this 11-acre wood sits on uw-milwaukee’s campus and is being rehabilitated by the uwm field station. tucked right in there b/t campus and some housing, fenced in to keep out the riff-raff—you know, buckthorn and wild mustard et al.

it was a bitterly cold afternoon, but the sunlight and a small frozen rivulet afforded good fun for all. and we happened on a doodad-festooned tree that was a surprise.

the forest is sleeeeeping.

a.

golden rivulet

piercing eye

in the bitter cold

b.

a woodpecker’s knock

comes gently—

february air

c.

dense suffocation

under leaves

on winter’s still ground