clover valley fen contains a series of 8-10 ft high peat mounds that began building around a set of springs 11,500 years ago(!). sedge meadow and woods surround the fen mounds, and whitewater creek runs thru it all. the iced-over wetland was a maze of frozen tussocks, some a foot over the ice. the fen mounds were spectacular, with spring water still visibly running off below the ice.
a.
i stand on 11,000-
year-old peat, massive—
morning sun casts long shadow
b.
bryophytes make a frozen home
on patchwork of tawny fen
the springs give them life
c.
stilting our way
over calcium-rich waters
deer have set blazes
