Tag: green
Late Summer
Elegy for a Green Insect
First few cold days ask
“Who can overwinter?”
Katydids cannot.
When I wrote the original version of my haiku, I was aware that some insects can overwinter as adults, even where winters are harsher than in the Mexican mountains favored by monarch butterflies. Bark beetles are a dreaded example. Seeing a lethargic insect shaped like familiar crickets (but bigger and more colorful), I wrote a haiku voicing the unlikely hope that the insect (later nicknamed “Kermit” after the famous green frog) might be able to overwinter:
Last few mild days ask
“Ready to overwinter?”
Cricket moves slowly.
A helpful comment by Sue Ranscht on my post with that haiku prompted me to dig a little deeper. Kermit was a young male katydid. Winters where I live are mild enough for his mother’s eggs but still too harsh for him. Kermit ran out of time before maturing. That makes the middle line of my original haiku more like a taunt than a sincere question, so I revised the haiku to be an elegy for Kermit the katydid.
– above post (on phone) or beside it (on desktop). –
Green on Green
Last few mild days ask
“Ready to overwinter?”
Cricket moves slowly.
– above post (on phone) or beside it (on desktop). –
Stubborn?
Ignoring hints
from tulip tree and maple,
elm stays green, for now.

– above post (on phone) or beside it (on desktop). –
Look at the Leaf
Crocus & Pachysandra in 3-5-3
Golden glow
with purple and green.
Spring returns.


Golden ~ Pic and a Word Challenge #306
– above post (on phone) or beside it (on desktop). –
She Giggled

Seen on Green
Swaying in light wind,
branches only seem to weep.
Pink cherry blossoms.

Clams in the Clouds
The cloud images in this post were in an earlier post (for a photography challenge) that emphasized synergy between pastel pink and green. Now I am responding to a haiku challenge with emphasis on synergy between poem and image in a modern haiga (with a photo as the image). Haiku #2 uses the modern kigo abalone.
To those who have not seen many nacreous clouds, the poems’ metaphors might seem far-fetched. Presenting the photos along with the poems they inspired may reassure readers willing to trust that the photographers refrained from deceptive editing. I took the calm photo; Sue Ranscht took the dramatic one.


© Sue Ranscht | Space, Time, and Raspberries
Serene clouds
give mother-of-pearl
to old eyes.
Molten pewter clouds:
some are tinted pink or green.
Abalone shell.
Pastel Synergy
This post ends with 2 haiku, each inspired by a photo of clouds imitating clams. I took the calm photo; Sue Ranscht took the dramatic one.
Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Pastel Colors
Tho I usually prefer deeply saturated colors, I love the pastel pink and green sometimes seen in a cloud, when the angles are just right in the triangle formed by the cloud and the sun and the viewer. At my latitude, it is a rare sight. I have had just one chance to photograph the elusive synergy of pastel pink and green:

Dramatic photos of pink and green in clouds can be seen by searching online for
[mother-of-pearl clouds] or [nacreous clouds].
There is also the marvel by Sue Ranscht that appears below. Fair warning: the image credit links to a post in a series, with a striking image for each episode in a fantasy epic. The series is so addictive that it hooked me despite my aversion to fantasies and impatience with epics.

© Sue Ranscht | Space, Time, and Raspberries
Serene clouds
give mother-of-pearl
to old eyes.
Molten pewter clouds:
some are tinted pink or green.
Abalone shell.
Vibrant Synergy
Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Vibrant Colors
I like the synergy when a few good things up their game by working together, as with peanuts and chocolate. When they do not clash, bright colors can work together in vibrant synergy.
Pink and Green:

Magenta and Yellow (with a bee):

With help from blue and green, the pink and yellow flowers in the following photo team up to illustrate a deep truth about statistics. Really.
Outside of CFFC, I posted the photo along with a beautiful image found on the web that espresses the same deep truth in another way. Both ways have no equations, no jargon, and no saturated fat. Click on the photo to see the details.
– above post (on phone) or beside it (on desktop). –
Salad Limerick
Gratitude ~ Pic and a Word Challenge #150

Making a Peaceful Salad
Behold (with gratitude for green)
bright purple, red, and carotene.
Spinach leaves have saved the day,
and they taste good anyway.
No colors clash with green between.
– above post (on phone) or beside it (on desktop). –



