nichepoetryandprose

In contrast to October, November is a colorless month.  The exception – November’s red berries.

They punctuate the roads and ditches – Highbush-cranberry, Staghorn Sumach, American Mountain-ash, Hawthhorn and Rose.  Eventually the birds claim every one for food, but through most of early winter, the berries remain to cheer us.

Highbush Cranberry in November

Last November, my husband and I took a walk in the thicket of saplings above the lake.  As we came around the edge of a clump of alder, we were surprised to see a sturdy bush of Winterberry Holly.  It glowed with orange-red berries, set off by sprays of bronze-coloured leaves, not yet fallen.  We are used to seeing Winterberry along the lake, but in the grey and white thicket, the little bush was a gift.  We went there again this past Saturday, and there it was, glowing in the morning sun.

our bush of Winterberry Holly

Winterberry Holly (Ilex verticillata (L.) Gray)  is also known as Canadian Holly, Swamp Holly, Inkberry, Black Alder and Feverbush.    The shrub is usually found in wet areas, including wetlands, damp thickets, moist woods and along waterways.  The leaves turn a brassy purple-brown before they fall.  The fruit is a small, hard orange-red berry, remaining on the bush until January.       

In my poem, the words ‘lexicon’ and ‘exile’ are included as imperfect anagrams for Ilex (ilex). 

Canadian Holly 

          (Ilex verticillata (L.) Gray)

~

drab November

            and lexicon

            expires

umber leaves

grey verticals

dull stubble

~

winterberries

astound the wetland

            red ink on page

            and words explode

            from exile

~

fever flush and holly

above December snow

icicles vermillion

~

© Jane Tims  2011