a.

ferns waving flank

our footsteps, hornworts, bedrock

chainsaw echo on dolomite

b.

ankles ache below beech and hemlock

the sedge softness and alkaline marsh

tramping earth while we draw breath

c.

if beech trunks aflame

won’t tell us of heaven

what on earth will?

meridian state park is a forest, alkaline marsh, and sedge meadow on an isthmus between kangaroo lake and lake michigan in door county, wisconsin. the prominent outcropping of the niagra escarpment is something else, but so is the wood and the marsh. tremendous. thanks to door county for tending this land, and the workers who were there clearing trails as we walked them.