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!