Late Summer Poems: Rose-of-Sharon (Hibiscus syriacus)

The last sharons, faded,

call the last swallowtails, carpenter bees,

single hummingbirds moving south.  8-20-09

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The sharon has caught my eye

or maybe I caught hers, both of us

waiting after the long rain.

She waits for the touch of carpenter bee,

I wait for the touch of words.

Between us, air and awareness,

and the small, thin voice of wren.   8-22-09

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Stepping out of rain-cooled air,

swallowtail adds her weight

to sharon’s pink lightness,

a late summer sway.   8-23-09

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Like bubbles of leavening

in the dough, blackbird

pips breathe awareness

into the quiet gray morning.  9-12-09

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