


New greenery everywhere,
White buds ready to burst into flower --
Hawthorn on May Day.
It’s May Day or if you follow an older ancient tradition, Beltain. The Hawthorn is just beginning to show a few flowers and my heart rejoices to know the Earth’s energies are stirring. I’m happy to celebrate this quickening of fertility and growth in my verse! Today is warmer and with many damp weeks behind us the flowers and trees are sending us a message: the summer is here!
In my attempts to write these 3 line verses I follow the ancient agricultural calendar which is also the Hokku calendar.*
In the Celtic Tree Ogham, Hawthorn (Crataegus monogyna) is the sixth tree: Huath, H. and it brings the spirit of wild places, even when growing in a town. As the seasons change I hope to include more references to the Tree Ogham.**

Happy Beltain, a time when Earth’s energies are at their most active. The Earth is alive, not just at the surface but in its depths.
Ashley
[So much of what I am learning about traditional Earth celebrations is down to the writings of Glennie Kindred and I give thanks to her for her love and blessings which I am returning to her through my verse]
https://www.glenniekindred.co.uk
* Through David Coomler’s wonderful writings on WordPress I continue to learn about Hokku. https://hokku.wordpress.com/2012/01/18/the-traditional-hokku-calendar-west-and-east/
** https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Ogham