Intricate blossoms of Spanish Lavender

The structure of this bloom is interesting, I think. I love those pale "wings" at the tip of the bloom! It escaped the recent front yard overzealous pruning, because it was in the back yard. Of such chances is life often made. . .

I had an amazingly lovely day of fellowship and haiku poetry today. I will treasure these memories for a long, long time. I almost feel like I am sprouting little "wings" (pale, lavender, made of silken gauze) from the top of my head.

And one doesn't often think of pale tissue-patterns in connection with turkey vultures, which is probably why I picked this Ted Kooser poem for tonight. It is from his Pulitzer Prize book Delights and Shadows, Copper Canyon Press, 2004, page 51.

Turkey Vultures

Circling above us, their wing-tips fanned
like fingers, it's as if they are smoothing

one of those tissue-paper sewing patterns
over the pale blue fabric of the air,

touching the heavens with leisurely pleasure,
just a word or two called back and forth,

taking all the time in the world, even though
the sun is low and red in the west, and they

have fallen behind with the making of shrouds.

Ted Kooser

Take a bit of time to inspect this poem. Observe the excellent observation of the habits of Turkey Vultures and the way they move. And, since sewing was such an important part of my young life, I was very pleased to see this material in the poem.

Notice how the two-line stanzas give a pleasing shape to the poem, and how that sets off the surprise (even though we knew the useful tasks of vultures) and poem-deepening last line in its own stanza.