in summer heat
blossom secrets burn
so quickly
Our Prunus Cherry Plum tree suffers enough from the teeth of hungry Ringtail Possums. To counter this it tries to regenerate new leaves and sometimes new blossom. In desperation I feed the possums apples to steer them away from the leaves and flowers however more turn up for a feed. Tonight 3 were waiting for their apple however there is no guarantee they will not still take out a desert of leaves before returning to their home which is currently on the ground behind some bricks stacked against the back fence.
This is my contribution to RonovanWrites Weekly Haiku Poetry Prompt Challenge 138 Secret & Burn. To read other private hot challenges this week visit https://ronovanwrites.wordpress.com/2017/02/27/ronovanwrites-weekly-haiku-poetry-prompt-challenge-138-secretburn/
Haiku hound 
How lovely of you to try and work out a bargain with your fellow creatures!
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Its that or lose more vegetation.
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You’re a regular ‘Father Nature’, Denis. I love that about you. I’m terrified of possums. I didn’t even know they liked apples. There’s a huge possum living in a plant island in the center of the golf course behind my house. I see him sometimes in the late afternoons when strolling the golf course with my dog.
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I think our possums are smaller than your Opossums, but take an apple cut in pieces next time you go on your stroll
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Another lovely haiku with a beautiful photograph :o)
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Thanks Xenia
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Such delicate-looking beauties. ❤
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The blossoms yes, the Possums maybe not, I don’t photograph them the flash blinds them.
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How charming 😌
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Thanks Agnes, they add something to the atmosphere as they flit around so freely
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Delicate blooms, to appreciate while you can. 🙂
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They are when the possums leave them on the tree.
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I like your haiku very much. I can certainly relate to feeding hungry visitors to distract them from the garden.
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Thanks Janice. One always hopes the feeding will deter from garden damage however this Summer its a losing battle. Our wildlife loses out to rampant development that begins by destroying vegetation with all kinds of flow on to wildlife and gardens. Some people, (usually ignorant) call for possums to be culled, I prefer to think Developers should be culled.
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A nice haiku Denis. I had a prolonged run-in with a possum who tried to take up residence under my house this fall. In the process they ate all my grapes. I won the fight though:)
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Thanks Pat I hope both you and the possum had a happy outcome. We have 3 Brushtail possums living in our ceiling, a mother and baby and last years baby now a young girl who resists being moved on.
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There moving around in the ceiling & walls was really unnerving. After I used cinder blocks instead of bricks to block their entrance they just moved on. They would just move the bricks like they had hands! It was quite the experience. Glad it’s over.
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Our style of house has entry points under the roof that cannot be blocked plus a chimney was built over and can be accessed by possums from the ground So we bear one mother as she always keeps all others out except for her last baby.
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Wow!
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Such drama with this photo. The lighting and shadows are just perfect!
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Thanks Joyce, it was more luck I think
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