This Spring, in addition to bluebirds nesting in one of their boxes, there are two pair of ducks and a pair of sandhill cranes nesting along the ponds out back. I’ve seen the ducks take flight on my walks. The cranes have strategically placed their nest in an area that is now impassable due to multiple trees falling across the human and deer path. I approached the area last week and heard an unidentified distress call. After the walk I youtubed “sandhill crane distress call” and it matched what I heard.
The big lilac bushes have not fared as well as their feathered friends. What buds the frost didn’t take, heat and drought decimated. Enough bloomed to put their scent in the air. The dwarf lilacs should open sometime this week. A morning thunderstorm blasted the blossoms from the redbud branches. The Asiatic Lily plants are still intact with the upside-down tomato cages over them. On Saturday, when visiting my younger son, his wife, and my new grandbaby, my son dug up a lovely lavender columbine from his yard and gave it to me. It’s now planted out front, near the pine trees.
All are snug abed.
Alone I raise my glass, toast
waxing gibbous moon.
My haiku is a direct nod/paraphrase to a famous poem by Chinese Poet, Li Bai.
Li Bai’s (aka Li Po’s) original poem (as rendered by Witter Bynner)
Drinking Alone Under the Moon
From a pot of wine among the flowers
I drank alone. There was no one with me —
Till, raising my cup, I asked the bright moon
To bring me my shadow and make us three.
Alas, the moon was unable to drink
And my shadow tagged me vacantly;
But still for a while I had these friends
To cheer me through the end of spring. …
I sang. The moon encouraged me.
I danced. My shadow tumbled after.
As long as I knew, we were boon companions.
And then I was drunk, and we lost one another.
… Shall goodwill ever be secure?
I watched the long road of the River of Stars.
Frank J. Tassone is today’s host for both Haikai Challenge and dVerse’ Haibun Monday. I am linking my haibun to both. Franks says:
Write a haibun that alludes to the Flower Moon.
Bottom image link
Tao Talk 
A floral extravaganza, with a tributory haiku to close out the evocative prose. Brava, Ms. Jade Li!
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Thank you, Frank! Glad you enjoyed it.
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Wow…you presented a lot of adventure into a couple of nature walks. I worried about the sand cranes; what was up with them?
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As I got closer I set off their alarm (I hope it was me!) There has been a black and white cat of the neighbor’s coming over here and slinking around. I hope a crane can fight off one cat?
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How wonderful to visit your son and grand-baby, thank you for sharing this moment Lisa. Wonderful write, and what a loving living gift from your son?
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Yes it is a wonderful gift from him, both my granddaughter and the columbine plant. Thank you, Rob.
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You are most welcome Lisa! ✌🏼
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Beautifully done Lisa. Sounds like you have some interesting wildlife nearby. Your not to poet Li Bai is great. Hope you did not drink as much as he did under the moon! :>)
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LOL poetically I guzzled the whole bottle 😉
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Ha ha… you won’t lose site of the moon like he did!!
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🙂
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Very enjoyable read Li
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Thank you, Sadje.
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You’re welcome
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Wow, really lovely!
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Why thank you, Kate 🙂
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You have such a busy backyard, Lisa, and so many types of bird! It’s a shame about your big lilac bushes, but I’m sure they’ll bounce back. Good luck with the dwarf lilacs! And what a lovely gift from your son, a lavender columbine, a plant I’ve not come across before. Cheers! And thanks for sharing the poem by Li Bai.
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Kim thank you very much. Still trying to find a place to plant the peppers and tomatoes. They keep getting on my case for leaving them in their small pots.
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I am pleased your garden is alive with spring blooms, and a safe haven for wildlife! Also pleased you got to see your new grandbaby 🙂
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Ingrid, there is no feeling in the world like holding a month-old grandbaby. It’s like refreshing the feelings of holding my sons as newborns ❤
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I can imagine how lovely that must be 🥰
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So serene…life is good. (K)
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Your haiku is an excellent complement to Lo Po’s poem.
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Ken, thank you. I love him and Tu Fu, as they often drank together and toasted the moon.
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Hope it thrives!
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It’s looking a little droopy right now, thanks for the well-wishing 🙂
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Water it. It usually works 🙂
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Beautiful reading, Li!
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Eugi, thank you very much ❤
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My pleasure!
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What a great painting and Lo Po’s poem. Stellar inspiration for your haibun, alongside this year’s family bloom, your grandbaby. You weave these elements beautifully, Lisa.
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Karen, thank you and so glad you enjoyed them. It was tough finding one of toasting less than full moon so I chose one with an implied moon 🙂
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I feel I have been on a lovely nature walk with you. The haiku closer is perfect.
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Thank you very much and glad it connected with you.
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To meet spring through the plants is marvelous, some have fared well others are thriving… great to have nature in the form of cranes so close…
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Thanks much for reading and glad you like it.
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Reblogged this on Frank J. Tassone and commented:
#Haiku Happenings #3: Jade Li’s latest #haibun for #dVersePoets #HaibunMonday and my own #Haikai Challenge!
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🙂
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Thank you for sharing all this beautiful life–flora and fauna, and new grand baby! Congratulations! And a new plant, too. How wonderful to have the ducks and cranes so close by.
Lovely tribute poem, and I like the image, too.
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So glad you enjoyed the haibun, Merril, and the image, thank you ❤
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Lisa, this is amazing! Hasn’t this spring been unusual for Michigan? Tomorrow, we drop in temperature once again. I’ve not planted anything yet, waiting until after Memorial Day. I especially loved your nod/paraphrase to a famous poem by Chinese Poet, Li Bai. This made my day! ❤
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Yes, Colleen, it feels like mid-summer here now! I just finished planting everything so if it frosts my plants are done-for 😦 Thank you for enjoying the Li Bai nod, he’s one of my favorites.
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Brilliant poet! Cover your plants and you should be fine. ❤️
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What a beautiful lavender Columbine gift from your son Lisa and I love your tributary haiku too 💜
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Thank you very much, Xenia. Cheers!
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You’re very welcome! 💛
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They look really beautiful I bet the ducks and birds are thinking what the heck is going on…during the lockdown pollution was down big time… now not so much.
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Max, I saw a large flock of geese flying yesterday, which is a very strange time of year for it. Nature is confused and struggling to roll with whatever comes at them.
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Thank you
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You are welcome.
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