Great Find...

on the way home
sitting out on the curb -
free tiger lillies

black gold
that I can't wear -
gasoline

little palpitations

as the numbers turn -

buying gasoline

wherever I looked today....

birds
jumping
on each other's backs

bulb shopping-
planning a neighbor's garden
on her dime

Spring rain

spring rain-
maganolia and dogwood petals
wooshing past traffic

Don't panic!

at the side
of the path -
the lion's-teeth*

(*lion's-teeth are quite harmless - it's a straight translation of the german word for dandelion)

rain-bent,
the bamboo tries once more
to straighten up

(Cross-posted at But Wait, There's More!)

DREAM-BASED TANKA

the soldier wounds himself
with a plant bulb he uproots
"April is the cruelest month"
to keep fighting at the front
with babies at home

[third line line by t.s. eliot; "heard" in the dream]

reaching for a vest -
cherry blossom
laden with snow

mountain meltwater

thickening sky
mountain meltwater
surges by


photo by lori bierly
words by mandy smith
© 2008

Paignton 2008

harbourside puddle
a group of young turnstones
warble and waddle

words & photograph © 2008 gerald england

----------

Our boy stops to ask
how the grass knows
when to start

(Cross-posted at
But Wait, There's More!)

morning break-
shopping for new rose bushes
for Mother's Day

In the north

(In central Finland we still have loads of snow and all the lakes are frozen until early May. But, already, there is the warm sunshine and the first migrating birds.)


under the ice crust
unseen, unknown to us all
the fish greet the spring
---

jään alla hiljaa
kaloille tulee kevät
salaa kaikilta

a first bee bumping
through the forsythia:
sleepily

cool spring day-
wishing the fleece was enough
in the shade

Spring Sales

hot spring sales-
potted lillies and tulips

treasures
on the green lawn
African violets

cat staring at thermometer
in window box
hunting green lizard

on the way to work
not thinking of winning
I race the creek

(also twittered at "butwait")

FOOTSTEPS

Walking over
a carpet of dried leaves
hears own footsteps


--R.K.SINGH

without knowing why
I reach up to touch a new
unfurling leaf

~

spring thaw —
an old friend reaches
for the phone

(Cross-posted at But Wait, There's More!)

morning commute-
magnolia blossoms shimmer
under waning moon

.


.
Tokyo station-
my spring footsteps
over Basho's frog

.