In Spring the gardener finds out death– What fruit tree limbs did not overwinter. Some stems twig and bud and bloom, Some stems splinter. I lost a limb some seasons back From my own flesh–my firstborn daughter. Time healed the break, but I still lack The apples of her laughter. __________________________________________________ Adam Greenwood lives with [...]
This is a rewrite of an earlier post published here on WIZ. One dark night in January of 2010 Mark and I made a last minute run to the only grocery store within 22 miles. On our return trip home, I drove with the SUV’s highbeams on, because we live on a rural road where, [...]
Space exhaled a puff of air. Caught in its stream pathless terrene thought it well to cleave a fresh path form a new road unzip the miles-thin protective layer. Aeriform meteoric hand punched through. Glass jugs exploded in a cosmic grand plie windows shattered crystalline light show creation’s crumble celestial chaff in its random wind. [...]
This is a rewrite of a post published here on WIZ that I’m including in my book Crossfire Canyon. I’m posting the rewrite today in response to finding a bounty-killed coyote on this morning’s walk. April 8, 2009. As I walked out of a nearby canyon last week along a trail where I had previously [...]
Let no man beguile you of your reward in a voluntary humility and worshipping of angels – Colossians 2:18 She thinks I am praying to her Kneeling before her Extending my hands to her Her Egyptian ancestors earned their worship Guarding food from mice, fighting cobras Giving shape to perfume and ointment jars Instead she [...]
Through tangles of blackberry canes gallops a regal creature of the timber: Odocoileus virginianus, or the white-tailed deer. This one is a buck with cracked antlers, his coat birch brown. He sniffs the air before crossing the man-made paths. This veteran has survived so many hunting seasons because of his respect for orange vests and [...]
First item of business: Wilderness Interface Zone is issuing a call for nature-themed prose: creative nonfiction or environmental nonfiction, eco-criticism, interviews, hybrid literary forms, and short fiction, including novel excepts, that reflect on humankind’s relationship to the natural world, wherever writers engage it. We’re especially interested in writing that demonstrates the need for and effects [...]
In my quest for perhaps a wrongly-remembered story about beavers in Yellowstone National Park, I’ve watched several national parks shows, including Ken Burns’ America’s National Parks series. Since we finished that show–worth the watch, by the way–I’ve looked for other, nature-toned documentaries. We saw that Amazon Prime would let us view PBS’s Nature series for [...]
Heart-iest thanks to participants who contributed to our sometimes sweet, sometimes bittersweet, sometimes citric Love of Nature Nature of Love Month. The list includes: Sue Halvorsen Merrijane Rice Ali Znaidi Scott Hales Enoch Thompson Lee Allred Theric Jepson Karen Kelsay Sarah Dunster Percival P. Pennywhistle Quite a spectrum to love this time around. Thank you [...]
God filled the earth with tigers; men and beasts warring for blood. He painted them with warning signs—what scarlet spots! In God we do not doubt. God filled the earth with tigers. The Father blessed his daughters in the order of His good Son, that we might all know good and evil. And still we [...]