Souls in Bloom

Pink roses in bloom

“Summer: to be for a few days the contemporary of roses; to breathe what’s floating around their souls in bloom.”
— Rainer Maria Rilke

How lucky we are to be alive in June, the contemporaries and companions of roses!  This time I am air-drying a bowlful of soulful rose petals so that their special beauty will linger into fall and winter.

Rose petals from Carol’s fragrant bouquet

A potpourri of multicolored rose petals

Leaf Potpourris

Brown oak leaves

“Haze, char, and the weather of All Souls’:
A giant absence mopes upon the trees:
Leaves cast in casual potpourris
Whisper their scents from pits and cellar-holes.”
     — from Richard Wilbur, “In the Elegy Season”

On a recent walk around Green Lake, I paid special attention to the “casual potpourris” of fallen leaves.

A potpourri of fallen leaves

Fallen chestnut leaves, yellow among the brown

I love the pattern of the ribs on these furled chestnut leaves.

Reddish oak leaves