Nature Art: Short Verse Wednesday, Joys of a Wildflower & Cool Creek Water

 I was inspired to pen several short verse poems for Wednesday tonight.

The first is about a nana & a garden bloom:

Solitude fed grandmother's heavy heart
laughter's echo now silent
today a solitary wildflower in her unkempt garden
soft smile curved her lips
and she whispered a joyful word

...

Joys of a Wildflower

And the second, a neo-haiku about a happy wren bathing in the creek:

Joyous Wren Splashing in the Creek

In babbling creek
wren does dance in ecstasy
water's glee cool song

...

Florida Nature Art & Verse (Haiku), Fragrant Water Lily

Tuesday nature poetry, Fragrant water lily, Nymphaea odorata

Florida Nature Haiku & Art, Fragrant Water Lily by Kevin Songer

…

sweeter scent none else
shallow blue fishing spot
blooms bugs and bass
…
lazy kayaking
lily pads circle round and round
floating two eyed log
…

Florida Wildflower Art & Haiku (Senryu), Marsh Rose Gentian, Sabatia dodecandra

Florida Wildflower Art & Haiku (Senryu), Marsh Rose Gentian, Sabatia dodecandra

Florida Wildflower Haiku, Marsh Rose Gentian, Sabatia dodecandra by Kevin Songer

… 

limestone rock croppings
bees butterflies skipper art
rose gentian drawn
…

Tarkiln Bayou State Park, Marsh Rose Gentian, Sabatia dodecandra by Kevin Songer

Rose gentian has about a dozen different species found throughout Florida (Sabatia spp.). 

Tarkiln Bayou State Park, Marsh Rose Gentian, Sabatia dodecandra by Kevin Songer

Rose gentian’s flowers are rich in purple and pink hues. When in full summer bloom, Sabatia can fill a roadside drainage swale with incredible swaths of pink and purple. 

Tarkiln Bayou State Park, Marsh Rose Gentian, Sabatia dodecandra by Kevin Songer

Some accounts may exist where early settlers dried Sabatia root and then brewed a chicory-like coffee with the plant parts. This may be a historical carry over from traditions in Europe where the same was practiced with great yellow gentian, Gentiana lutea.

Florida Wildflower Haiku - Short Verse for Sunday, Wild petunia, Ruellia caroliniensis

Florida Wildflower Haiku - Short Verse for Sunday, Wild petunia, Ruellia caroliniensis

Florida Wildflower Haiku - Short Verse & Art, Wild Petunia, Ruellia caroliniensis by Kevin Songer

…

purple bloom nectar
attracts pollinators all,
far into scrub woods
…

Wild petunia is always a surprise to discover growing in the woods as the plant and flower brings an aura of nice-neat cultivation to rough and ramble undergrowth. Wild petunia is a cousin of the more invasive Mexican petunia yet wild petunia is a prized Florida native wildflower and does not grow in an invasive manner. The common buckeye and white peacock butterflies seek out wild petunia as larval host plant.

Florida haiku - senryu for first fall Saturday morning; Seaside goldenrod and Mangrove buckeye.

Florida haiku - senryu for first fall Saturday morning; Seaside goldenrod and Mangrove buckeye.

Florida Nature Poetry, Seaside Goldenrod, Mangrove Buckeye by Kevin Songer

...
harvest goldenrod
mangrove buckeye both bargain,
anticipate first frost
...

Florida Nature Haiku, Gulf Seashore

gulf seashore haiku

Florida haiku, Gulf seashore by Kevin Songer...

...
gulf's cool waters crash
drowning out all other sounds
but for seagull's cry
...

Florida Nature Art & Poetry, Annona glabra, Pond Apple

Florida nature poetry and art; Pond apple, Annona glabra.

…
alligator grunts
gobbling down a couple
meh tasting green fruits
…
Pond apple trees, like pop ash and black gum grow up out of the deep and dark swamp depths, producing apple-like fruits eaten by alligators and other wildlife. I would describe pond apple fruit’s taste as more ‘blah-bland’ than tasty, but some do make jellies and jams from the fruit. Pond apple provides habitat for wildlife, birds, orchids and bromeliads. Fort Myers' Six Mile Cypress boardwalk is a great place to experience pond apple up close.

Florida Nature Poetry & Art, Candyroot, Polygala nana

Florida nature senryu - haiku for mid week, Candyroot, Polygala nana.

Florida Wildflower Poetry, Haiku, Senryu, Candyroot, Polygala nana by Kevin Songer

… 
I know I shouldn’t
pull plant and sniff candyroot,
but no one’s looking
…

Candyroot calls to everyone who has ever pulled up the plant to experience the strong aromatic spicy scent of the roots. Interestingly, candyroot requires ants to collect the plant’s seeds for the food value of the seed's coating. Once underground, the seeds then germinate up through the ant's bed. Candyroot’s yellow flowers sit atop stalks rising from a basal rosette of succulent-like leaves.

Florida Nature Poetry, Senryu, Haiku, Paths of Lover's Key

Florida nature haiku - short verse for Tuesday, another verse about 'paths'.

Florida Nature Poetry, Haiku, Senryu, Lover's Key by Kevin Songer

...
today's trail was full
of ancient stardust turned to
sand, leaves and me
...
Lover's Key, Fort Myers, Florida

Florida Nature Haiku, Senryu, Perdido Key

Florida nature senryu for Tuesday, Perdido Key Beach and Life Paths,

Perdido Key, Kevin Songer

...
sometimes backward path
is our path forward, yet wind
and waves erase both
...

Florida Poetry, Bunche Beach, Mullet and Sand Gnats, Haiku, Senryu

Florida Nature Senryu for Monday, Sand Gnats and Bunche Beach,

Bunche Beach Flats at Sunset, Kevin Songer

...
gonna go fishing
bunche beach mullet schools
sand gnats chase us home
...

Ticktrefoil, Florida Wildflower Poetry

Ticktrefoil

...

another yard weed

impossible to get rid of

important to keep

...

Stick tights, Desmodium spp.