Down by the River Li

Steve K. Bertrand

Description

The information about the book is not available as of this time.

Sujets

• Haiku
• Poetry

Informations

• Publié par: Xlibris US
• Date de parution: 05 janvier 2023
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781669861607
• Langue: English

Extrait

Books by Steve K. Bertrand
 
Poetry
The Silhouette of a Mallard’s Wing
Where the Fly has Flown
Winter Chill
Chants of the Makah
On the Edge of Slumber
Don Quixote Gives Up on Chivalry
The Little Book of Business Haiku
A Thousand Miles
Between the Tides
Tell Me, Moon
The Book of Fours
As the Crow Flies
Do You Know Your Cascade History?
To the Mountain’s Peak
Into the Cavern
Warriors & Peacemakers
Dead Reckoning
Whispers from the Teahouse
At the Water’s Edge
Where the River Flows
The Runner’s Book of Haiku
Paleolithica and Other Poems
Distant Islands
The Dragonfly Whisperer
Living Amongst the Sasquatch and Other Poems
Rituals
Winter Tales
Old Neanderthals
Animal Stones
 
Nonfiction
Mukilteo
Paine Field
Modern Everett
Past and Present Everett
 
Children’s Books
Tundra Dog
The Balloon, Cocoon & the Moon
The Pirate of Hat Island
Down By The River Li
COLLECTED HAIKU
Steve K. Bertrand

Copyright © 2023 by Steve K. Bertrand.
 
ISBN:
Softcover
978-1-6698-6161-4

eBook
978-1-6698-6160-7
 
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.
 
Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.
Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.
 
 
 
 
 
 
Rev. date: 01/04/2023
 
 
 
 
 
Xlibris
844-714-8691
www.Xlibris.com
849103

For the Wanderers...

“So much
of who we are
is where
we have been.”
 
-William Langewiesche

Down by the river Li,
an old man
& his grandson walking...
Preface
A Trek to the Top of Mao-er Mountain
 
We followed the path along the River Li, then began to climb
the foothills amongst lush green vegetation.
Took the stony trail that wound to the top of Mao-er Mountain,
& resting amongst white billowy clouds, pale sun & silver sky,
stood & gazed down upon the blue southward-flowing river.
 
Steve K. Bertrand

A fallen tree limb
propping
the aged apple tree up.
 
 
 
Dragonfly whispering
to butterfly, while hummingbird
hovers nearby.
 
 
 
Beneath the feeders,
bird-splattered shrubbery
in my garden.
 
 
 
Sometimes waves
tip-toe to the edge of beach,
sometimes they gallop.
 
 
 
The brown rabbit
nibbling on my garden carrot,
I leave alone.
South of the old lighthouse,
a sailboat
grounded on the rocky beach.
 
 
 
A ray of moonlight
falling on
the bedroom carpet.
 
 
 
Storm approaching –
a field of yellow tulips
lightly tremble.
 
 
 
The snow-capped Olympics
this morning –
right in my back yard!
 
 
 
Autumn afternoon –
thud of a bird
against my kitchen window.
A wooden bucket
of rainwater – where the neighbor’s dog
drinks mornings.
 
 
 
He protects himself
from the world
by listening to music.
 
 
 
Clouds so low
they kiss the top of snow-capped
Mount Baker.
 
 
 
Practicing yoga –
the breath leads, the body
follows.
 
 
 
Sometimes while running,
how close I come
to rhythm of the universe.
My feeders full –
Douglas squirrel
returns!
 
 
 
Touring the old house –
a dead fly in the corner
of the living room.
 
 
 
Walking the rocky beach –
so much life
right under my feet!
 
 
 
To my suet feeder
comes woodpecker, who has a place
to rest his tail.
 
 
 
Such a long
job interview – no lead left
in my pencil!
A leaf
scuttling through the garden,
I thought a bird.
 
 
 
Foggy morning –
I greet the day
with my Lion’s Breath.
 
 
 
Though I’ve mowed
my lawn, this doesn’t stop rabbit
from nibbling the grass.
 
 
 
A smile on
my grandson’s face, watching hummingbird
at my nectar feeder.
 
 
 
Heavy morning traffic –
a squirrel starts
across the freeway.
Saturday morning –
a fly buzzing around the empty
high school gym.
 
 
 
To the old
lime kiln, deer come to nibble
moss & lichen.
 
 
 
The cherry blossoms
beautiful, but girls who come
to view them – more so.
 
 
 
The path
up the mountain worn mostly
by animals.
 
 
 
Such a dazzling
display of lightning, thunder does
little grumbling.
One-by-one
plums drop from tree to ground –
autumn.
 
 
 
The metal tub
full of rainwater, where tadpoles
swim.
 
 
 
Some mornings
the old rooster quite content
not to sing.
 
 
 
Do butterflies
know anything besides youth
& vitality?
 
 
 
A steady wind,
& by evening – my maple tree
mostly leafless.
A Black-tailed deer
resting in
a lush, subalpine meadow.
 
 
 
Kingfisher
balancing on a reed of grass
while fishing.
 
 
 
A loose horse
in a wildflower meadow, chomping on
Bluebells.
 
 
 
Thank goodness
for Juncos who eat the seed
beneath my feeder.
 
 
 
That Squirrel Buster feeder
that doesn’t
bust the squirrels!
A Jack snipe
jiving its way through swampy
vegetation...
 
 
 
Every spring,
Blue iris blooming by edge
of my koi pond.
 
 
 
Morning snow –
before the footprints of birds, critters
& the neighbor’s dog.
 
 
 
A cold, winter day,
but for
the Hillbilly Hotties!
 
 
 
A gray,
tumultuous sky – birds teetering
in the wind.
Golden Delicious apples
glistening after
the morning rain.
 
 
 
Bald eagle
atop Douglas fir, keeping watch
on the Skagit River.
 
 
 
Up, up, up,
we must hike to reach
Needle Peak.
 
 
 
Walking Green Lake
this morning – a flock of Common Redpolls
fly in.
 
 
 
Ah, the Ptarmigan,
on snowy bank,
dressed in winter plumage!
Something about a tree,
the way they find
their own symmetry.
 
 
 
So many fit-looking people
coming & going
from LA Fitness!
 
 
 
Two rabbits
chasing each other into
a tangle of brush.
 
 
 
Late August –
yarrow, Scotch broom & honeysuckle
flowering.
 
 
 
The boxer
jogging six miles in sweats on
an eighty-degree day!
Bald man
with long beard, tattoos &
funny-smelling cigarette.
 
 
 
The aged apple tree
that no longer
bears any fruit.
 
 
 
Ooga horn
& Tater Tot clowns in jalopy
bouncing down street.
 
 
 
The Weather App
says, 80 degrees today,
but – it feels like 100!
 
 
 
Just look at that couple
strolling
happily hand-in-hand.
That rock stars
farewell tour that never
ended.
 
 
 
She had a habit
of viewing the world through
an hourglass.
 
 
 
That figure skater
who moves effortlessly across ice
like the wind.
 
 
 
Browsing a used bookstore
while rain
pounds against the window.
 
 
 
Only seven boys
on the sandlot today –
we play workup.
Into the dry pond
old frog jumps –
thump.
 
 
 
Blossom of June
that was July’s plum,
became August’s prune.
 
 
 
I hang an angel
on the Christmas tree, wonder –
“Will the earth know peace?”
 
 
 
Skagit flats –
where blooming red & yellow tulips
came & went.
 
 
 
The wooded lot
where we used to catch frogs,
now a park.
Strong wind –
birds & leaves each to
their own direction.
 
 
 
A steady rain
can’t wash autumn colors
from the maple trees.
 
 
 
Dusk –
no one traveling the country road
but a loose horse.
 
 
 
Gray heron –
not much for talking, mostly
listening & watching.
 
 
 
The wonder
in the eyes of a child holding
wildflowers.
A Bald eagle
glides past the north face
of Mount Baker.
 
 
 
What would
the night be without the moon
shining somewhere?
 
 
 
Those fishing boats
in the marina that once returned
full of fish.
 
 
 
A thirteen foot tide,
& The Jetty –
almost completely under water!
 
 
 
Ah, the crow,
who caws at nothing
& everything.
So pale the sun
of January, that burned our skin
last July.
 
 
 
The poem I wrote
last spring about blossoming cherries,
I’ve written again.
 
 
 
So eager
for spring, the tulip breaks
from the ground first!
 
 
 
Christmas
& the world at war
again.
 
 
 
An old man
in the train station reading
last week’s newspaper.