I mentioned in a previous article that I would from time to time post conversations between Laurie and myself. We had a ton. Most of these were via email or handwritten letters that we loved to exchange with each other.
I pulled this one from the past, a poem I wrote, during a time I was trying to write poetry and haiku. Laurie being the wonderful poet that she was would always comment on my work. Below is one I will share along with her comment.
Stumperies
An island in Puget Sound
lives the world’s largest stumperies
a private garden.
Victorian-era garden
built with 175 native cedar stumps
fit snugly into a ravine
beneath a canopy of trees.
The stumps slow into decomposition
teams with frogs, insects, and birds
echoing woodpeckers
in the deep gully.
A deer path slopes
free of weeds and debris
out of the thick undergrowth
a bare scar in the landscape.
The naturalistic flow
around the contours of the land
descends into the gully
where planted are tiny ferns and ephemerals.
The spreading tree fern fronds,
burls and roots
provide a favorite spot
to linger longer.
Giant lilies,
drifts of orchids and masses of hostas
create the fern extravaganza.
by ~DK
Laurie’s comment:
Absolutely delightful and shows your immense progress as a poet…I’m impressed!
And I feel like I’ve been there in that place from reading this–the best compliment a writer can receive.
Keep going! You keep getting better and better…