Wild Poems

Clouds circled, sluggish with snow, in the April sky.
Left in its wake was a white blanket 15 inches deep.
It was a marvel, with winds sending flakes sideways
–even upward–
no telling where they’d land.

It snowed for days.
And while many grumbled,
no one could argue the exhilaration
of getting to behold such Wildness.

We dug ourselves […]

On the Equinox
the sun rises exactly in the east
travels through the sky for 12 hours
and sets exactly in the west.

On the Equinox
this is the motion of the Sun
through the sky
for everyone on earth.

Every place on earth
at the same latitude
regardless of hemisphere
experiences the same balance
of day and night
on just 2 days […]

Far from my Minnesota home
sits a research station at the edge of a peninsula.
Restored to its jungle origins,
the little station holds clear just enough space
for a few sleeping areas, a place to gather and eat,
and a base from which to study.

This Costa Rican paradise is far from comfortable
with heat and […]

Take a breath.
Close your eyes.
Exhale.
Listen.

In the north country this year
we’ve had long-lasting cold temperatures.
We’re tough, we manage.
We suit up and go on with our days.

It’s fine, if a little wearying –
the weight of all that we wear.

Perhaps you’ve noticed the change in light
the angle of the sun
how daylight is slowly […]

Most of us have met dogs
that we think look like a wild one:
a coyote, a fox, or a wolf.

Sometimes they get named
in accordance with their wild cousins.
And perhaps, we wonder,
if we saw them in the woods on their own,
might we mistake them for their namesake?

Truth is, when you see a […]

There is a pause now
this quiet Solstice time
before light slowly lengthens.

The temptation?
To count the days.
To hold our breath
until daylight stretches into evening
and early morning forces back the darkness.

What a relief it will be
these light-starved eyes
to see again
no longer fumbling in darkness.

Still,
somewhere deep inside
past resistance and reason
you know this darkness, […]