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~ poems and photos

Category Archives: spring

in the woods

16 Thursday Jun 2022

Posted by Tom Clausen in American Haibun & Haiga, haibun, haiku, Published Poems, spring

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haibun, haiku, nature, poetry, Published Poems, spring

In the Woods

In 1962 when I was eleven I fancied myself to be a Last of the Mohicans, Huckleberry Finn, outback wilderness child, and had chosen the name “Wonapsa” to inspire and fulfill the fantasies I played out in the woods and gorges behind our house. The woods contained the world I loved, both real and imaginary. I would spy on rabbits, chipmunks, and woodpeckers. Sometimes I would sit as still as I could to see what being a ghost was all about. I laid on the ground, smelling the dirt and embracing a patch of earth just my size. I would climb trees listening to the wind sigh in the boughs and learn the creak that comes from deep in trees. The woods were filled with secrets I wanted to know.

sun after rain–
the garter snake fresh
from its skin

In the spring it was momentous to find mayapples and hepaticas and know new life arises from the litter and wreckage of winters’ leaving. One day while scampering up and down steep slopes in random search for tiny skulls, feathers, fossils, or a special perch to sit awhile, I peeked over a ridge top to see a man and a woman lying out on a ledge a way below me. What they were doing I had roughly heard about but never seen. The trees between me and them were few but a bit of guilt kept me from a steady stare. I became aware of the unlikeliness of what I was witnessing and felt an exhilaration of discovery. To see their flesh while they kept some clothes on filled me with curiosity. I do not re- member a distinct conclusion, my memory choosing to focus on the unison of their movements.

That night my heart and mind recreated it all over and over. What images I had seen. How purely animal and natural they were. How unexpected and free a view I had.

Years go by and that ledge is still there. My walks in the woods these days sometimes pass that place. I always look a little and remember. I’ve never seen anyone else there.

barren woods–
a clump of wild onion
scents the air

American Haibun & Haiga Volume 1

Image

sparkling sun by tom clausen

11 Saturday Apr 2020

Tags

nature, photography, sun, water

Posted by Tom Clausen | Filed under gorges, Ithaca, nature, photos, reflections, spring, trees, Wabi Sabi, water reflections

≈ 3 Comments

Image

upside down by tom clausen

11 Saturday Apr 2020

Tags

nature, photography, reflections

Posted by Tom Clausen | Filed under close up details, forests, landscapes, nature, photos, reflections, spring, Wabi Sabi, water reflections

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reservoir dreams by tom clausen

10 Wednesday Apr 2019

Posted by Tom Clausen in clouds, gorges, haiku, Ithaca, nature, poems and photos, reflections, spring, trees, water reflections

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

clouds, haiku, nature, photography, photos, poems, poetry, reflections, reservoir

reservoir dream…
finding a way out
of the deep end

a look at clouds and sky at rest in the still water at the 2nd dam reservoir today 3-25-18

names and numbers in the wind by tom clausen

10 Wednesday Apr 2019

Posted by Tom Clausen in americana, close up details, haiku, Ithaca, poems and photos, spring, Wabi Sabi

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Tags

haiku, phone books, photography, photos, poems, poetry, spring, wabi sabi

in the wind
pages flip
with their names and numbers…

a phone book pages flipping in the wind...4-9-14

frog lives by tom clausen

19 Tuesday Jun 2018

Posted by Tom Clausen in close up details, frogs, haiku, Ithaca, nature, parks, poems and photos, ponds, spring, summer, water reflections

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Tags

frogs, haiku, nature, photography, photos, poetry, ponds, spring, summer

frog pond…
one leap of faith
after another

 

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in the quiet of the evening my thoughts return to you.
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frog pond- so many leaps of faith
frog pond...
frog pond.-
frog pond-
frog twangs off and on around the little pool... 6-6-16
frog eyes just above the water line ...
frog eyes looking back...
frog floats on the surface...
frog holding on
frog in a frog pond...
frog in a small puddle pond off Pine Tree Rd...
frog in puddle off Pine Tree Rd.
frog life -
frog life today... watching and waiting
frog life
frogs sunning at the large pond at the Cornell Botanic Gardens 11-2-16..
frogs sunning at the large pond at the Cornell Botanic Gardens 11-2-16-
frogs sunning at the large pond at the Cornell Botanic Gardens 11-2-16--
frogs sunning at the large pond at the Cornell Botanic Gardens 11-2-16---
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turtle lives by tom clausen

19 Tuesday Jun 2018

Posted by Tom Clausen in close up details, haiku, nature, parks, poems and photos, ponds, reflections, spring, turtles, water reflections

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Tags

haiku, nature, photography, photos, poems, poetry, ponds, reflections, spring, turtles

 

old snapper
the time it takes
to surface again

 

 

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turtle time on a lily pad...
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color therapy by tom clausen

15 Friday Jun 2018

Posted by Tom Clausen in americana, close up details, flowers, gardens, Ithaca, landscapes, nature, plants, poems and photos, spring, tanka

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Tags

blossoms, color, flowers, nature, photography, photos, poems, poetry, spring, tanka

asked to arrange
the flowers in a vase
I put them in any which way-
so glad there are some things
which can’t go wrong

 

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heron watch by tom clausen

14 Thursday Jun 2018

Posted by Tom Clausen in birds, close up details, haiku, Ithaca, lakes and rivers, nature, parks, poems and photos, ponds, spring, water reflections, waterfalls

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Tags

fishing, haiku, herons, nature, photography, photos, poetry

watchful waiting…
wind ruffles
the heron’s stillness

 

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Ithaca Falls with still life heron patiently waiting... 5-30-17.
Ithaca Falls with still life heron patiently waiting... 5-30-17-
Ithaca Falls with still life heron patiently waiting... 5-30-17..
Ithaca Falls with still life heron patiently waiting... 5-30-17...
Ithaca Falls with still life heron patiently waiting... 5-30-17...-
Ithaca Falls with still life heron patiently waiting... 5-30-17
heron wading in a pool off Fall Creek in Stewart Park and saw it make attempt after attempt to catch fish and perhaps it was but I could not tell for sure... 5-30-17.
heron wading in a pool off Fall Creek in Stewart Park and saw it make attempt after attempt to catch fish and perhaps it was but I could not tell for sure... 5-30-17..
heron wading in a pool off Fall Creek in Stewart Park and saw it make attempt after attempt to catch fish and perhaps it was but I could not tell for sure... 5-30-17-
heron wading in a pool off Fall Creek in Stewart Park and saw it make attempt after attempt to catch fish and perhaps it was but I could not tell for sure... 5-30-17--
Heron with fish 4-12-16 at Sapsucker Woods
Heron with fish 4-12-16
Heron with fish at Sapsucker Woods 4-12-16
heron fishing at Stewart Park- 3-23-17
Heron 4-12-16 Sapsucker Woods
Heron 4-12-16
Heron at Sapsucker Woods 4-12-16
heron fishing at Sapsucker Woods
heron fishing in a stream so focused on what it was catching that it paid no or little attention to me...Renwick Woods - Fuertes Bird Sanctuary at Stewart Park 3-23-17
heron fishing in a stream... and it was so focused on what it was catching that it paid no or little attention to me...Renwick Woods - Fuertes Bird Sanctuary at Stewart Park 3-23-17.
heron fishing in a stream... and it was so focused on what it was catching that it paid no or little attention to me...Renwick Woods - Fuertes Bird Sanctuary at Stewart Park 3-23-17
heron fishing in a stream...Renwick Woods - Fuertes Bird Sanctuary at Stewart Park 3-23-17
Heron gaze 4-12-16
heron in reflection

deer lives by tom clausen

13 Wednesday Jun 2018

Posted by Tom Clausen in deer, fields, haiku, Ithaca, landscapes, nature, poems and photos, spring

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Tags

deer, haiku, nature, photography, photos, poems, spring

deer out back…
to look or
look away

 

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