the heat and humidity
the day oppressed by the sun
the night sky is overcrowded
the pitted moon superfluous
i’d rather be cool
a blue lotus, floating
on a shimmering pond
a soulful thing,
solitary by day, and
in the cool night
eyes relieved of
the unremitting sun
© 2015, poem and photograph, Jamie Dedes, All right reserved
© © ©2014, haiku and photograph, Jamie Dedes, All rights reserved
Parks and ponds are good by day;
I do not delight
In black acres of the night,
Nor my unseasoned step disturbs
The sleeps of trees or dreams of herbs.
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1802-1883), Poets of the English Language (Viking Press, 1950), American transcendentalist, essayist, poet and lecturer
I’ve grown herbs randomly on the properties we’ve owned over the years, not without great joy, but the thing that often lighted the “acres of night” for me was the dream of an herb garden outside our kitchen. The days for that are past – and that’s okay – but still I went today for a short class delivered by two Master Gardeners at San Mateo Arboretum’s Kohl Pump House, which is a part of the park that my apartment cum writing-studio overlooks. It was pure delight.
2014, photos, Jamie Dedes, All rights reserved; Photos taken with a Moto G smart phone.
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