a touching one from bernard durward’s 1882 collection poems, on the matter of his very young daughter who died in the 1850s:
durward poems #6: “i’ll weep no more”
wisconsin
two poems w/ audio in _ballast_ journal
hi folks. ballast is a new literary journal edited by two poets doing good work. they’ve kindly accepted two of my poems for issue #2—one a lune made in the california redwoods (hence the redwood sorrel pictures), the other a long section of my long natural-family-personal history poem (probably the work i’m proudest of in the last few years).
they also gave me the pleasure of recording audio for the poems. you can see and read them here, and do give a look around the rest of the issue while you’re there!
sna poems #136: goose lake drumlins
goose lake drumlins sna is a couple parcels of land with six drumlins (oval-shaped hills formed by glaciers as till is shaped and scraped past by ice and water flow), two lakes, and wetland complex of marsh and bog in dane cty. the open water, wetland, and forest complexes (on the drumlins) make for rich mammal, fish, bird, and plant communities.
we were running low on time when we got here, and weren’t equipped to trek across large swaths of marsh, so we just enjoyed some time down by the cattails and viewed the drumlins from the dungeon (low area b/t drumlins) as we watched various birds of prey (including an eagle) fly about and dive. not a bad end to the day, tho i’d like to get back for a drumlin or two and to visit the bog south of goose lake.
first id of nannyberry (the bud below) thanks to the inaturalist community.
a.
wetland birds-of-prey
slopes and beaks
sun-drenched tamaracks
b.
black-cap chittering
cherry bark
in sunlit dungeon
c.
barn-cat gingerly
in marsh-grass
moraine-whales prowling
sna poems #135: deansville fen
deansville fen is a calcareous fen in a larger marsh wetland complex in dane cty, wisconsin. sedge meadow and hummocky wet prairie surround. crossing a tributary stream was quick and painless on a massive old tree that had fallen across but the maunesha river itself was trickier—involving gathering three vines growing out of the riverbank with the foot in order to create a suspended step above the water while lunging out to other small trees growing in the water while balanced on a protruding log caught in an accidental dam in the river—one foot went way in on the way back out!
but a fine morning in the fen, quiet, some birds singing, not much new growth yet. turkey and rabbit tracks in the snow.
a.
sunbleached snag in march
stretches out
above new fen-growth
b.
fen-grove
branch-creak
wind
c.
cottonwood leaves
with algae
in the wetland’s mouth
d.
a very awkward
wading bird
stalks the morning edge
durward poems, #4: love
today’s poem from bernard durward’s 1882 volume, poems, on topics most keenly appealing to me: time, death, and love.
durward poems: a tear (audio)
“a tear” from 19th-century milwaukee poet bernard durward. read from his 1882 collection, poems.
durward poems, #2: noontide
today’s poem is set presumably at durward’s glen in caledonia township, columbia cty, wisconsin. from his 1882 self-printed book, poems: vol 1.
a macabre ending, and i assume “cicala” is supposed to be “cicada.” summer in the glen.
sna poems, series supplementum #39: kratzsch preserve
kratzsch preserve is a 72-acre wood and wetland lot of former farmland rehabilitated by the ozaukee and washington county land trust. they’re doing good work here people. prairie, marsh, hardwood forest, frontage on the milwaukee river, glacial topography; little bit of everything.
this was a great hike, up and down, good steady wind on the prairie but some shelter in the woods and down by the river. snow drifts gave us a workout. sat with the robins and redwing blackbirds by the river for a spell. four lunes and views for you.
a.
snowmarsh and cattails
crows cawing—
trunk shadow and gone
b.
cork margin’s lake-edge
on dead birch
perilous gambit
c.
prairie grass hoophouse
seedhead sprays
accent the esker
d.
confluence upstream
milwaukee
runs on in light snow
sna poems, series supplementum #38: pavcek preserve
pavcek preserve is a small hardwood forest in the kettle moraine near holy hill. a small esker in the upland area, kettles and manmade ponds in the lowlands. we were expecting a springish walk w/ just-emerging spring ephemerals to check out, but then snow happened over the weekend, so back to the snowcovered woods and ice. beautiful and bracing.
a tufted titmouse gave us quite a concert near the largest pond, flitting in and out of trees and a large hollow branch of an oak.
a.
the winter kettle
under pines
hummingbird away
b.
tufted titmouse hoots
in and out
of oaken branchhome
c.
sunlight on pond ice
cardinals, crows,
snow below cherries
sna poems, series supplementum #37: scuppernong springs
scuppernong springs is a natural area in the south unit of the kettle moraine state forest, a rehabilitated wetland area (mostly marsh) along scuppernong creek-then-river. it was once the site of marl pits and works, a hotel, a trout hatchery, and cranberry bogs, but the wdnr and others have been doing lots of work.
a lovely site to walk thru, the boundary between land and water pretty shaky at times. kids loved it; playing in the stream in the 40s and cloudy with the waterproof boots. my 6yo fell in finally as a soft spring rain began to fall as well; he was fine. 🙂
‘scuppernong’ is reportedly from a ho-chunk word that means ‘sweet-smelling place.’
a.
cool air and crane song
spring water
cuts gravel and sand
b.
below the cattails
slate-blue sand
feeding the river
c.
before the spring-mouth
spring rain starts
scuppernong drifts by
Jacob Riyeff 