Two more days, and it will be May Day — the old celebration about halfway between the Spring Equinox and the summer Solstice. Here is a simple hokku from this morning:
(Spring)
Morning warmth;
The sweet smell of cottonwoods
Along the creek.
In the sun of spring, the leaf buds of the native cottonwood (Populus trichocarpa) put out a fragrant resin that perfumes the air. The Native Americans used it medicinally, and one can make a healing ointment called “Balm of Gilead” from the tender, sticky buds.
David
HOKKU 
Wonderful. I would dearly love to know the “sweet smell of cottonwoods”.
Here the apple blossoms are beginning to open but the winds this year are too strong and consequently the scents of spring are lost.
Lovely. Thanks. We had a cottonwood tree at the end of our very long lane when we lived in the country years ago. My mother-in-law talked of having made salve from the Balm of Gilead tree. I remember those “tender, sticky buds.” Thanks for the memory.
Gorgeous and profound, David. I have been missing your hokku and hope to see more
of them in the future.
With respect and admiration,
Ron