“Trees are sanctuaries. Whoever knows how to speak to them, whoever knows how to listen to them, can learn the truth.” Herman Hesse
Driftwood at Red Bank Battlefield, National Park, NJ.©️Merril D. Smith 2020
Midnight owl shadows
rodent in sharp talons—
seed drops on damp ground
seed becomes tree
roots link to other roots—
earth secrets shared
treetop flutters
crow warns of hawk–
black wings cross the sky
charcoal clouds
wind whipped waves–
the snap of a branch
branch drifts
time and tide-bleached
rests on riverbank
green boughs
lean to kiss the water clouds–
whispers, seeds fall
Reflections on Delaware River, West Deptford, NJ ©️Merril D. Smith 2020
Frank has asked us to write a haiku sequence for dVerse. I think haiku are really difficult to write. I’m not sure if this works. I’m also linking this to Colleen’s Tanka Tuesday prompt, using the Herman Hesse quote above as a theme.
Yesterday and today: Merril's historical musings 
earth secrets shared!
Thanks!
Well, it worked for me! Beautiful, Merril. I’ve always loved driftwood…imagine the stories it could tell.
Thanks, Jill. Yes, that’s what I always think, too, about driftwood.
Beautiful sequence, i especially luv the alliteration of “wind whipped waves”
Much✏love
Thanks so much, Gillena!
Such a beautiful story explicated in the haiku sequence. This totally works! You wrote this very evocatively to nature. You also include a lot of depth to nature’s cycle and how things come to be the way they are (like with the piece of driftwood). Beautifully written with elegance. Great write!
Thank you very much for your lovely and thoughtful comment, Lucy!
Ally your sensory details (owl shadows, charcoal clouds…) are so expressive. I love your photos as well. Thanks for the lovely writing break interlude. ❤
Thank you very much, Colleen!
I have no idea why my phone does the: “All your” not Ally 🤦🏼♀️
Sometimes they have a mind of their own! 🤣
Electronics! 🤦🏼♀️
great images merril. are you in nj? i am!
Thanks so much! Yes, in South Jersey, near Philadelphia.
Nicely done. I really like the 2nd and last haiku stanzas
Thank you very much!
kaykuala
Discovery of the likable connection as expounded through nature’s rights of little animals and their hunting grounds. Great sequential way of progress Merril.
Hank
Thank you, Hank.
You crafted a visual story of a tree’s origin, and nature’s give and take. Marvelous!
Thank you so much, Frank. I appreciate that.
This is a wonderfully written piece, Merril. I loved the seed drop in the first one! Such great images in the cycle of life!
Thank you so much, Dwight!
For me, the meanting of the poem turns on the third and fourth stanzas; they’re the ones that made my scalp tingle.
Thank you, Liz. I so pleased that those stanzas made your scalp tingle!
🙂
I think this works more than rather well! Love how you’ve made it a journey, almost a circle of life.
Thank you very much, Dale. Yes, a journey, circle of life (though I didn’t want to use that term). 😏
LOL… now I feel bad for using it 😉 No, no, not really. I understand why you didn’t.
Hahaha. 😏😏
😉
I love the inspirational quote from Hesse, one of my favourites, I’ve had his book on trees in German for most of my life and refer to it often. I also love the way the cycle starts with an owl and a seed. My favourite lines:
‘roots link to other roots—
earth secrets shared’.
Thank you, Kim. I’m fascinated by the studies done on trees communicating and helping each other, and the vast underground network of roots. The Hesse quote was the prompt given for Colleen’s challenge.
The cyclic history of trees and seas. Ours too. The penultimate haiku is my favourite. You notice how crows beat up hawks too 🙂
Thank you very much, Jane. I like that one quite a bit, too. The crows are so vocal when there’s a hawk around, but I’ve started noticing how many different birds–and squirrels–vocalize when there’s a threat, and they all seem to understand each other.
It’s incredible how they warn one another. I noticed that the crows make a particular cry more like a quack than a caw when they are attacking a buzzard. I’ve only ever heard them do it when they’re on the warpath. And the woodpeckers are like a burglar alarm going off!
I’ve never seen crows attack buzzard–but I think if they’re enough, they scare the hawk away. I’m not sure about the woodpeckers sound like either. I’ve heard them pecking, and I’ve heard the one that sounds like the cartoon Woody Woodpecker.
Two crows will go for a buzzard, one thrush, one sparrowhawk, and I’ve even seen pigeons ganging up on one. I feel sorry for them.
Woodpeckers sound demented.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen that. But buzzards here mean vultures. I think it means a hawk for you?
No, it’s this one. It’s range doesn’t extend to America so it can’t be the same as yours
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_buzzard
Yes, it’s different here. Buzzards are vultures. I don’t think crows would go after them–they’re big and they eat dead stuff.
No, crows are anything but stupid!
Any one of these beauties would suffice – the sequence is wonderful
Thank you very much, Derrick!
Wonderful words tied in with your lovely images.
Thank you very much, Linda!
Each one could stand on it’s own, but together they complete the circle. I love the second one especially. (K)
Thank you very much, Kerfe!
Impressionistic and true. Favorite lines: green boughs
lean to kiss the water clouds–
whispers, seeds fall
Have a great weekend, Merril!
Thanks so much, Marian. You have a great weekend, too!
Lovely. The last lines of the haiku form a poem, as well.
seed drops on damp ground
earth secrets shared
black wings cross the sky
the snap of a branch
rests on riverbank
whispers, seeds fall
Oh how cool. Totally not planned. Thank you!
Quiet, ageless cycles in natural world so beautifully captured in your words and photos! I admire the progression linking your series together, Merril.
Thank you very much, Lynn, for your kind words.
The secrets these trees share, linking roots underneath. Love this Merril.
Thanks so much, Grace!
Love that last one, and the photo.
Pat
Thanks so much, Pat!
The phrase ‘owl shadows’ stands out well alone and of course in your usage here in the poem. Enjoyed your ‘earth secrets’
Thank you, Laura. I’m pleased you liked those phrases.
It works. Without intending to, after reading once through, I read the sequence again but from the last haiku to the first. Still works 🙂
Thank you! It never occurred to me to read it from the end to the beginning! 😀
Beautiful poem with amazing imagery as always, Merril! ❤
Thank you so much, Vashti!
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I loved the line, “green boughs lean to kiss the water clouds-” It is a beautiful image to contemplate. I love driftwood and it always makes you wonder. In the Outer Banks in North Carolina, there is lots of wood from shipwrecked boats… The sea has so many stories to tell.
Thank you very much. I walk by the Delaware River often, and I have a bit of an obsession with reflections. 😏 I imagine the Outer Banks with its history of ship wrecks–and history in general–would have lots of secrets.
green boughs
lean to kiss the water clouds–
Merril, your writing is So beautiful!
Aww–thank you so much, Rene!
You’re so welcome and every word is still not enough praise.
😘
😘