Wild

Photo of an aloe vera bush.

Kraken of the earth,
monstrous prickly tentacles:
wild aloe vera.

Grass

Close up photo of a blade of ornamental grass with the sun setting behind it.

Ornamental grass
glisten in the setting sun;
fountains on sidewalks.

Hope

Photo of the sunset on the runway, as seen through the glass window of an airport. There’s an aircraft on the runway and a ground vehicle. The airport’s seating area is reflected on the glass.

I watch the sunset;
airport waiting area
promises sunrise.

Flowering gum

Close up photo of the leaves of a flowering gumtree.

Wise old eucalypt
doesn’t cry over dead branches—
it only flowers.

Afterlife

Photo of a dead cedar tree by the river.

Branchless and bare-bones;
the once-magnificent tree:
an ecosystem.