Fingers in the Topsoil

MAKING TOPSOIL FOR NEWLY PLANTED BONSAI TREES

Wet long-fibered natural moss

place strategically around trunk

of tree, holds moisture, establishes

the system for what comes next

Its relationship with pumice

and lava rock instant  Wet

fibers of the Sphagnum

lay around the tree

like tiny branches not

unlike a skeleton sweat lodge

Now the screened mosses

will fall from your fingers

into pockets beside the soil mix

This part fingers from moss

to soil cushions, sensuous, spongy

Jim Bodeen

28 April 2017

                                                                                           

BENEATH SPARKLING STAR RIVER

Clouds in western sky

drop rain as I settle, begin

freeing the Shimpaku Juniper

from black plastic root trainer,

preparing to cut roots young

before placing it in the shallow

unglazed clay pot. Securing

the tree on lava rock

with wire and chop sticks

followed with a mix of pumice,

red lava and akadama from Japan

is the horticulturist's art.

A thin layer of top soil,

1/8 inch deep, ground

from dense matted moss

on Chinook Pass, one cell thick,

and sphagnum collected from bogs

for water management.

Millions of naked spoors.

Rain drips from my hat

unexpectedly in this desert valley

in this outdoor sanctuary,

this studio refuge

where I sit between

Columnar Hornbeam

and Ed Wood Half-Moon Maple.

Jim Bodeen

26 April 2017

SCRATCHING THE SURFACE STONE

Have I sat for hours

Insight come and bees buzz gone

Incessantly still

Jim Bodeen

3-6 May 2017