;)
Selections from Glade & Dome: Poems From Big Cypress National Preserve
by Wendy Burk & Eric Magrane
First Rain
A sweep of dark sky washes the east and the
restless air shifts. Just before thunder, air
empties, as if the sky must breathe in before
its rupture.
If any moment is a hinge between seasons,
this must be it.
Another Passage, Tamiami Trail
For many, the travel through the land is the
land. Slow down, I saw an alligator. I didn’t
see a panther. Did you see how red the trees
were? …is that from the fire?
After, the seen is remembered, so slow, so
always, filling a few dozen cells, we don’t
know where. Someday we’ll find the house of
long-term memory, probe with a silver needle,
and you’ll be racing this road again—
were we really going that fast?
those trees are still there, right?
About the Poets
These collaborative poems come from the manuscript Lake//River//Swamp, by Wendy Burk & Eric Magrane, based on their work as Artists-in-Residence in three national parks. Read more about their collaborative work in the national parks in an interview with the University of Arizona Poetry Center. You can read more of Wendy’s poetry and translations at Terrain.org and Back Room Live. For links to more of Eric’s poetry and art, visit www.ericmagrane.com.