stripes

Whale Back

black rock
breaches snow
leaf waves splash

leopard spots
zebra stripes
camouflage of ice

when flowering
is impossible
bloom your leaves

backdrop of self
the play of light and shadow
a double bloom

among the many
only one is
first to bloom

birch and sky
both wearing stripes
the fashion of the day

gathered
sunlight and stripes
abundance of gourds

soft as down
the bumblebee’s coat
silken fur of black and yellow

stripes of white
cut through
an infinity of blue

Trees earn and cast
their stripes in winter

the autumn landscape
wears fern’s stripes
like a zebra hide

Sunlight
tiger stripes
the pond.