YOSEMITE HAIKU
by
Suzanne Weller
snowy sierra
nevada the range of light
beauty luminous
ponderosa pine
clusters of 3 needles are
yellow like a y
gentle Jeffreys too
sweet vanilla puzzle bark
prefer altitude
mariposa grove
elusive butterfly wings
grace the golden light
spring is a time when
people want to see water
falls and flowing streams
showy milkwood blooms
wild white azalea flowers
breathe their sweet perfumes
loveliness in youth
in age forever changing
loving life renews
trees of poetry
breathing in and breathing out
oxygen and dreams
solitary bird
singing in an apple tree
singing without words
Half Dome in the fog
granite with a snowy top
looking out above
by the green Merced
painting people on a bridge
orange blue and red
watercolors wet
colors mixing by themselves
always leave some white
winter winding down
days becoming longer now
nights remaining cold
chilly breezes still
feeling like an arctic blast
at the Lower Fall
in Yosemite
Olmsted first then Johnny Muir
make their visions seen
dipper dipping down
under water ouseling
through the waterfall
mossy igloo house
little doorway gaping mouths
waiting to be fed
caterpillar clown
munching showy milkweed leaves
redwinged blackbird dives
plate tectonics make
Wegner's theory factual
earthen layer cake
American subducts
Pacific plate beneath it
pushing mountains up
rivers carving down
ancient v-shaped chasms make
places ice will round
tender snowflakes fall
feet of snow accumulate
making glaciers grow
tons and tons of ice
carving granite like a knife
vertical rock walls
sleeping on a ledge
sunnyside below the falls
swimming in cascades
climbing an ice cone
just below a ledge of ferns
time to be alone
II. TUOLOMNE
The two bridges that cross Lyell Creek are oriental in their simplicity and symmetry. With Cathedral and Unicorn Peaks in the back ground the scenery resembles an Obata painting. Pollen filled catkins cover Lodgepole pine branches pollinating the air and tiny red newly forming cones. More mature cones above bear seeds that are carried by the wind. Pine trees are hermaphrodites. Pollen is produced by the male cone or catkin. The wind blows it into the female cones that bear seeds
from wintry snow avalanche country
into a flowery subalpine paradise
above Lyell creek
Cathedral and Unicorn
high Sierra peaks
catkins pollinate
newly forming lodgepole cones
pine trees procreate
nature emulates
blues and golds and aqua greens
watercolor scenes
mountain penstemon
prideful purple violet
lives in granite cracks
Pothole Dome is home
to Lodgepole pines in granite
in cracks where soil is
glacial polish scratched
like an arrow indicates
movement in the past
panoramic views
Mt. Conness and Matterhorn
peaks are in the north
Kuna Crest is east
Mt. Gibbs, Dana, Mammoth Peak
metamorphic red
Mt. Hoffman is west
Fairview Dome Tenaya Lake
somewhere on the left
III. MIWOK INDIAN
Awaneeche man
fighting like a grizzly bear
for a Miwok maid
black and shiny hair
flowing down beyond her waist
only for her brave
incense cedar bark
makes an ark an anchorage
fire warms the dark
spice bush arrow shaft
with an obsidian point
flies straight true like you
mock orange smells sweet
when hunting hits the target
sweat lodge feel the heat
safe from squirrels woodpeckers
miwok bravery
flutes and clapper sticks
making music after dark
bullroar is singing
willow and red bud
woven into baskets and
new baby cradles
granite rock pestels
pounding acorns into mush
only for women
indian bark house
families sleep on leaves and skins
fire in the winter
Awahnee village
awahneeche living in
gaping mouth valley
