Sefirat Ha’Omer Haikus Part 2: From Early Spring to Summer
- Leann Shamash
- May 20
- 8 min read
Updated: May 21
Dear Friends and Readers,
Here is part two of my Sefirat Ha'Omer project for this year. It is a journal in haiku, mostly written during my morning walks, but occasionally in the evening.
As someone who loves capturing nature through photos, this project was invaluable. It added language to what I was seeing and experiencing. Fitting my thoughts into the strict 5-7-5 syllable structure was a challenge; a few of the poems might feel a bit awkward, and I hope you will forgive that.
Because I noticed so much, the collection is quite long. Please feel free to skip around from day to day or week to week. While I did this primarily as a personal exercise, I want to share these simple, beautiful moments with you.
I also hope it inspires you to start your own practice of pausing to look around. Whether you use haikus, photos, or just your thoughts, noticing slows us down. It allows us to appreciate the magic of changing seasons. In a world with so much negativity, searching for the beauty right before our eyes is essential.
Tonight is the final night of counting the Omer. I plan to complete the project tomorrow, but for now, here is the journey so far.
Wishing you the inspiration to observe the world in your own unique way, and to express what you find.
Chag Sameach and Shabbat Shalom,
Leann
PS Some of my dates might be off...In fact, they probably are off a bit. I've tried to be accurate, but I am not great with calendars.
Sunday April 26 day 24
Noisy, noisy spring
Fin’lly birds can eat their fill
Chatter in the air
Birds chat between trees
Hey, I’m up in this oak tree!
Hi! I’m on the pine!
Turkeys are waddlers
showing off their stuff to who?
Feathers catch the sun
Norway maple blooms
Delicate as spring itself
Pale yellow they fall
Sidewalk chalk drawings
Oh to be a kid again!
Message on cement
Irresistible
New maple leaves as soft as
The barest whisper
Why write these haikus?
In winter I will recall
The warmth of the spring
Bird on the high wire
What do you see when you look
Straight down upon me?
I gently transplant
Old houseplants deserve new homes
A fresh chance to grow
Ferns
I don’t know much
Mysteriously they grow
No seeds for the ferns
It is a blessing
As the maples start to bloom
Truly glorious
The hosta army
Pointed tips like spears they rise
Ready to unfurl
April 27 day 25
It’s a warm morning
Diamonds shine on the water
Soon swimmers will come
Violet, there you
hide between blades of green grass
Kneel and find me there
Warblers and whistlers
Voices carry through the trees
Gentle tunes floating
Tuesday April 28 day 26
I don’t need my hat!
I don’t need a heavy scarf!
I don’t need my gloves!
Garbage day in spring
Its the same as in winter
Except now I smile
Parking lot hunting
It’s an early morning thing
For Trixie (and me)
Appreciation
The ability to see
Wonder in the world
April 29
Still morning gray clouds
A single bird chats above
People still slumber
Have you noticed how
Some leaves are red and
Some are green?
Ah, Volante Farms!
Annuals, perennials
Bird baths and ice cream!
Looking for the herbs
Maybe something new this year
Oh! No herbs to buy!
Ah, a warm greenhouse
I feel it’s warmth in my bones
Soothing to the soul
April 30 day 28
Shefa bounty when
we are overwhelmed at the
amounts of beauty
How many shades of green
can I list and chartreuse is
the top of the list.
Truly rainy days
solid masses of gray clouds
Won’t let the sun shine
raindrops on windshields
The world blurs in shades of spring
A most welcome haze
Plants were created
The same day as shapes, colors
It was a good day.
May 1 29th day
If no one plants them
the daffodils we would miss.
They plant, we enjoy.
May 3 day 31
A found robins egg
Blue as the sky above me
A treasure to keep
There is much to see
Trees, flowers, grasses, skies, birds
It’s hard to describe
Japanese bamboo
Wild mustard dominate
The hills around me
I’m a plant junky
I can’t resist I must buy!
Running out of room!
Spring winds blow quite hard
Forcing petals to descend
Sidewalks snowy white
Flowers call to me
They cry out, buy me, buy me!
I must turn away.
Planting after dark
On a warm a breezy night
A perk of the spring.
Green licorice plant
Lacy leaves and smells delish
Plant in a clay pot.
It’s terra cotta
Pots large and small ready now
Lined up on the ground
Bulbs have been planted.
Each day I return to check.
Are they growing yet?
Potatoes I’ve saved
Cut and dried, eye by eye.
Planted in a tub
Every day I watch
Which seeds come up from last year
Always a surprise.
I tinker, totter
over magic garden path
Fragrant and luscious.
Tuesday Lag B’Omer #33
Red convertible
Roof down and open
Breezes through his hair
55 degrees
At 7 o’clock AM
Will be hot today
Shy forsythia
Last week you were bold, but now
yellow passed to green
Warm, windy Tuesday
Bring out the wet suit, swimmers.
The water’s still cold
Wednesday, day 34 May 6
Out before traffic
Quiet, the lake a mirror
after the sunrise
Noting changes is
A strange job
Time
Moves so fast
Eyes trained to notice
Lilac radiant
Shares her gift of deep fragrance
With those who pass by
My father would pick
Lilacs for my mother
Every Mother’s Day
I buy native plants
Plant them in my back garden
To attract the bees
It is a pleasure
Filling the compost in spring
Easy walk when not cold.
Its warmer today
The sun shows her face again
I don’t need my hat
Flowers can be large
Or as tiny as a dot
And I wonder why
Trixie leads the way
Meandering to and fro
Sometimes hesitates
These flowers subtle
Purple dots against the sky
Trees fat with flowers
Good old Skunk cabbage
Grows in the mud leaves grow wide
A true sign of spring
Here I sit alone
In the magical garden
Scents of mint rising
A first for the figs
May already and no leaves
The winter was cold
Robin, I see you!
Splishing and splashing away!
In the birdie bath!
May 7 day 35
The Arboretum
Purple lilacs are in bloom
Visitors abound
Small kindergarteners
See the world differently
Sense it through their eyes
After a night’s rain
Vegetation truly shines
Colors of the sun
Robin stares at me
Quizzically he cocks his head
Then he walks away
Thursday May 8 day 36
Cool Water ripples
Across the face of the lake
I must remember
Can’t every day be
A sunny clear day in May?
For it is perfect
So much to squeeze in
In one short spring and summer
Where do we begin?
Friday, May 9 day 36
Friday afternoons
The potential of Shabbat
Hum a little tune
Two fierce hawks fly high
They search and seek prey to eat
Eyes as sharp as knives
Saturday May 9 after Shabbat
Shabbat morning walks
Are still, quiet and peaceful
No earbuds today
The sidewalks are damp
How to describe a spring rain?
Grassy, mossy, sweet
Don raincoat and boots
Rain cascades, drenching my hair
Rivulets dripping
The woods painted green
Maple leaves unfurled spread wide
Spaces closed between
Above me, canopy
We’ve missed a day in the woods
Spring change comes quickly
Steps are lighter now
If I were younger I’d skip
To the library
Report: still no figs
It’s May and the buds still closed
I’m a bit worried
Compost, oh compost
To decompose, take your time
I will wait for you
Rain, rain, go away
You have ruined Saturday
We stayed in all day
Sunday, Mother’s Day day 38
The magic number
Four trips to the Home Depot
Carriages loaded!
Welcome Home Depot
People are connoisseurs of plants
Which would be the best?
Monday, May 12 day 39
Do pink clouds circle
In the winter months of cold?
as much as in May?
I failed at dahlias
Took them out to plant today
They had all rotted
Better luck next time
She says softly to herself
She has her regrets
There’s no such thing as
a bad day in spring
The air is alive
Deep blue robin egg
Cracked and captured by the grass
Jailed by blades of grass
May 12 day 40
Still wearing a coat
What’s going on here, it’s spring!
People look disgruntled.
If sidewalks were pink
All the year through, would you
skip instead of walk?
Thin bikers speed by.
Are they a coven? A tribe?
A hive or a troop?
May 13, Day 41
Is it about now
That I take spring for granted ?
No, I don’t think so.
I am waiting still
For a late spring thunder storm
When gray clouds pile up
May 14, Day 42
Home Depot trip six
Picking up odds and ends
Manure and grass seed
Rain falls steadily
Darkened soil drinks greedily
Will its thirst be quenched?
Digging in the dirt
On my knees, trowel in hand
It never grows old.
Birdsong's sweet sounds float.
Cheeps and chirps aimed at my ears.
Trills rise high, drift low.
May 15, Day 43
Are willows sad trees?
Or do they know more than us
About our sad state?
I never counted
Gray days verses sunny days
Gray days won hands down.
I never counted
warm days versus cold gray days.
Cold days won hands down.
Day 44 written after Shabbat
People wearing shorts!
Some are walking on the beach!
Some wear bikinis!
Tics are out in force
Don’t walk in the tall grasses
And inspect yourself.
25 thousand steps
Glorious walking weather
It was worth the wait.
Yes, the bees are back
From year to year I forget
How very big they are.
Sunday, May 18 day 45
We approach the end
of this Litt'l exercise.
Summer says welcome
And what have I learned?
To notice, to share, marvel
Will you do the same?
Swimmers look the same
They don’t change from year to year.
Still, you don't expect.
Is God in the rain?
Or in hands of the planter?
Are they both the same?
Languid evenings
The air hugs me as I walk
A welcome embrace
Monday, May 19 day 46
Plants thicken, grow tall
Each fights for its place to stand.
Delicate, yet strong.
Come, sit down on me!
Beckons the old garden chair
Under the grape vines.
Who sings so early?
Robin, sparrow, blackbird, lark?
Sweet morning music.
Tuesday, May 20 day 47
Last night was a first.
Sleeping with windows open.
Soft breezes float in.
Winter, distant dream
Keep your distance, far from us
One day you’ll return.
Sweat, it’s sweltering!
A sticker, a humdinger!
As my mom would say.
Finally! Gray clouds!
The low rumbles of thunder
A storm is coming
Thirsty little plants
Battered and rammed by the rain
Hope they all bounce back
Wednesday, May 21 Day 48
Oak leaves finally
flowers fall, create a mess
Soon to blow away.
Wood chips cover up
Many Undesirables
I ask myself why?
First ice cream of spring
Whoo Hooo, it was delicious!
Cookie Dough it was!!!
Addendum- Thursday, May 22. Day 49
Red tulips were here
Petals scattered in the wind
Now they stand naked
*******
We’re off to a start
Planting season has begun
Be strong, and flourish.
Why write these haikus?
In winter I will recall
The warmth of sweet spring.
I hope that you will, too.
Chag Sameach,
Leann
מָה רַבּוּ מַעֲשֶׂיךָ יְהוָה כֻּלָּם בְּחָכְמָה
עָשִׂיתָ מָלְאָה הָאָרֶץ קִנְיָנֶךָ
"How numerous are Your works, Adonai! In
wisdom You have made them all; the earth is full of Your creations." Psalm 104:24
❤️🌷loved being there for the thunder and the rain storm. Thank you for letting us walk with you!!
I can feel the change and beauty of the days. Nature is beautiful and you bring it out in your short Haikus. Thank you!
Maybe I didn't read every single world -- too impatient I am -- but oh what loveliness washed over me. Thank you, Leann!