photo by Steve Damstra

Epiphany

I intended a peregrine—

it arrived at Godspeed.

There had been a dearth of peregrines you see.

I longed for eagles

and after many years, they returned to us

in abundance,

dancing on air streams,

spiraling courtships high in the air

then talons clasped

plummeting then

nesting in white pines.

After a dry season

our mountain ash bows with orange fruit

whereupon flocks of eager waxwings

gorge on orange berries this cold winter day.

I intended for the Holy Spirit to descend

in this season of epiphany

and its fire entered me and surrounded me

as a haze around Saturn in the

evening sky just above the horizon line.

It glowed unearthly bright that night.

On epiphany, my wishes and intentions are

for peregrines, eagles, waxwings

and the little Holy Child to stay with me

as eagles play in the airstreams,

as trees burst with nurture

and brightness forms our days.

This poem is from my book, Sophia’s Lost and Found: Poems of  Above and Below.  It is available from Barnes & Noble, Amazon.com and many other fine bookstores.

Sophia's Lost and Found

The Dynamic Great Lakes for our Planet

A critically acclaimed non-fiction book.

 

 

I wrote my non fiction book, The Dynamic Great Lakes to share some of the important information I have learned over the years, even before the first Earth Day. The book has a search inside feature on Amazon.com with key words, reading levels and now it is available for the Kindle reader. It is also available at Barnes & Noble and many other bookstores.

Above all, it is a book that encourages people to take care of the planet. It’s the only one we have.

Maybe the Manitous

The Wilderness Within by Barbara Spring

It’s getting colder now on the Great Lakes. The water looks heavy, dense, and usually by Thanksgiving, the first ice begins to form on the shore. First one crystal grabs a grain of sand and then it begins and a stiff collar of ice forms along the shore on the eastern side of Lake Michigan. Maybe the Manitous is a poem from my book, The Wilderness Within.

Maybe the Manitous

Eastward rolling water
pellucid dense and slow
Karo syrup gloss or
flowing molten glass.
One crystal grabs
one grain of sand and
the beach blooms
with frost flowers—
a stiff white collar grows
all along the sandy shore.
Cold.
Icy winds blast.
Ice balls bob, wink, crash.
An eagle’s cry hangs
midair
above a white horizon line—
when sweetwater seas
freeze.
Late afternoon sun—
deep blue shadows on snow
manitous whisper to ice shelves
sibilant spirits speak —
murmur to structures below.
From Milwaukee to Muskegon
cold rollers flow, then splash through
ice volcanoes on the shore
troll caves and canon balls
shot from polar storms
or maybe the manitous.

The Dynamic Great Lakes

A Critically Acclaimed non-fiction book about the five Great Lakes

The Dynamic Great Lakes is available in the new edition at Barnes & Noble online or in stores. It is also available at Schuler Books and Music, The Bookman, Amazon.com (paper and Kindle edition) and many other fine stores.

Looking into the Future of Lake Erie

For basic information about the Great Lakes system read The Dynamic Great Lakes now available for $7.95 on Kindle.

Return of the Eagles to the Great Lakes

Photo by Steve Damstra

A critically acclaimed non-fiction book

We just saw an American Bald Eagle flying over Lake Michigan and it’s always a thrill to see this.

Years ago there were practically no eagles around the Great Lakes due to DDT. Their eggs would not hatch. After reading Rachel Carson’s book, Silent Spring, Norm Spring and I worked to ban DDT in our community and then the state. It took a long time for DDT to purge out of the Great Lakes system, but now we rejoice every time we see an eagle fly. This environmental success story was the inspiration for me to write The Dynamic Great Lakes.
It may be ordered from Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble and the book may be found in many independent bookstores.

Whitefish Run in the Great Lakes

Sophia's Lost and Found by Barbara Spring

Whitefish Run December

They speed upstream to spawn after dark
slick as ice and pearly white:
whitefish from Lake Michigan’s depths
torpedo home.
With sure instincts
with DNA of generations
with chartreuse eggs; with white milt
their sleek white shapes streak
through dark river waters
now starting to freeze.
It’s been this way in the Great Lakes
since Edenic times
when Ice Age glaciers melted away.
And now in this coldest December
anyone alive can remember
fishermen risk a walk the piers
wear cleats on their boots
tie themselves to something solid.
They jig rigged lines on the river bottom
and sometimes land a sleek, slick, delicious fish
while west winds howl.

Excerpted from Sophia’s Lost and Found: Poems of Above and Below.

This book is available from Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble and many other fine bookstores.