I am a prose author, not a poet. My poetic prowess doesn’t extend much beyond “Rose are red, Violets are blue.” On the evening I revealed my latest inspiration “Farm Fresh Haiku” to my writers’ group, I fully expected to see cringes and facial expressions of horror. Surprise! They were impressed—or at least they suppressed the cringes and facial expressions of horror. Seriously, they were complimentary about my use of humor and the element of surprise that sneaks into the last line of a few haiku's.

For the poetically-challenged, haiku is a short form of Japanese poetry with very simple structure and rules. Serious haiku poets would probably argue that there are more guidelines but, heck, this works for me:

• Contains 3 lines
  
• Has a total of 17 syllables in a 5-7-5 structure
  
• Doesn’t rhyme
  
• Usually, but not necessarily, about nature
  

What better inspiration for nature-inspired poems than a farm. There’s nature all over the place; sometimes I even step in it! Most of my poetic epiphanies occur on my daily walks through our pastures and timber. I meander along the path, vocalizing the gems that free-fall from my brain, while counting syllables on my fingers. Must be an interesting sight!

Below are a few of my “Farm Fresh Haiku” with photos to illustrate, some of which look familiar if you follow my blog.

I’m not sure haiku's usually have titles but couldn't resist when this one popped into my head!

Omnipotent Oxide

Rusty barbed wire fence
Vicious silent border guard 
Shreds t-shirt again

Flaming renewal
Creeps across dried brown pasture
New green life follows

Nestled pungently
In dewy green pasture grass
Freshly dropped cow pie

This next one severely pushes the limits on a G-rated blog post!

Bursting from moist ground
Orgasmic phallic fungus
Morel ecstasy!

Lovely bright green stalks
Stretch heads to azure blue sky
Asparagus time!

OK, so this stalk is purple, as in the “Purple Passion” variety of asparagus. Using “purple” messed up the syllable count; plus, some people aren’t aware there is a purple asparagus.

I'll pass along more haiku's as inspiration seizes me. (The poetically-inclined among you probably hope my inspiration strangles me!) Meanwhile...

Some roses are red,
My violets are not blue,
Fun Farm Fresh Haiku!

OK, that one needs some work!

Spring can’t be far away! Seed catalogs are arriving in the mail and the annual issue of Flea Market Gardens has hit the magazine stands!

Time to start planning “June’s Junque” gardens and putting together a wish list of fabulously junky, rusty treasures to prospect for at the Sparks, Kansas Antiques and Collectibles Flea Market the first weekend in May.

Flea Market Gardens magazine is chockfull of eye-catching and whimsical outdoor decorating ideas. That’s where I first saw glass garden totems and was inspired to try creating them. I’m not an “artsy-craftsy” person, but I can glue colorful pieces of glass together.

Yesterday, I strolled around the yard, mentally decorating my junque gardens, wearing shorts and a t-shirt. Skies were sunny, the breeze gentle and the temp a balmy 71 degrees. I remembered a year ago when we were digging out after “Snowmageddon!”  (posted 2/6/2014)—13 inches of blowing, drifting snow. That’s Kansas! 

Here are a couple of my junque gardens in their forlorn winter nakedness, stripped of most of the colorful bottles, glass totems and other cool junque.

In winter, the old funnels, sans hanging plants, become on-deck circles for birds waiting their turn at the feeders. Unless the hungry birds happen to be blue jays or woodpeckers. They don’t wait; they storm the feeders and run off everybody else. Not much activity at the feeders on such a nice day.

Later this spring, I’ll share my Sparks treasures and June’s Junque gardens!

I’ve been semi-released to complete my de-bunionating rehabilitation on my own—“semi-released” because I have another appointment scheduled in a month. However, unless I have questions or concerns, I can cancel it. (If I have questions, I’ll just call rather than pay another office visit co-pay.)

The transition from boot to shoe is nearly complete. I even drove to town a couple of days last week—no problems. I took the boot along and wore it to grocery shop, even though I drove the motorized cart. After my doctor appointment earlier this week, Bill and I shopped again. I wore tennis shoes, walked slowly and got along fine.

Sure will miss those motorized grocery carts! The store management is probably relieved I will no longer be treating the grocery aisles like drag strips. On my first adventure, I nearly took out a free-standing sign in the produce section. For non-emergency stops I learned to squeeze the brake lever gently to avoid self-inflicted whiplash. As one of the baggers was helping me out to my vehicle last week, we discussed how the turning radius allows for easy execution of three-point turns in mid-aisle, a very handy time-saving feature.

My dismissal instructions are to resume normal activities as tolerated and to walk without favoring the right foot. I’m still experiencing low-level pain, which is to be expected, but it’s diminishing.

As I said in an earlier post, my home health aide extraordinaire, Bill, has been very supportive during my recuperation. He cooked, cleaned, did laundry, helped me shower and had my morning coffee and paper ready when I got up in the morning. He’s the greatest!