SACO HEATH

Hemlock, maple, white pane line the trail
Leading through forested wetland. Soon the heath
Appears. Once a shallow pool received
The recycling centuries’ detritus of stale

Mosses, leaves and roots. It became a marshy
Peatland bog till trees began to cover,
The earth firmed, the concavity filled, and over
It swelled a coalesced convexity, harshly

Acidic, ungenerous to growth. What left
Was thinly replaced, the yellowing tamarack,
The busy sundew, rhodora, scanty black
Spruce. Savor the spaciousness, the weft

Of swirling sedges echoing Vincent skies,
Alive, restoring in its emptiness.

(134, October 29, 1993)

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Some views of Saco Heath here.