Waiting for wild life to pass by
Back in our Grey Woods is a tiny ‘park’. Just an area I try to keep clean of dead-falls. Years ago, my Mom loved this little area. She found ‘ghost pipe’, also called ‘Indian pipe’ (Monotropa uniflora), growing there. These are parasitic plants without chlorophyll. They are small, less than 20 cm high. The ‘pipe’ is an excellent descriptor since a plant consists of a nodding head on a slender stem.
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My Mom tried to protect these uncommon plants from trampling by putting shingles in the ground to mark the location.
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The ghost pipes no longer grow there. The shingles have rotted and disappeared. Change is inevitable and in this little park, change is likely related to nutrient conditions. My Mom is also gone but I keep the little park to remember the day she tried to save the ghost pipe.
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One addition I made to the area is a small bird feeder. I installed the feeder on an old red maple tree. The feeder is painted iron, moulded in the form of Saint Francis of Assisi. Saint Francis lived in Italy at the turn of the thirteenth century and is known for his love of animals and the natural environment. He believed nature was the mirror of God and the animals were his brothers and sisters. He even preached to the birds (Source: Wikipedia).
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ghost pipe
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in grey woods
Saint Francis
cast in iron
watches wild
life pass by
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red squirrel
ceaseless motion
white-tailed deer
pauses, listens
a chipmunk
runs the log
fallen tree
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time also
passes by
Aralia
and bracken
replace white
ghost pipe, once
grew here, all
nature a mirror
of our lives
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All my best,
Jane
nichepoetryandprose 
Wonderful (and wonderfully appropriate) feeder. I first saw Indian or Ghost Pipes in the mountains of West Virginia. They’re fascinating. I’ve seen some in the swamps here.
Great post, Jane, with a lovely poem to finish.
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Robin
June 16, 2018 at 2:08 pm
Thanks Robin. As I write my science fiction it constantly occurs to me that I can’t ‘invent’ plants ( or animals) as interesting and odd as we have here on earth.
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jane tims
June 16, 2018 at 6:43 pm
Lovely picture of St. Francis and a great poem. I’ve seen the Indian Pipes down in Fundy Park … strange things … very ghostly. Nice work and very informative.
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rogermoorepoet
June 13, 2018 at 10:56 am
Thanks Roger. Thought I’d write some new poems in my blog posts for the next while!
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jane tims
June 15, 2018 at 8:25 pm
I love this whole post, Jane. Poem, photo, blog entry.
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Jane Simpson
June 13, 2018 at 7:41 am
Thanks Janie. Writing some new poems these days, different from my sci fi work.
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jane tims
June 15, 2018 at 8:24 pm