Tag: Nature

The Years, My Friend

Winter by Farhad
The Years, My Friend

The years, my friend, have not been kind
upon your marble face —

I hear the river songs
tinkle with the cymbals,
I see your eyes shrivel
like unpicked grapes on the vine,
your mouth a wounded cherry
pecked by restless robins.

Take my hand, my friend,
let us go to the calling fields
that blaze with diamonds
under the eternal skies,
to the orchards in the midst of winter,
where leafless branches stand dauntless
in the endless cold,
telling jubilant tales
in the blizzard of their days —

Hearken to the legends
of root, of bud, of sun,
and to the promise
(believe the promise)
that warmth and springtime
will return,
(they always return)
once again.

by D. G. Vachal © 2013, 2025

*** Photography by Farhad

Nature’s Chase

Nature’s Chase

In the ivory warmth of summer
while frogs croak among the lily pads
and rustling leaves make harp-like music,
two squirrels scamper in a sprint
one behind the other:

scurrying sounds, a tangled mass of fur,
a frenzied steeple chase
across freshly mown grass,
then up the leaf-laden tree branches
and down again,
vanish into the swampy woods —

In the utmost heat of summer’s day
while orange-winged cicadas buzz and whine
and nikko blue hydrangeas droop from drought,
two swallows break forth in ecstatic flight
one behind the other:

chirps and gurgles, a tangled mass of feathers,
ferris wheels in the air
as they traverse gabled roofs,
alight leaf-laden tree branches
and up again,
vanish into the azure sky —

Have you witnessed nature’s chase?

There is a time
for playful pursuit,
a time
for slowing down,
to gaze into each other’s eyes,
walk hand in hand,
vanish
into the emerald forest.

D. G. Vachal © 2025

Image by Flo222 @pixabay

“Petals Under Moonlight”



Petals Under Moonlight

Petals under moonlight
on a night when the month of May
is blooming:
owls play their piccolos
upon the branches,
crickets, their castanets
upon the watery grass —

Rejoice
in the muted colors of the petals,
foliage,
sepals,
beneath the cloak of temporal
greyness —

When daylight alights,
the greening of things
innumerable will blaze
across the fields of this fertile
continent,
drenched in the early rain,
warmed by the beams of the morning
sunlight.

D. G. Vachal © 2013, 2025

Photo Credit: Richard Thripp

Love Haiku 37:39

Love Haiku 37:39

37

soft wind rustles leaves
dance of downy white feathers
your hands hold my heart.


38

indigo waters
the deep i cannot fathom
your strength my anchor.

39

water lilies bloom
pink and ivory petals
your smile my delight.


D. G. Vachal © 2025

Image by Moonzigg @pixdaus

April

April

Here you come once again
with your delicate rains:
petals break forth like the rainbow
while scarlet-breasted robins
alight
upon the thickening carpet
of emerald grass —

You perplex me so:
warm and cold,
endearing and aloof,
the way long-forgotten loves
drove me to the very edge
of madness —

O April,
enshroud me in the intimacy
of your mysteries,
then will I comprehend the reason
for the ethereal blossoms
fragrant
in the month of May.

D. G. Vachal © 2025

Image by Donna McCl @Unsplash