry petals
begin to fall

garden waterfall
cherry petals float to earth
in the sound

beacon for bees
a pink and white fan
of cherry petals

the fragrance
filling empty lunch boxes
cherry petals

waterfalls
cherry petals
also

clogging the stream
the scent of cherry petals
in the air

old couple sleeping
under trees twined together
cherry petals

turning to leave
cherry petals flutter around
departing guests

in the remote valley
spring arrives with hail
bruised petals

a fire
above sun-warmed bricks
cherry petals

pencil poised
nothing on the paper
but cherry petals

evening clouds
tinted pink in clusters
of cherry petals

weeping willows
over the stream clogged
with petals

cherry trees

vacant skies
cherry trees bloom
all the white light

pale skies
cherry trees capture
all the white light

tree trunks
dark nails hold festival posters
cherry time

scarred trunks
of cherry trees
a bee walks on

cherry tree trunks
twisted tapers with white light
flower fire

Yoshino cherry trees
nodding over a book
borrowed from the library

a cooling breeze
Yoshino cherry trees
in Santa Rosa

lace on blue sky
wearing nothing under
cherry trees

daffodils

old man napping
in spring sunshine at noon
daffodils nod too

mile markers
daffodils gone wild
on highway one

rejection slip
the daffodil remains
unmoved

rainy day
spilling out of a pitcher
daffodil sunshine

daisy

sea fog
the far meadow dusted
with daisies

dandelions

spring warmth
dandelions bloom
more suns

in the shade
a spot of sun
a stray dandelion

ferns

under ferns
the roar of the creek
seeping in

first flowers

bowing on short stems
flowers first day of spring
in the wind

flowers

rain colored
by the light falling
into a flower

bedtime
sea winds laid in
closed flowers

footprints
in cracks of granite rocks
flowers

blushed with pollen
her nose in a flower
wet on purpose

forget-me-not

tiny blue stones
paving the path to you
forget-me-nots

fuchsias

morning sun
finding the fuchsia
already pink

gardens

garden dreaming
the many shapes and colors
with fragrance

grass - new

March snow
footprints turning back
into grass

new grass
echoing from yard to yard
lawn mowers

green

green
the knowing name
of glen spirits

redwood
when one is cut
green sprouts

spirit dwelling
holes in rocks
sprouting green

hawthorn

hawthorn hedgerow
on new-ploughed earth
scattered petals

iris

a roundness
pushing outward
the iris opens

this iris opens
the furled flag
of other worlds

blooming/withering
on one straight stalk
iris

a ballerina
unfolding the iris
other music

never known to bees
the iris withers in rooms
of a maiden aunt

on a stalk
the butterfly wings
an iris

waiting with it
one iris withers
evening

opening
the iris
the poem

iris blooming
the seventh one opens
differently

sky
entering the iris
as it opens

eyes
enter the iris
open wide

a breeze
bumping blossoms
bees

folding paper
the faded iris
withers

shape-changing
in the witch's eye
an iris opens

arching
the iris opens
a rainbow

spreading sepals
one more poem
opens the iris

windfall
the broken iris blooms
high in a vase

iris blooms
leaving the clear calyx
its purple touch

messages moving
without muscles
iris fragrance

a blue cup
on the table an iris
half open

fading the colors
of a peacock feather
an iris blooms

applause
sepals of the iris
unclapping

eyes in secret places
deep in the purple middle
of an iris

eyes
on the purple petals
of iris

eyes
entering the iris
half-closed

trinity in
blue, gold and purple
iris

listening for purple
the iris opens
with a pop

a shared shape
iris leaves
swollen with buds

purple blue
without moving a muscle
the iris opens

all male
even when in bloom
bearded iris

blue iris
pool rippled water
in the leaves

her anger
painting the iris black
the child in her

lupine

sea side meadows
ocean's lupine
a deeper purple

last light
the brightness of lupine
growing low

lettuce

home-grown lettuce
the taste of well water
green

lilac

a hill
under a cloud
of lilac

between the fields
a break in the evening mist
three lilac bushes

lilies

light
buried in a bulb
lilies

magnolia

snow melting
magnolia buds
higher

mimosa

sunlight
taking just one spray
of mimosa

miner's lettuce

two sides of a pond
here miner's lettuce
there a skim of ice

narcissus

sea cliff meadows
the bull sneezes
narcissus

new leaves

silence
columns of earth sprouting
new leaves

spring
morning finds a new sign
on every leaf

leafing trees
in evening's purple glow
no longer bare

filling
a spring-flooded river
new green leaves

edges of oak
extended by new leaves
bright as blossoms

sea wind
pushing up the mountain
new green leaves

pale light
cool in the dim forest
new leaves

onion sets

planting onion sets
the roar of surf
that much louder

onions planted
pushed into soft earth
bombs in Libya

pansies

pansies
in a canning jar
baby photos

peeping through snow
the folded up faces
of pansies

peas

winter ends
a row of peas covered
with earth

plum blossoms

plum blossoms
the smell of white sheets
with white...

plum blossoms
a fragrance in the air
star-shaped

plum tree
remembering us
that time

plum tree
throwing off its bareness
pure white perfume

where sleep the birds
with dry feathers
a white-plum night

primrose

primrosed
the spring sun
among green leaves

days measured
by wild primrose clocks
crocus calendars

radishes

in the mailbox
a bunch of radishes
from a neighbor

roots of radishes
sand caught in tiny hairs
her laughing lips

pussy willows

gone fishing
the only takers
pussy willows

redbud

bed springs creak
by snow-melt freshets
a redbud branch

rhododendron

far from malls
city women in the woods
pick rhododendron

It's May
the somber pine forest
pink with rhodies

mountain bouquet
the whole forest full
of rhodies

raindrops
opening rhododendrons
at dusk

outdoor shower
rhododendrons stare
at my nipples

leave the laundry
rhododendrons can be
our bright colors

chattering visitors
finally silent before
the rhododendron

fog
the first rhodie
fades

after blooming
the rhododendron bushes
sink back into the woods

roots

root circle
a pool of water
growing in a tree

dark soil
pushed from a seed
a blind root

spring rain
a dance with tiny steps
of tree roots growing

rose

white rose petals
transparent in the night sky
a not-round moon

fragrance
tied in a knot
rosebuds

curling
painted roses
where the roof leaks

safflower

a field of safflower
there at the top of the hill
leaning on the sky

saplings

dead cypress
in its wind-shadow
saplings

transplanted
saplings from the far ridge
all these thoughts

scotch broom

between rain
showers the slanted rays
of the scotch bloom

sea weed

escaping spring
tangled in sea weed
a sharp smell

blue sky held by
still wet laver leaves
held by a rock

seeds

under the earth
newly planted seeds
part of the moonrise

seedlings

seedling
larger by a drop of water
caught on its leaf

an arched back
the seedling bursts
into the light

shepherd's purse

shepherd's purse
growing as high
as my hip pocket

strawberries

bending low
a heart leans to the soil
picking strawberries

tendrils

early morning
vine tendrils curl and hold
the day still

trees

river veins
and tree root muscles
green leaf skin

trees held together
upright white pillars
of light

silence in wood
between the growing
rings

everything green
yet some trees naked
with moss

cold light of day
it makes the trees stop
night whispers

whirlpools
from earth to sky
tree sap

trillium

deep in the woods
the May month trillium
deep in a dream

tulips

tulip fields
the elegance of folk
wearing wooden shoes

standing before
a wide field of flowers
one tulip

bright by the candle
the tulips also
are burning

wild flowers

picking wild flowers
the early spring sun
in my hand

wild flowers
abandoned by the road
a strange car

sea fragrance
rising from the cliff
breath of wild flowers

desert
wild flower colors
all rock

a meadow
made by a violin
wild flower notes

wild lilac

puffs of smoke
logging trucks' exhaust
among wild lilac

hillsides
clouds in the bushes
of wild lilac

lost on the mountain
the smell of wild lilac
sickening sweet

wild mustard

sunshine
caught by wild mustard
passed to the gorse

wild plum

ancestors
the wild plum
blooms again

willows

time
unmeasured by willows
swaying

water-dowsing
the willows tremble
in spring floods

slanted sunshine
the river breaks and dapples
beneath the willows

spring rains
the willow strings
raindrops

long hard rain
hanging in the willows
tender new leaves

spring
high in the willows
flood waters

wind murmuring
as it spreads pollen
the arched willow

nude beach
the first ones out
pussy willows

spring bare sun
by winter's high waters
willows laid low

water witching
willow wands
bend the river

willow shadows
the length of a nap
on the river bank

contrails
pussy willows fluff
in spring skies

moraine crevasses
a line of willows
winding the creek

river willow
heavy drops on
glistening wands

willow branches
holding together
raindrops

April storms
green willow wands
sweeping snow

young leaves