Issue #8 July 2, 2001 Patrick Lynn and Tammy Gritz wedding, Spanish Peaks Wilderness, Colorado. haiku: Patrick Lynn, Jonathan Machen. Photos and layout: Jonathan Machen
the champagne is gone
much more rapidly than
the adrenaline
the blush of champagne
meets the sparkle of their eyes
as we make a toast
listening to birds i cant see
watching butterflies
i cant hear
brilliant orange lichen
becomes a butterfly
then flies away
swallowtail visits
all twelve blossoms on the bush
then wanders away
on the ash grey fir
an orange moth closes its wings
and becomes ash grey
hiking out i linger
in each patch of shade
partly for the cool air
ahead on the trail
my friend of fifteen years with
my wife of three days
two fine pots of tea
well probably have to pee
again pretty soon
as i pump water
butterfly with half a wing
sits quietly near
hot air balloon
hovers quietly above
jackrabbit leaps
third day out
beginning to notice flowerless plants
small wood-colored birds
exhausted i watch
a butterfly glide slowly down
to the valley floor
exuberant songbird
runs up and down the scales
i blow my nose
riotous shimmer
in the full strength of sunshine
verdant aspen leaves
with this plastic ring
wearing my sweaty hawaiian shirt
i thee wed
angle of repose
how the two have come to rest
not unhappilly
deep in my backpack
between the tent and the stove
bottle of champagne
forgetting her mothers
maiden name buys me time
to remember mine
this amanita
yellow-speckled reminder
of last nights rainstorm
several busy months
fall away after one day
in the wilderness
married for five days
drinking darjeeling tea
the color of her eyes
solo/group kukai drawing/writing/photography jonathan machen