Nature's Infinite Book of Secrecy

In nature's infinite book of secrecy
A little I can read.

-- William Shakespeare, The Tragedy of Antony and Cleopatra (Act I, Scene ii.)
The Soothsayer's words

Apparently, I keep reading the same passages over and over in nature's infinite book. Every summer I take countless photos of the wine berries on my road, gorgeous in color and texture at every stage of development. I never tire of those multi-hued jewels that emerge from the purple-whiskered casings. I keep coming back to the crimson, orange and chartreuse of the ripening berries, glittering against the green foliage.

The picture was taken on the 4th of July this year, uphill from my house. Click on the photo to enlarge the image.

Wine Berries

Ripening wine berries, my hill, this summer evening.

Even these long days
are not nearly long enough
for the skylark's song.

The haiku is by Matsuo Basho, translated by Sam Hamill, from Narrow Road to the Interior. Hamill says that Basho "wrote from within the body; his poems are full of breath and sound as well as images and allusions." That's why these poems still seem so alive -- quivering -- even though Basho lived from 1644-1694.

Photo taken at 5:23 PM, 7/14/08.