A poem for the emerging spring:

Mount McLaughlin and a lenticular cloud above Klamath Lake. Photo by Barbara Comnes 2017

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Lichen Spore

A little lichen spore travels a thousand miles
On a tiny bird’s tiny black foot
It falls softly in a tiny crevice of black obsidian rock
In a mountain of glass
Spit out 1200 years ago in volcanic earth eruption
 
The little lichen spore finds a tiny bit of moisture
In the tiny crevice
And begins to grow a tiny bit
Catching dust from the wind
Making soil for moss and plants
Like penstemon
Sun-loving
Rock-loving
 
Their tiny seeds and sweet fragrance lure rodents and tiny insects
By August frogs appear by the thousands
Driven by unknown forces
Away from the water to the obsidian mountain
 
These are the lines of time passing on the earth’s face
Violent upheaval and tender growth
Each piece of the planet becoming very special
The little black obsidian god
Bringing darkness and peaceful sleep to children in their beds
In this land of volcanoes.

by KS Wild volunteer Barbara Comnes