Poetry Corner: Hints of Spring

POETRY CORNER – The Regional Reading

– 04/12/17

Hosted by Kathabela Wilson

This is the second in a series of haiku Poetry Corners featuring poets who will be visiting Santa Fe, New Mexico in September 2017 for Haiku North America 2017*. Our corners develop from the themes highlighted by their poems and concerns.

In today’s corner our poets notice the various appearances, hints of spring, in different regions. Sometimes we move nature indoors if spring is hesitating, and also spring presents itself to our senses, moving into the ordinary public spaces and permeating the common air. With subtle poetics and good humor, we travel from Rochester, New York to Montreal, Canada to North Carolina, USA.

~ Kathabela

Cottonwood (Photo – Tom Clausen).

Michael Ketchek

morning sun
cottonwood fluff
rings the parking lot

Michael Ketchek says: “The Eastern Cottonwood is native to the Rochester area. In Rochester when the seed bearing Cottonwood fluff appears, and many people who have allergies complain that it is the cottonwood. It isn’t. Allergies are cause by pollen, and the fluff, as I mentioned, is the seeds. It’s grass or some other plant’s pollen that is making folks sneeze, but they see the cottonwood, and it is everywhere, so they blame that. People also complain about the mess, but I find it beautiful. When I got to this parking lot in a county park with the sun lighting up all the fluff that had bee trapped at the edge of the parking lot I wrote the haiku.”

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Artwork by Alexis Rotella

Maxianne Berger

heaven
despite winter sniffles
the scent of Gloxinia

Maxianne Berger says: “I live in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Despite climate change, we still have many months of winter, and our outdoor gardens are covered in several feet of snow. In that respect, gloxinia are not representative of garden flowers in winter because there are none. Fortunately there are sunny windows and bulbs that can be forced :-). Those with greener thumbs than mine have flowering indoor gardens throughout the year. I am not so graced, but in January, my husband gave me a birthday gloxinia that was already in flower. Its sweet fragrance permeated my home library for some two weeks–and the scent is so heady I was able to appreciate it despite being seriously congested.”

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Hints of Spring (Photo – Kendrick Shackelford).

Mary Kendall

unfurling leaves
& gusts of pollen
a world in green

morning winds
bring drifts of pollen . . .
spring sneezes

Mary Kendall in central North Carolina, says: “Spring comes early here and it seems everything is in flower all at once. Of course, with spring comes pollen and allergy season. News announcers tell us that the pollen is from both oaks and pines. They do produce pollen at the same time, but there are few offenders worst than the Loblolly pine tree with its sticky pollen. Because pine trees don’t produce flowers to attract bees, they depend upon the wind to pollinate other pine cones and trees. The male pine cone is the guilty party. For nearly a month each spring, our world turns green with trees, plants and flowers but also with the insidious coat of yellow-green pollen that drifts and clings to everything.”

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*The Regional Reading will be performed live at the conference in Santa Fe, New Mexico, in September, 2017, led by Kathabela Wilson. The dramatic presentation will be accompanied by Rick Wilson on flutes of the various regions. Poets from Australia, India, Canada, United States, and many other regions will be presenting. Look for their haiku in future Poetry Corners.