Notes on Nature

 Notes on Nature #1

A leaf. Or millions of them. All alike and different at the same time. Emerging spring after spring, curling as they arrive, curling as they die. Symmetrical like us, like leaves of most trees. Veins like us. Breathing in the opposite direction of us. They die like us to feed new life.

Notes on Nature #2

We grow milkweed for the monarchs. Milkweed plunges upward—to even 6 feet—whether monarchs visit or not. The orange and black bugs, still nameless to me, swarm on its pods. The dry pods pop open and release seeds so delicate and light that they become passengers on the breeze. This is an impressive reproductive strategy, much like our thoughts that go airborne, take root, grow and dream of butterflies.