The weekend passed with a foreboding taste of summer. The blackthorn dropped its white veil of white bloom and the ground under the forsythia is yellow from fallen flowers. My nostrils fill with the scent from Lily of the valley and from the apple tree I hear the buzz of bees drunk from its blossom.
Downtown Stockholm brimmed with Swifties eager to spend the night in the company of each other, building lifetime memories to bloom. I feel ancient preferring a long walk in the woods, but the present is always tomorrow’s past.
from the ant-hill
highways, away and back —
nights are too short
Today Frank hosts dVerse haibun Monday with a prompt on mono no aware, the transcience that we often feel now in May when change is so rapid.
May 20, 2024
Björn Rudbergs writings 
The bright yellow of forsythia, scents of lilly of the valley, lilac, hyacinth and honeysuckle….spring is sublime but always too short. We finally have a spring day today in Boston and tomorrow it will be 85 degrees-bam! right into summer!
Today was colder… only around 15 degrees, but during the weekend it was more than 25.
I see you have lily-of-the-valley in your poem also. So Tay-Tay came to Stockholm? I must be getting old, as I don’t see the attraction, probably like my grandparents didn’t get Elvis.
I can understand it after some listening (especically her latest record) and yes it was three sold out concerts each having 60 000 people coming. Actually the ticket prices here were so low compared to the US so there were people travelling here to see her and could cover the ticket and hotel…
Oh really on the low ticket price. Would like to know why they were so low (getting non-Swedish there to fill the stadiums probably?) I know Drumpf did his best to malign her and failed miserably, which says a lot about her. She’d make a better US Pres than any of the 3 contenders imo.
The main reason for ticket prices is our weak currency, but there might also be other factors such as the cost of the arena…
I love the scene you’ve painted. Petals on the ground are always a lovely sight. Tying in Swifties “building lifetime memories to bloom” brings an entirely different scene. Also, I love your haiku.🐜
Thank you… I thought how much that concert must have been a passing moment for them…
Life seems to pass more quickly all the time! Well done…
It does… still there are those moments we will relive and remember.
Yes, I agree.
My favorite is “I feel ancient preferring a long walk in the woods, but the present is always tomorrow’s past.” That’s why I always love to walk. Thank you!
Forestwalking is wonderful (except for the fact that we do have some mosquitos at this time of the year)
And I am always mosquito food.
Beautifully eloquent, Bjorn! I love this line especially: “The blackthorn dropped its white veil of white bloom and the ground under the forsythia is yellow from fallen flowers. “
Thank you… yes, this is how it looks at this moment.
Wonderful imagery
Bees and blossoms. A wonderful concert.
That is the wonderful thing with flowers in spring.
”…the present is always tomorrow’s past.” …and tomorrow is one thing that today cannot be — only been. I enjoyed this Björn. 🙂✌🏼🫶🏼
Every moment should be captured and lived.
Such vivid imagery and I can see the Swifties lol.., I think I’d long for a walk in the woods too. Stunning finishing haiku too.
I saw the Swifties a little bit as the flowers actually.
I’m glad you had a taste of summer over the weekend, Björn – we did too! I love the description of the blossoms and flowers in your haibun; we seem to have quite a selection around here too – and bees! No ants as yet.
I am surprised about the ants… they are everywhere in spring I think.
Oh I love the last lines of your prose. Wonderful haibun Bjorn
Thank you… the forest is wonderful right now.
You’re welcome. That’s great. 😃
Like you I prefer a walk in the forest to the hype of a night out in town. I love the poetic way you describe the natural world.
I used to enjoy concerts a lot more… right now I think I enjoy nature more.
Me too. 🙂
I love the ground painted by fallen flowers. Though I understand she puts on a good show, I, too, would prefer a solo walk through the woods, while understanding how ancient that makes me feel. Your final lines is just perfect.
Thank you… they had a joyful time, ours was a bit more subdued but still wonderful
Wow, the blackthorn blossoms! Not a “Swiftie” but like the lyrics to this one.
I am not a Swiftie myself, but you have to admire their kindness… (no havoc just friendship bracelets shared with the police)
That’s good!
…the poisonous scent…beautifully constructed, and forbidding…the tension is nicely dosed, last sentence a killer in very positive way. Really liked the relationship between haiku & prose..no overt repeat there…
Thank you, the way the haiku should complement the prose is (I think) the most important part of a haibun.
I could not comment on your haibun, but I find it incredibly moving… may Ukraine continue to stand strong, the consequences of them falling will be a disaster for the whole world.
I love all the sensory details in this haibun. I feel like I’m standing there sneezing from all the pollen! And, thanks for the chance to hear Taylor Swift!
A visual, olfactory, auditory masterpiece of a haibun!!!
I wasn’t sure at first—Swifties. But in the end I got the meaning. So Taylor Swift… that young woman is amazing. She was in Tokyo after Bruno Mars. Wow and congrats to her.
don’t feel left out…
wonderful Haibun dear Björn. Adored the imagery. Thanks for sharing.
Summer comes alive through your words, Björn, and I agree that there’s nothing like gatherings of Swifties to make us feel ancient!
Nice….
Your haibun is so easy to smell and see. Beautifully done! I love the drunk bees.
“I feel ancient preferring a long walk in the woods, but the present is always tomorrow’s past.”
I would prefer a long walk in the woods as well.
I felt like I was in the midst of a bouquet. Gorgeous writing!
I note that the the taste of summer is foreboding, and from there you take us through memories of smells and visuals, and experiences that both age and include us, compounding the experience in that last line. Time is both beautiful and daunting.
Haha, it’s a gift of growing older, I think, that the gilding is off the lily of societal glamours…