Wasp & Ant [Haiku]

a wasp & an ant
converge on a cloying plant
blithe on each other

DAILY PHOTO: Makalidurga

Taken on December 3, 2022 at Makalidurga

Feathertop [Haiku]

the Feathertop sways,
as the river beside it glides
inexorably

I’ve Never Been Lost in the Woods [Sonnet]

I've never been lost in the woods,
though I've been lost so many times.
I've been lost in my neighborhood,
and I've been lost within my mind. 

You say the trees look all the same.
I say that's some speciesist shit.
No. I don't know the trees by name,
but that doesn't matter a whit.

I've never been lost in the woods:
lost means wishing to be elsewhere.
Lost is all about "woulds" and "coulds."
But I'm not lost if I don't care:

don't care I don't know this exact spot,
'cause I know precisely where I'm not!

BOOK REVIEW: A Gardener’s Guide to Botany by Scott Zona

A Gardener's Guide to Botany: The biology behind the plants you love, how they grow, and what they needA Gardener’s Guide to Botany: The biology behind the plants you love, how they grow, and what they need by Scott Zona
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Amazon.in Page

Release Date: December 6, 2022

This beginner’s guide to botany is well conceived and executed. The photographs are beautiful and well-chosen to help the reader understand the complexities discussed in the text. The text gets definitionally dense in places, but also presents fascinating ideas in plain English. I learned a lot from the book, particularly where it was less steeped in technical terminology and details and offered intriguing ideas and examples.

While the book’s eight chapters aren’t formally divvied up, I would place them into three groups. Chapters one and two are about what plants are and how they are organized to do what they do. Chapters three through five are about what plants need to survive (water, light, and nutrients, respectively) and why. The last three chapters explore the main activities plants engage in (i.e. defense, reproduction, and seed dispersal.)

I found this book to be informative and readable, and if you’re looking for a basic guide to botany that skillfully employs photographs, I’d have a look at this one.


View all my reviews

Stampede [Free Verse]

Wildlife charges through the city
like the bulls of Pamplona,

a stampede of death 
from a river of life,

a river that flows turbulently,
crashing and slopping.

Nothing can falter before the stampede.
Each step must land solidly,
each step until one's last. 

Whee!… Briefly [Haiku]

a leaf falls,
and I feel the "Whee!" --
briefly

Nesting Birds [Haiku]

nesting birds
unmoved by their reflected
doppelgängers

City Subdued [Haiku]

the city below
is subdued by fog,
the hill beams color

Where’d the Water Go? [Free Verse]

the lake is low.
where'd the water go?
i don't know...

but you can bet
squirrels aren't at fault.