Luscious Lilacs

I came to the garden today with Claudia Coutu-Radmore, an Ottawa poet and editor of the recently released Arctic Twilight (Blue Butterfly Books). Claudia is a member of Ottawa's Kado haiku group and is the person who initially inspired me to take up tanka. I couldn't think of a better poet to share the splendour of the lilac garden at its peak.

Here's a photo of Claudia, notebook in hand, among the lilacs.

today my words

are lilac tinted

and dipped in scent
Angela

each lilac showing me

what I do not know

about lilacs

Claudia

The lilac garden is located inside the Montreal Botanical Garden right before The Flowery Brook. It contains quite a number of well established bushes. Each bush has its own fragrance and it's difficult to resist the urge to stop and inhale deeply at each one.

from lilac to lilac

being draggged

by my nose
Claudia


with a friend
in the lilac garden
surrounded
by beauty and fragrance
we are wallflowers at the ball
Angela




on the yellow center
of a lilac flower
centering myself
Claudia

in my childhood
lilacs always grew
in other people's yards--
never the giver
nor the receiver
Angela




There are all shades of lilac in the garden, from darkest purple to pure white.

drawn to the lilacs
of the most intense hues
flowers that distil purple
that hoard
white
Claudia

lilacs
under a deep blue sky
for once
it's not just me
taking things to the limit
Angela





as if to make up
for its rough-barked trunk
this lilac bush
exploding in lush
soft purple
Claudia


if I marry again
I'll carry purple lilacs
and not worry
too much
what I wear
Angela



letting go
of my thoughts
to smell the lilacs
I'll forget for the moment
all the things I can't do
Angela


choosing to remain a victim
assaulted
by the scent of lilacs
Claudia



a sprinkling
of lilac flowers on the grass
our shadows
move in and out
of abundance and loss
Angela





so difficult
to leave them
so hard to fight
the purple gravity
of lilacs
Claudia



I certainly enjoyed writing in the garden with Claudia. Hopefully this is just the first of many such poetic rendez-vous at the Montreal Botanical Garden. But the lilac garden at the height of bloom is undoubtedly one of the growing season's highlights. There's nothing as luscious as lilacs!

daring the poets
to make them last forever
these lilacs
Claudia

if there is
an art to love--
lilacs
full of fragrance
against a powder-blue sky
Angela



P.S. Here are two last poems, I couldn't help including.

like these white lilacs
we are so often
at our best
because of our dark
backgrounds
Claudia

I'll sit
among the lilacs
in this patch of sun
not minding at all
if you're late
Angela

Aglow!

I treked out to the garden last Wednesday morning. It was unseasonably cool, but I put on the one wool sweater I still hadn't packed away and boarded the metro to Pie IX. Despite the gray skies and cold, I wasn't alone in the garden. Photographers were out in droves .They were outfitted with expensive cameras, huge macro lenses and sturdy tripods and were painstakingly setting up their shots. Here's one of my own taken with my modest little digital. The dull, moody light definitely adds drama to the photo.





But then what do I know. I'm a poet not a photographer! (Although having at one time been married to an art photographer, I probably did learn a thing or two.)

*

My destination this morning was the lilac garden, but I found that it wasn't quite at its peak yet, so decided to walk over to the Lesley Hancock Garden instead. There wasn't much in bloom, except for one rhododendron bush, but it was definitely worth getting up for. It was completely covered with pink blossoms and more than lived up to its name: Aglow!







I thought I would take this opportunity to write a little about tanka, the five-line form of poetry that I have been including in my various entries. Tanka is much less known in North America than haiku, although it is the most ancient form of Japanese poetry. Tanka (originally called "waka") has been written in Japan for at least 1300 years, whereas haiku is a relative newscomer at only about 400 years old.


For much of its history, tanka was the poetry of the nobility and the ability to write these short lyric poems was as important as being able to wield a sword. Tanka was frequently used in furthering romantic liaisons between members of the aristocracy. Their poems with carefully chosen images and suggestive language were written on beautiful paper in exquisite calligraphy, the whole message being packaged up with a flower or a sweet smelling sprig of blossoms. Imagine if the success of your love affair depended on writing a winning poem.

among

the rhododendrons

remembering the way

he makes me feel

aglow


Although tanka has been used for centuries as the poetry of love in Japan, and now increasingly among contemporary English-language poets, its subject matter extends to every area of human feeling. In the words of Marianne Bluger, the Ottawa poet who died several years ago of cancer and who was the author of the first full-length Canadian book of tanka, "tanka is a quick check on the state of the heart." I find that writing tanka is a great way to discover what's on my mind.

do I want a young

and handsome man

or is it enough

to be

adored?

Blossom Viewing

Prepare yourself for some spectacular shots of blossoms, which I took early last Thursday morning. The weather forecast was for rain on the weekend, so I made sure to get to the Montreal botanical garden while the weather was still conducive to blossom viewing. In Japan, blossom viewing in spring is a national pastime and traditionally a woman would wear a special blossom-viewing kimono. In the West, we don't have quite such a reverential attitude toward blossoms and that is a bit of a shame. What did I wear today? A knitted cotton top, beige slacks and my Nike windbreaker. I chose comfort over beauty. But blossoms are all about beauty. Next time I'll try to make an effort to really dress up.

Here are a few photos from the Japanese Garden.

The best place to look at blossoms is of course in the apple and cherry orchard of the arboretum

The following photograph inspired this tanka:

a mass

of apple blossoms

there was never

a bride

as beautiful as this

what a day

to come blossom viewing

with the wind

and this world

weariness

*

crabapple blossoms

and the first

drops of rain

the stream is full

to overflowing

*

windy morning

cherry blossoms

whirling and spinning

my thoughts

never still

*

under apple blossoms

thinking of all

the perfume

in my cupboard

at home

*

Starting with this blog post, I'm going to make it a habit to introduce a less commonly known flower. This time I've chosen Siberian bugloss. It's a low lying plant that grows in the shade garden. It has the most lovely small blue flowers, which you can see in the photo below:

Siberian bugloss

such an unattractive name

for something

so light and pretty

and unabashedly blue

*

The other idea I've had is to invite another poet to accompany me on my walk through the garden. So starting next week I will be coming with a friend to write poems and check out what's new in the garden.

I'll just end with a reminder that the Japanese garden will be holding their annual picnic under the crabapple blossoms, which is called O-hanami, on May 17th, 2009, starting at 11:30AM. Let's hope it doesn't rain.

Tulipomania!

Tulips were in full bloom today at the Montreal Botanical Garden. Here is a photo of the entrance garden with its mass planting of Foseteriana Tulips.

The bed that I photographed two weeks ago with red tulips is now ablaze in yellow and white

I saw many more tulip varieties throughout the garden.

The pink tulips below are particlarly striking next to the brilliant blue of grape hyacinth.

Next I decided to head over to the Lesley Hancock Garden to check out the azaleas and rhododendrons. There were a few bushes in flower, such as the one below, for which I gave a clearly audible "wow," but the garden will probably only reach its full peak of flowering closer to the end of May.

But today belongs to the tulip, one of the most fascinating of all the flowers, with a rich and colourful history, as I discovered when I was researching my book "Tulip Haiku'" (Shoreline, 2004).

At the end of today's visit, I sat in the Peace Garden and wrote a few haiku and tanka. The Peace Garden has lately become my favorite place for writing.

my thoughts painted
dandelion yellow
and tulip red


snatching at a bright
red tulip petal--the child
in pink pastel

moving
from the tulip's red
to the violet's blue--
I still find it hard
to believe in happy endings

photographing his wife
by the red tulips--
she poses
like a young girl,
a witchng girl


it's all cliche
my writing about love--
there's only one word
to describe these tulips:
"red!"


And as I leave the garden

the sound of city traffic
outside the garden gate
a drop of rain

Rhapsody: Annual Exhibition of Ikebana International Montreal Chapter

On April 25th and 26th, the Montréal Chapter of Ikebana International presented its annual exhibition in the Japanese Pavilion at the Montreal Botanical Garden. The title of this year’s exhibition was “Rhapsody.” I recognized many of the names of the presenters, since I have enjoyed some wonderful collaborations with the Montreal chapter over the years. As usual, the sensei and students came up with some creative and striking arrangements. I particularly liked this one by Nilofur Husain.






I thought that the use of fans was very effective in the following arrangement by Carol Morin.





The next arrangement, by Regine Denesle, played with the theme of "Rhapsody in Blue" by George Gershwin. She even included the musical score, which you may just be able to make out in the bottom left hand side of the photo. This arrangement is an inspired combination of Eastern and Western sensibilities.



A number of the presenters were on hand on Sunday afternoon and I was happy to have a chance to chat with Lois Shore and Madeleine Murphy, two ikebana artists who have given me so much encouragement with my own Japanese-inspired literary/art form of haiku.

I also had the pleasure of meeting for the first time another member of Ikebana International, Lorraine Desjardins. Here she is in a photo beside her own colourful tulip rhapsody.



What was most interesting to me was that Lorraine had included a tanka printed on the card at the right in the photo. Here is a close up of the poem, which is a French translation of a tanka (or as it was then called, "waka") by the ninth century Japanese poet Ono no Komachi.




I've read that it was sometimes a tradition for the old ikebana masters to incorporate a poem (either haiku or tanka) into their flower arangements. I think this is something that can certainly be revived and explored by ikebana artists and poets, with each art form enhancing and deepening the appreciation of the other's work.


Now for a few of the poems that I wrote today during my visit to the garden.


entrance
to the Rosarie--
Sunday morning prayer


This poem was written as I was sitting on a bench in the rose garden or Rosarie. I suddenly remembered my artist friend Serena, who was at one time interested in making beads from rose petals. The beads of the first rosaries were in fact made from rose petals, thus the name "rosary." One afternoon several years ago I accompanied Serena into the garden and rather furtively we scooped up fallen rose petals into bags for her to take back to her studio. We felt a bit like thieves, since we weren't sure whether we were allowed to take the petals or not. Serena has since left Montreal to go back to the US. I wonder if she is still making her rose petal jewellery.


wind in my hair
the tulips too
are dancing


I wrote this haiku in the Peace Garden where I was inspired by the beautiful tulip-patterned Iznik tiles.


The next poem was also written in the Peace Garden


birdsong around me--
from somewhere a child
cries "mama"




magnolia in bloom--
the talk is about
dividends and stocks


This haiku was written in the Japanese garden, where the conversation of the older couple on the bench next to me was all about money matters despite the splendour of the magnolias.


Here are a few tanka inspired by the ikebana exhibition.


bright pink gerbera--
I'm at that age
where a woman
starts becoming
invisible



those green orchids
embraced by palm leaves--
the universal desire
to be sheltered
& protected

the way the stem
of that tulip
rests
in the v of a branch--
how coupledom eludes me

ikebana exhibition--
how long will that spider
on the floor
survive
the flower-viewers' trampling

And I'll end with two last poems as I headed home:

tulips open
on a warm spring day
I shed another layer

between the cobblestones
the softness of moss--
will I ever
find comfort
in a man

What's Blooming?

Writing a blog about the Montreal Botanical Garden is a project that I’ve had in mind for some time. My idea is to provide a weekly posting on what’s currently in bloom in this world class garden, as well as cover events that take place throughout the year. I will also be including some of my poetry.

I write haiku and tanka, which are Japanese-inspired short poetry forms. Most people are familiar with haiku, but tanka (its five-line cousin) is still fairly unknown. I’ll provide some background on the history and aesthetics of both types of poetry as we go along.

So, camera in hand, on this early Sunday morning, I’m off to the Montreal Botanical Garden, which is just a metro ride away from my home in Verdun. I get off at Pie IX (pronounced “pee neuf”) Metro and walk up the hill past the Olympic Stadium to the front gates of the garden, located at the corner of Pie IX and Sherbrooke Streets. Tulips are up in the small beds on both sides of the gate. Several years ago I wrote a haiku about the tulips in these particular beds.

golden tulips
in the midday sun—
fields of flame

That was later in the season. For now, the tulips here are not yet in bloom. Further inside the garden, closer to the main building, tulips bloom in this year’s colour theme: bright red.

Heading past the fountain, which is of course not yet in operation, I spend a few moments admiring a magnolia.



In the exhibition garden, I found these lovely “Lenten Roses” (Heliebore oriental), which are a new flower for me. Googling them, I discover that they were chosen as the 2005 perennial plant of the year by the Perennial Plant Association and that they are considered one of the most attractive and longest-blooming of the shade perennials. The plants here are in white and purple.

On my walk through the garden, I see plenty of daffodils and patches of scilla. I’ve been admiring this small plant around the city for the past few weeks. I particularly like the way it can take over whole lawns with its electric blue. In the following photo, you can glimpse the scilla beneath the rich yellow of that other early bloomer, forsythia.

By the “Flowery Brook,” my attention is caught by another blue flower with the wonderful name, “Glory-of-the-snow.” After the long winter here in Montreal, anything growing and colourful is a cause for near religious fervour.

I walk through the Native Garden and smile at the still-coiled heads of the ferns.

I came this morning expecting a quiet, meditative walk in the garden, but pulsing latin music follows me into the Japanese Garden and then the Chinese Garden as well. It’s blasting from nearby Maisonneuve Park. I walk over to investigate and find out that today is the MS March of Hope. There are a lot of people registering and plenty of balloons and pre-walk entertainment. Their slogan is “Every Step Matters.”

Heading back into the garden, I notice the new children’s playground that they’ve built beside the Insectarium, which has these fun-looking stepping stones.

if my life
were just a series

of flower-shaped stepping stones

would I worry so much

about the next step?