Journal 7: Poetry in Nature

Date: November 15, 2018

TIme: 4:10 pm

Weather: 13º C, cloudy, cool breeze

Repeat photographs:

Again, I visited my site after 2 weeks so a lot had changed. The first (and biggest) change that I noticed was how even though I have visited my site between 3-5 pm many times, it has never been this dark and dusky. This change allowed me to witness the species at my site and the interactions between them in a new light, literally and figuratively.

Since it has been raining consistently for the past few days, the soil at my site was really moist and the ground was covered in even more mushrooms than before. Many of the older mushrooms had started to decompose. I had to tread very carefully to avoid squishing the mushrooms and ruining my shoes. 

This is the same species of mushroom that was here two weeks ago, which I identified to be the False Chanterelle (Hygrophoropsis aurantiaca). I also noticed some Deer Mushroom (Pluteus cervinus) but there were only a couple of them versus hundreds of the False Chanterelles. I wonder what adaptations/features allow the latter to be more dominant in this area.

I also noticed a lot of new horsetails (genus Equisetum).

Also, I don’t know if this counts as a change but I noticed a lot of cattails. I don’t remember them being here before but I could be wrong.

As the soil was wet, I was able to dig around quite easily and look for inverts. Within 5 minutes of my search, I managed to find what I think is a Red Worm (Eisenia fetida). 

I also made a video, in case you like seeing worms move around:

Some other species that I identified were –

1. Chicory (Cicorium intybus)

2. Devil’s beggarticks (Bidens frondosa)- this is the plant whose seeds get stuck on me everytime and get ages to get off, so I think the name is very fitting!

3. Bufflehead- the picture is really bad because the bird was very far away

4. Bewick’s Wren:

5. American Crow- I wasn’t able to get a picture of it

6.Canada Geese- They were flying over me. I wasn’t able to photograph them fast enough.

Poems

#1:

(This poem is about the Red Worm I identifies at my site. It’s about the essential contribution that Red worms and other earthworms make to our ecosystems- decomposition.)

i dug you out of the cold wet earth

where you were making life out of death

doing something so powerful

then why do you look so weak

so weak that your life could end

with a pinch from my fingers.

i came from the earth too

but all I do is make death out of life

your doing is greater

than mine will ever be

you should swallow me whole

and return me to the earth.

#2:

(This poem is about the crows that I see everyday and who have inhabited this land for thousands of years)

dear crow

they say that you’re a lot like us

you’re smart, you make friends, and you mourn.

did you mourn when the white men came for your land?

dear crow,

they say that you’re a lot like us

you remember, you recognize faces, you teach your young what you know.

do you remember what they looked like?

#3:

i’m wearing so much today

but the chill just seeps through

and i feel the cold in my bones.

when i look around

i feel lonely

because the trees and the rocks

and birds and the lake

look just fine.

the cold paralyzes me

but the wren flits and the branches shake

and the reeds swing.

it’s like they’re making fun of me

or maybe not.

maybe it’s a call to action

“don’t just stand there and

let the cold get to you! move!”

i decide to listen.

i move with the wind

i run after the wren

i sway like those tall grasses

and i feel the bitterness leave.