Category Archives: Haiku 2019

HONEST TRACKS

Posted on November 24, 2019 by John | 2 comments

Bearfoot in the dust
from oak to oak gathering
acorns like candy.

2 Comments

Posted in Haiku 2019, Photographs, Poems 2019

Tagged bearfoot, photography, poetry

FIRE DESIGNS

Posted on September 5, 2019 by John | 2 comments

Ashes, white on black
slopes, drought-dead Blue Oaks, final
portraits of a fire.

2 Comments

Posted in Haiku 2019, Photographs, Poems 2019, Ranch Journal

Tagged "Creek Fire", photography, poetry

IDES OF AUGUST

Posted on August 15, 2019 by John | 2 comments

Blueberry moonrise
never in the same place twice—
acorns ripe in oak trees.

2 Comments

Posted in Haiku 2019, Photographs, Poems 2019, Ranch Journal

Tagged Blueberry Moon, Full Green Corn Moon, Full Sturgeon Moon, haiku, Moon When All Things Ripen, photography, poetry, Wheat Cut Moon

UP THE HILL

Posted on August 6, 2019 by John | 3 comments

Not an easy climb
to rise above the bluster
of the self=righteous.

3 Comments

Posted in Haiku 2019, Photographs

Tagged haiku, photography, poetry

MOUNTAIN GARLAND

Posted on June 16, 2019 by John | Leave a comment

Amid the empty
heads of wild oats, Clarkia
paints hillsides purple—

long-stemmed families
reseeding new ground, waiting
for late rains in May.

Leave a comment

Posted in Haiku 2019, Photographs, Poems 2019, Ranch Journal

Tagged Clarkia unguiculata, Elegant Clarkia, Mountain Garland, Woodland Clarkia

LAST EMBRACE

Posted on June 13, 2019 by John | 3 comments

Held in high regard,
we let the dead lean until
we lay down to rest.

3 Comments

Posted in Haiku 2019, Photographs

Tagged haiku, photography, poetry

GOING HOME

Posted on May 24, 2019 by John | 1 comment

No need to worry
about fancy horsemanship—
the girls know the way.

1 Comment

Posted in Haiku 2019, Photographs, Poems 2019

Tagged Allie Fry, cows, haiku, photography, poetry

SHIPPING DAY 2005

Posted on May 19, 2019 by John | Leave a comment

(click to enlarge)

Privilege and luck
to know and work with fine men
while getting older.

A part of them sticks
to the sides of gaping holes
they have left us with

to load semi-trucks
with ripened grass on the hoof—
cowmen to count on.

Returning home yesterday after a moving celebration of the life of Earl McKee, Robbin went through some her photos trying to determine the age of our old dog, only to run across her photo of Tom Grimmius and Art Tarbell on Dry Creek, two more from the old school that are no longer with us to help get the job done. Reminding me of H.C. “Bud” Jackson’s “The Good ‘Uns” about Cleo Denny and other local and progressive cattlemen, published in 1980.