Tsuga canadensis
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Where there is now a nascent hemlock stand
A grand hemlock of many years once stood
Should you want to know the story of the land
Stumps are shorthand for rains and winds withstood
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Snowbirds
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Tracks in the snow let me know where you go
Gray squirrels run in circles throughout the woods
Near feeders the three-toed hops of junco
Woodpeckers pace up and down the ironwoods
Follow the heart-shaped tracks of buck and doe
We’re all leaving tracks through the neighborhood
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(A Sicilian Sestet)
Fallen Fungus
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Oh dear the mushroom has been uprooted
Some careless walking has it uprooted
It sure looks like it’s been hiking-booted
The soft pine needle ground buffered its fall
It’s squat, short and stout with not far to fall
Do you think the person noticed it at all?
Amazingly for this organism
This is not death for this organism
Regardless of our own barbarism
Miles of mycelium supporting
Acres of hyphae supporting
Nearly immune to human cavorting
Mushrooms will thrive long after we are gone
As extinct as the great mastodon
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(A Blues Sonnet)
Monotropa uniflora
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Mystery flower
Dusty waxy translucence
Beauty facing forest soil
Emerging within
The shelter of the tree trunk
From the cradle of downed leaves
Feeding on tree roots
Enchanting woodland magic
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(A Choka Poem)
First Warm Weekend
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Sitting by the fire gazing at the stars
A gap in the forest affords us the view
Tent in the clearing will sleep just us two.
*
For tonight this bit of nature is ours
Sitting by the fire gazing at the stars
A gap in the forest affords us the view
*
Sitting by the fire, warms as wood chars
Special moments like this are far too few
Spending time this way is what we should do
Sitting by the fire gazing at the stars
A gap in the forest affords us the view
Tent in the clearing will sleep just us two.
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(An English Madrigal Poem)
Heat
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Burning wood keeps my home warm.
Who is left cold in
The forest?
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( A Quinzane Poem)
A Picture and a Poem 