Hello, Everyone! It’s Merril here, and I’m ready to host the final Haibun Monday before dVerse goes on its summer break. The solstice has just passed, and depending on where you are, you may have noticed later or earlier sunsets. Or did you perhaps see the most recent full moon?  Here in New Jersey, we’ve had a wild spring with some beautiful days, but also more severe storms and tornado alerts than we’ve ever had before.  We’ve had a lot of crazy clouds.

I found some inspiration again in “Brainpickings.” The post is about a book called Lost Words by Robert McFarlane and Jackie Morris. I haven’t read it, but I think I may have to buy it! The book came about because the Oxford children’s dictionary dropped some words describing the natural world in favor of words such as “broadband” and “cut and paste.” McFarlane says they wanted the book “to catch at the beauty and wonder – but also the eeriness and otherness – of the natural world.” There are acrostic “spell poems” to bring back the words, as well as illustrations.

So today, I want you to conjure the magic of nature in your haibun. Think about the words, too, as of course, you do in poetry anway. You may want to try to catch the magic as a child sees it—you when you were younger or perhaps a child or grandchild. Have you lost that sense of wonder, or have you found it again? If you need more inspiration, you may also use one or more of the words below that were mentioned in this article or other articles about McFarlane and Morris’ s book.

Acorn, bluebell, bramble, dandelion, fern, goldfinch, lark, heather, heron, otter, raven, starling, willow, wren.

And if you need more inspiration, here’s something to listen to:  “Somewhere over the Rainbow – Israel “IZ” Kamakawiwoʻole. “

A haibun is usually no more than three tight paragraphs followed by a traditional haiku that includes a reference to a season. If you need a refresher on how to write a haibun, Lillian wrote a comprehensive post about one year ago on the form. You can read it here:

If you are new, here’s how to join in:

• Write a haibun in response to the challenge.
• Enter a link directly to your haibun and your name by clicking Mr Linky below–and remember to check the little box to accept the use/privacy policy. You will find links to other poets and more will join, so check back later to read their haibun.
• If you promote your poem on social media, use the tag #dversepoets
• Read and comment on other poets’ work–we all come here to have our poems read.
• Please link back to dVerse from your site/blog.
• Comment and participate in our discussion below, if you like. We are a friendly bunch of poets.