Remembering kowhai

Jacaranda replaces
kowhai blooms in this warmer place,
lilac showers lilting in backyards
and alleyways, decorously adorning
where golden kowhai shades
would vigorously light up whole hillsides.

This sweet mauve softly invades
a late greening of spring,
eye-catching in soothing
silhouettes against
seamless skies, claiming
an end to winter.

Today I remembered again
the hearty welcoming of kowhai,
its reckoning warmth, its lively beckoning,
the challenge to begin a new year of growing.
I remembered kowhai and gathered in
soft jacaranda blooms with my gilded eyes.
© I.D. Carswell

Kowhai is a small woody legume tree native to New Zealand. There are eight species. Sophora microphylla is the most common, and has smaller leaves and flowers than Sophora teraptera. Kowhai trees grow throughout the country and are a common feature in New Zealand gardens.
Most species of Kowhai grow to around 8 m high and have fairly smooth bark with small leaves. They have horn-shaped yellow flowers, which appear in early spring. Their nectar is a favourite food for Tui and Kererū (New Zealand Wood Pigeon). The pods which appear after flowering each contain six or more seeds. Unusually for New Zealand plants, some species of Kowhai are deciduous, losing their tiny, dull green leaves each winter.
Sophora prostrata, sometimes called "Little Baby", is used as a Bonsai tree. It grows to the height of up to 2 meters, has zigzaging stems, and smallish leaves quite sparsely in the tree. [1]
Kōwhai is the Maori word for yellow, from the colour of the flowers.
The Kowhai is the national flower of New Zealand.