Bluestem Lake

Leaf buds unwrap mystic gifts and in my life unfolding, there is also that unnameable pattern

spiraling out, sending sacred stretches towards the burning sun

Turning to it, I gather a beam of light

The moment of now runs away as I search out some lasting thing, knowing too well that all things erode

Poem by Joelle Wellansa, Naturalist-in-Residence

Photos by Troy Soderberg (top) and Robert Smith.

Ephemeral spiral in a winter ravine. Photo by Billie Shelton.