State Natural Area Poems

state natural area poems #19: bailey’s harbor boreal forest and wetlands

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a.

berms and hills

tumbling moss

forest going to sleep

b.

sprays of birch

over upright apes

gold in the air

c.

you push thru pines your height

and thimble berry dense

young in the boreal forest

d.

birch leaves radiant, frogs

and mushroom gills spread

moss mats thick on the ground

bailey’s harbor boreal forest and wetlands is exactly what it sounds like! a fantastic and barebones trail thru the woods with extensive bryophytes and currently-blazing fall colors. a newer section goes along the lakeshore. thanks to the wisconsin dnr for caring for this site!

state natural area poems, supplementum anthropocenum #2: fox river at vernon, wi a & b

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a.

on jumbled cement slabs in fox river

how little we know about our river friends—

i thought the current would be headed west

b.

fox river algal sways

rushes grow tall

blue heron sees us all

as i sat on one of the huge chunks of cement dumped near the bank of the fox river, i found myself trying to keep the electricity poles and other slabs of debris out of the shots of the opposite bank. that didn’t feel quite right, so i figured i had another “anthropocenum” moment on my hands. these shots are frank about what the fox looks like at this moment in its journey from halbach swamp down to the illinois.

state natural area poems #18 a, b, c, d, and e: martin’s woods

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before the first three-liner this time, i just wanted to say ‘thanks’ to all the folks who’ve continued to read these and ‘like’ them too. it’s been a real blessing knowing that a few people out there continue to enjoy a moment with these virtual traces of my walks and identifying-sprees.

thanks, everyone!

a.

tussocky grass soft underfoot

feathered lichen tree-grasp

moss and mushrooms win the day

b.

off the map as raindrops

shower canopy. thank God

for woods with no direction

c.

like wordsworth i leave the city

walls, danish in hand

sky, aster, swamp-oak

d.

moss sex

stripped bark—

a heavenly cascade

e.

bare trunks spire the sky

as bird-call fills the boughs again

out the woods, into the swamp

martin’s woods is a 32-acre plot in waukesha county with mesic and wet-mesic forest as well as a hardwood swamp dominated by ash and swamp white oak. no trails or access aside from the forest edge. wonderful. thanks to the waukesha land conservancy for caring for this land!

state natural area poems, supplementum anthropocenum #1, a & b

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a.

stinkhorns, you’ve taken

all we’ve thrown your way

disturbance a way of life

b.

primrose blankets the broken ground

wort-wisdom making virtue

geese along the evening’s river

this new supplemental subgrouping of sna poems, the “supplementum anthropocenum” will showcase occasional moments of exceptional, natural rupture in the urban and other built environments.

in one of my seminars this term, my students and i are talking about how ‘nature’ isn’t ‘out there.’ (and the troubles that arise from the view that it is.) thought i should start taking it seriously in this series too.

here, a patch of stinkhorns continues to work down the wood chips in a median strip heading into downtown milwaukee (it fruits a few times a year), while a vigorous stand of evening primrose beautifies an abandoned lot on the city’s lower east side. how is this not ‘nature’?

state natural area poems #16: sander’s park a, b, & c

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a.

elms tower the swale

and feathered honey understory

stop listen see

canopy
jack in the pulpit down
zigzag goldenrod

.

b.

thick-cut rivers of bark

spleenworts humbling below

root yourself in the made

canopy
agarics doing what they do best
sky

.

c.

zygomorphic spikes

of great blue lobelia

crowding our hasty retreat

great blue lobelia
woodland sunflower fading

.

sanders park state natural area is set within a park and ringed ’round by exculpating road(!). two different kinds of forest grow on swells and swale, an ancient terrace of lake michigan. an intermittent stream flows thru the whole; lots of wildflower and fern species.

thanks to racine county parks for keeping this patch of earth.

state natural area poems #15: muskego park hardwoods a, b, & c

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a.

waxy white sentinels

urge the leaf-litter

bowed and tremendous

b.

turkey tail splaying for the world to see

gill-bearers make life from death

the deep wet black of rot

c.

jack-in-the-pulpit lobed rubies

frogs in the rain-filled tracks

under-story going to sleep

Muskego Park Hardwoods is an old-growth southern dry-mesic forest in Waukesha County, Wisconsin. Some past grazing has brought in new species of wildflowers, and a healthy blend of different hardwoods stand strong. Thanks to Waukesha County for preserving this old-growth community!

state natural area poems, supplementum #11: urban ecology center-riverside a, b, & c

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a.

a foot in boggy fossils

and cousins thrive together

your eyes a slippery flame

cousins

—

b.

you play the possum joey

on slick bare trunk

an image for when you’re grown

polypores pushing their margins

—

c.

mud on your boots and leggings

you sniff out gold-decked trails

and lead me to new crossings

river’s edge
birds-foot trefoil

—

the urban ecology center has three absolutely fantastic sites in milwaukee. check them out whenever you’re in the city.

this is a trio of “found living poems” for my kids, one for each.