it's in our hands

Wednesday poem- White Pine branch

This poem is part of a series titled 'Huron Days' I wrote in 1995 during a week's stay at  Pinery Provincial Park, located on the eastern shores of Lake Huron, Ontario, Canada.

White Pine branch

untangles the night

to a gray laden morning

as remnant raindrops

filter through a

clinging nest

the sparrow’s

scattered song

 

 

 

 

 

 

Morning of a Fawn

Wednesday poem - Rippled reflection

This poem is part of a series titled 'Huron Days' I wrote in 1995 during a week's stay at  Pinery Provincial Park, located on the eastern shores of Lake Huron, Ontario, Canada.

the lake trembles

as a frightened animal

to the approaching storm

a youth on the prow

ghostly reflected by

ash-colored waters

disturbed within a rippled

shadow of an eye blink

 

 

 

 

 

Of Man and Beast in the Bayou

Wednesday poem - Pause

This poem is part of a series titled 'Huron Days' I wrote in 1995 during a week's stay at  Pinery Provincial Park, located on the eastern shores of Lake Huron, Ontario, Canada.

the wind pauses

the lake calms to a lull

inner voices once muted

now echo loudly the

deceptions of fake aromas

exposed and left stranded

upon this shore

 

I no longer crave

remorseful landscapes

of carpeted lies and

pulsate as the wondering

contours of these dunes

in the quavering of leaves

that though fallen and

withered can offer still

intimate fires of rebirth

 

 

 

Reflections upon Visiting Effigy Mounds Preserve in Whitewater, WI

Recently my wife Susanne and I spent a few days in Whitewater, Wisconsin. I was looking forward to visiting the largest group of Native People’s effigy mounds this side of the Mississippi. I was taken aback when we arrived at the entrance of Effigy Mounds Preserve. We found ourselves in the middle of a newly built upper middle class and upper class suburb. A large area of lawn surrounds the signage, a wood post and wire fence demarcates the boundaries of the preserve, a wide mowed path constitutes the trail system around the mounds and small information signs placed at appropriate locations describe each one. The first leg of the trail was incredibly weedy and the first set of mounds could not be distinguished from the surrounding growth, my expectations vanished. As we made our way into the preserve we noticed that some mounds had been herbicided and exhibited a brown desiccated look to them.  The landscape looked better now with large patches of prairie plants; obviously there has  been restoration of the savanna within the open oak canopy at some point in the past. A healthy group of young oaks promises to replace the older ones in the future. My landscape architectural training makes its presence in my mind. What if low-growing native sedges covered the mounds?  They would offer a good distinction from the surrounding savanna and afford a better visualization of the mound shapes; perhaps extending slightly beyond the mounds’ contours so that the effigies could be clearly experienced. I could not help wonder if Native People had been consulted on the maintenance; it seems the site is under major neglect. The presence of mansion homes along the periphery, clearly seen from within the site, constitutes a terrible contrast to the sublime and small scale of the mounds themselves. Anger at this outrage burned inside me. Some of these mounds date back to 900 AD and whoever allowed this subdivision to be built showed much disrespect to this sacred site and the native culture.  There must have been an alternative solution that could have been worked out with the developer such as establishing a native species buffer between the development and the preserve. I also wondered if the site could be given to the native people for upkeep, I bet it would be treated with deserved respect. It seems to me that some remnant perverse values of Manifest Destiny are still at work here. This was my last thought upon exiting the preserve.

On the drive back towards Chicago another perspective popped in my mind, what did I know about the native outlook on this? I am not part of that culture, what if the mounds are a last burial ceremonial act and then the complex is left to natural occurrences? Is the need to exhibit, a western cultural phenomenon? The native people came back to the site periodically shown in the different age and style of the mounds and must have had some maintenance protocol. Someone must know or would they, given the forced dispersion and intentional dismemberment of this culture by European settlers. If we are to maintain a physical connection to this history, we should do it in the best way possible and the general condition of this monument does not represent our best effort.