How to Love – A Poem

Sedum in a Garden ©2016 Bo Mackison

Sedum in a Garden ©2016 Bo Mackison

How To Love

Start. Sit at the kitchen table. Reach out.
Touch the sunlight slanting through the window with your finger tips.
Or sit on the porch swing. Listen to the breezes whistle through the garden grasses.

Look for the sweet spot. Its location may surprise you.

The flowers on the bleeding heart plant have wilted. The late tulips
have withered and dropped their petals; the foliage too has fallen to the earth.

There, emerging from the rock wall, the waxy sedum, gray-whiskered saxiphrage,
rose moss ‘midst the rocks, in earth pockets and shadow.
It is enough for sedum and saxiphrage and moss to thrive.

Realize. There is no destination. No path off yonder that leads to the promised land.
No path at all. No map.

The path is the footfall; the map is the hand grip on the walking stick.

Listen. A glossy blackbird perched on a fence post
trills caaa-ca-ree caaa-ca-ree.

Remember. The ancient courses through your bloodstream,
you inhale the exhaled breath of millions.
You drink water that has circumnavigated the world: it has risen, it has fallen, it is flowing still.

Become one with the air, one with the wind, one with the earth. You already are. Accept this.

Make a torch. What will you use for the stick, the rags, the fuel?
And once it is aflame, what will you see?

Will the stars pour milky trails into the sky to lead you onward?
Will the blackbirds invite you into the forest with their song?

Or will the torch blind you to your surroundings, restrict your vision to that which is already within reach?

Perhaps the choice is not one of leaving but of staying.

At the kitchen table. On the porch swing.
Between the rock garden and the hard place.

There is a bowl of blackberries, a book of poetry. The sunlight slants through the window.

And when night comes, you will see stars.

~~~~~

Inspired by the poem “How To Fall In Love” by Susan Elbe

Evening Phenology, Owen Conservation Park in Madison Wisconsin

 

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Trail Through Virginia Bluebells ©2016 Bo Mackison

May 5, 2016

Owen Conservation Park, west side of Madison, Wisconsin

Start: 6:00 p.m. (sunset 8:04 p.m.)
sunny 68˚F
wind 5 mph NW
barometric pressure 30.00
humidity 29%

In the woods:

Virginia bluebell, in full bloom along the woodland trail.
False solomon seal emerging
Wood anemone in bloom, moderate show
Woodpeckers, species unknown (lots of rat-a-ta-a-tatting high in the hardwoods)
Fiddle heads, many fully opened, common in open wooded areas.
Honeysuckle, beginning to flower
Robins, common
Lesser periwinkle (vinca) in full bloom, common
Dutchman’s breeches, only a few still blooming

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Forest of Bloodroot ©2016 Bo Mackison

Bloodroot, emerging foliage, common in the under-story.

Yellow bellwort, bloom done
Columbine emerging
Creeping charlie (ground ivy, spreading mint) in dense bloom, disturbed ground near trail
Wild geranium (potted geranium) profuse bloom, common
Dandelions
Common blue violets (wood violet, wooly blue violet) in bloom, profuse
Trillium, Grandiflora, two bunches
Wood sorrel
Small white violets, uncommon

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Tree Canopy ©2016 Bo Mackison

White oaks, leaves emerging; Red maples, silver maples, leafing.

Arrow-leaved violet, uncommon
Garlic mustard in bloom (invasive weed threat)
Golden alexanders, full bloom
May apples, emerging foliage, no bloom.
Sumac, 6 ft high “sticks” with emerging red leaves
Maple tree shoots, six inches high, cover the forest floor.
Crabapple trees, several varieties, in moderate-full bloom

Finish:

6:35 p.m.
64˚F sunny, few high clouds to the south
wind 5 mph NW
humidity 28%

~~~~

Twice a week phenology reports in woodland; once a week reports from prairie and pond. Owen Conservation Park, Madison Wisconsin

Phenology is the study of plant and animals and their cycles influenced by climate and seasonal change, i.e., birds nesting/migrating,  flowers blooming, trees leafing.

Phenology is Alive and Well – Report #1

Lesser Periwinkles ©2016 Bo Mackison

May 1, 2016

Owen Conservation Park, west side of Madison, Wisconsin

Start: 8:10 am
cloudy 43˚F
wind 10 mph NE
barometric pressure 30.10
humidity 80%

Woods:
hear Woodpeckers, species unknown
Fiddle heads emerging
Trout lilies in full bloom
Jack in the pulpits, just emerging from earth
Honeysuckle, in tight bud
Chokecherry, leaves clustered
Robins, common
Bluejay, male adult
Lesser periwinkle (vinca) in moderate bloom
Dutchman’s breeches, close to full bloom
Virginia bluebell, full bloom
False solomon seal emerging
Wood anemone in bloom, moderate show
Bloodroot, emerging foliage
Yellow bellwort, in moderate bloom
Columbine emerging
Creeping charlie (ground ivy, spreading mint) dense blooms, disturbed ground near trail
Wild geranium (potted geranium) in moderate bloom
Maple tree shoots, six inches high, thick
Crabapple trees, several varieties, in moderate bloom

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Golden Alexanders ©2016 Bo Mackison

Prairie:
Common blue violets (wood violet, wooly blue violet)  in bloom, profuse
Garlic mustard in bloom (invasive weed threat)
Golden alexanders, moderate bloom
May apples, foliage emerging, no blooms – love these clusters of green umbrellas
rafter of wild turkeys – one adult male, three adult females
Confederate violets (blue and white variation of common purple) uncommon
White oak trees with emerging leaves
Ironwood trees, partially open leaves, still curled
Red maples, partially opened leaves
Silver maples, partially open leaves
Sumac, 5 ft high “sticks” with emerging red leaves
second rafter of wild turkeys – one adult male, five adult females

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Rafter of turkeys ©2016 Bo Macksion

Pond:
Red wing blackbirds, common
Cardinals, a pair
Mallards, pair in water
Yellow warbler

Finish:

9:43 am
46˚F cloudy
wind 5 mph E
humidity 72%

~~~~

Twice a week phenology reports in woodland and prairie; once a week reports from pond. At Owen Conservation Park, Madison Wisconsin

Phenology is the study of plant and animals and their cycles influenced by climate and seasonal change, i.e., birds nesting/migrating,  flowers blooming, trees leafing.

 

Chiricahua and Beyond – Day 1

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Drive east across southern Arizona
veer southeast at Willcox
and cross the high desert.

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Here are the Chiricahua Mountains, a sky island,
and Chiricahua National Monument.
Begin in the mixed oak and conifer forest and

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ascend 6000 feet, finish amidst the highest rocks,
Chiracahua Peak is 9,759 feet high.
An Apache place name, it  means “a wonderland of rocks”.

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The rocks are rhyolite, volcanic rock,
the trees are juniper, pygmy trees,
and the Chiricahuan Raven calls this mountain his home.

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Return the way one came, descending Bonita Canyon Road,
and return to the high desert.
The tumbleweed blow. A storm approaches.

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Drive east again, towards New Mexico,
the first day of travel nearly done.
The air so dry and hot, the rain evaporates before it reaches the ground.

~~~~~~

Cross country travel. Using iPhone and Hipstamatic app. There is little time to stop for photographs, so these are on-the-road shots.

Desert Poppies – A Poem

Golden Desert Poppies

Desert Poppies © 2013 Bo Mackison

Notice how present a flower is, how surrendered to life. ~ Eckhart Tolle

It is a beautiful place, this desert.

Hard to imagine its fullness of life, its diversity
until I explored her land each day.

Tread on mountain paths lightly frosted in mid winter
scrambled into washes torn asunder by summer flash floods.
Walked her rocky trails aware of each footfall,
threaded my way through deep crevice mazes.

I reach towards a saguaro to steady my balance
only to pull back in mild shock
imagining my hand pierced with the spines of a saguaro.

I stand in her washes in spring, the desert in her blossoming season,
admire the waving yellow poppies, their throats flushed with red,
their roots grounded in a chaos of rock and grit,
their silken petals a delicate offering amidst so much ruggedness.

—————-

Oh the places, the spaces in the desert; the discoveries, the inspiration in the desert.