Nature in Three Lines

--Adrienne Miller

Confession time: I’m not really a haiku person. I’m really more of a limerick girl. Don’t get me wrong, I like the concept of haikus, a little snapshot glorifying the human experience in nature. Delightful. Except, I don’t really like nature. My experience in nature usually goes something like this.

I walk through the woods.

Look there. Three shiny red leaves

Great! Now I’m all itchy

Ok, ok. Maybe I’m being a little hasty here. I love the ocean. I haven’t found much that can compare to the sight of the full moon reflecting off the midnight waters of Monterey Bay.

Crashing waves of gray

Never fail to calm my mind

Tides roll in and out

Or maybe the groves of redwoods nested next to the Russian River. There’s a strange kind of peace that can be found walking beneath a canopy so massive that it blocks out the sky and sun above. No other animals, just ferns and sorrel.

Life in green and brown

The earth is soft beneath me

Here there is silence

And I am fond of Sonoran desert sunsets, the ones that make the sky light up with color. That kind of sunset can stir my imagination like nothing else. 

Horizon ignites

The day’s last gasp of brilliance

Before dark descends

So maybe there is some nature that I like, but I think I’ll do everyone a favor from here on out and stick to prose.