My husband maintains one of the community garden plots at the YMCA, and let me tell you — ‘tis the season over there!! The things popping up and blooming and fruiting are delicious and beautiful and absolutely count as bright little beacons of hope.

So, here’s to the mint and leeks and cherry tomatoes, and here’s to Kirk, whose birthday it is today, and here’s to whatever signs of life we may all be clinging to these days.

Haiku 29, 2026

Ruby red planets
shining through darkest matter
offer proof of life