Ripe

Close up photo of strawberries on a bush, with one strawberry starting to ripen. There’s a single dollop of red in the otherwise green strawberry.

Starting to ripen,
first drop on a plain canvas—
strawberries make art.

Fading

photo of the sun setting behind suburban houses, the sky engulfed in a pinkish orange shade

At the end of day,
lingering shards of sunlight;
shades on a palette.

Summer

Close up photo of parrot’s beak plants covering the ground. — Parrot’s beak

Typical summer:
parrot’s beak on nature strips;
ground covered in flames.

Wave

Photo of a tree full of bottlebrushes in bloom, against a cloudless blue sky, with a sliver of the moon visible.

Nature’s cheerleader:
waving red-green pom-poms high;
weeping bottlebrush.

Gone

Close up photo of an almond, still intact and on the tree.

Season’s first almond,
as smooth as bearskin carpets—
bird bitten too soon.