Tag: photo

Lady Slippers

There were certain girls in high school so beautiful that they could get any of us insecure young boys to carry their books, even though we knew that we were just being used; that’s what the Lady Slipper orchid reminds me of.

They are also very beautiful, especially the Pink Lady Slipper, Minnesota’s State Flower. They lure unsuspecting bees into their pink little pods through a one-way opening. Once inside, the bees find out there is no nectar for them, the usual payment for their help in pollination, and are, in fact, trapped inside.

Upon wrestling around to make their way to a small hole in the back, they shed any pollen they might have brought in on the plant’s female reproductive parts, and when they squeeze through the small opening in the back to escape, little packets of pollen from the male reproductive parts stick to their backs.

So they end up carrying the load without getting any nectar. Sounds familiar, all right.

–Photo by me

escort (archives)

i lie on the beach

under tangerine skies

amid scattered

and twisted debris,

while 13 black birds,

dispatched from

the sun,

are fast coming

‘cross the dark sea.

they’ve come

to escort

a lost soul

to the west,

a soul that’s been

newly set free,

and their black

beady eyes

look around

for their prize–

o why are they

looking at me?

–photo by me

Shot of the Day 6/15/22

“Lake of Fire”

It’s another great morning of jaw-dropping beauty, and I am officially 7 months sober today!!

I like this photo because, if I look at it in just the right way, I can see a roiling, fuming lake of fire beyond the trees that extends to the distant purple mountains.

–Photo by me

Lilacs (haibun)

The lilacs have finally blossomed here after a late spring, and I’m out for a walk around the neighborhood on this beautiful sunny morning. As I move in closer to a large bush for a photo, the fragrance wafts up and envelops me; it is so overwhelming, that I feel a bit drunk, in fact, and I’m 7 months sober! A warm rush of memories float on the aroma.

Moving along to the next bush, I remember the Greek myth about how Pan, god of the fields and forests, relentlessly pursued the nymph Syringa for her beauty, until she turned herself into a lilac bush to escape him. Today, Syringa is the scientific name for the lilac.

Last year at this time, I took my youngest granddaughter to the park to introduce her to the luscious flora there. We found some magnificent lilac bushes, and I suggested that she take a whiff. She leaned in and inhaled deeply; a smile came across her precious little face, and she said, “I knew purple would smell nice.”

o nymph syringa

you once bewitched the god pan–

now, you bewitch us all

–Photos by me