elder tree – The Morning Porch/Patio

Friday June 07, 2019

Dave Bonta June 7, 2019 0

Gusts of wind salted with rain. A bumblebee somehow manages to hold steady, hovering in front of a kerria rose, then going to the elder.

Dave Bonta May 27, 2019 0

Overcast and cold. A European robin lands on a severed limb-end of the elder and casts a critical eye at the pile of withered branches.

Dave Bonta May 25, 2019 0

The severely pruned elder tree has one green limb, hidden from the arborist by a rampant kerria. Its covert blossoms draw a few tiny flies.

Dave Bonta September 1, 2018

Sunrise illuminates the hidden rooms of the elder tree. In one, a blackbird grooms, starting the day with the taste of its own feathers.

Dave Bonta August 29, 2018 1

I carry a dry chair into the drenched garden. Elderberries dot the ground and raindrops dot the elder. A sudden shuffle of woodpigeon wings.

Dave Bonta August 24, 2018

Breezy and cool. A gray down feather floats up and settles on a leaf of the elder tree. A blackbird’s orange beak peeks around the trunk.

Dave Bonta August 14, 2018 1

The blue tits depart one by one. Empty now, the elder tree pivots gently in the wind. The sound of a hand saw like something breathing.

Dave Bonta August 1, 2018

A blackbird sings then eats; a robin eats then sings—both in the elder with its clusters of berries bending lower and lower as they darken.

Dave Bonta July 30, 2018

Overcast and blustery. A tiny caterpillar abseiling down from the elder tree has changed its mind and is slowly, flailingly going back up.

Dave Bonta July 23, 2018

Cloudless and hot. A magpie and a robin sit in different parts of the elder tree, open-eyed but still. The dog moves to the shade.