Nettles and Bindweed

After several weeks of rain, the solstice has brought with it high temperatures and bright sunshine – accompanied by nettles and bindweed. The nettles are now taller than me and, as much as I like the bindweed’s white, trumpet-shaped flowers, known to children in the UK as ‘Granny-pops-out-of-the-bed’, their tendrils are winding themselves around everything. It’s too hot for gardening, so I’ll let the nettles and bindweed take over for a while, just to watch butterflies among them, and Luna stalking them like a jungle.

solstice afterglow
stretches slowly in the sky
a lazy feline

Kim M. Russell, 22^nd June 2026

Frank is our host at the dVerse Poets Pub for this month’s Haibun Monday, and we are writing about the first solstice of 2026.

Frank says that it is a ‘real Gemini of a day, depending on your locale: the Solstice is the longest day/shortest night of the year, or vice versa. It marks the official commencement of either Summer or Winter’ and is ‘enough inspiration for any poet’. He’s given us some examples for inspiration.