Refuge Poetry

USFWS PHOTO

Pahranagat National Wildlife Refuge visitor Edita Zacharr wrote the following poem after a visit to the refuge.

Paiute land

How many roads in Nevada
Will get you to Pahranagat
And could you get lost on that
Straight long road
Among the mountain ranges
The Delamar's slanted hills won't tell.
Tall wild white poppies along
The way sway with anticipation.

USFWS Photo

On a clear spring morning
The North Marsh overflows
Spilling its life force next door
Into the Upper Lake.
Shoots of milkweed, their
Jade fingers rim in the lapping water
And vertical islands of gray
Free of bark dead trees
Polished by wind and sun for years
Keep pointing always pointing
Heavenward their broken arms.

The water rippled at play in reeds
And bird songs abounded in the air
Southwestern willow flycatcher
The bobbing spool of his body
Looping back and forth
To catch whatever was so tasty
Resting a moment, only
To plunge again into the air,
Came up, came down.

USFWS Photo

Among the groves of cottonwoods
I chanced a sight of soft
Furry spot that moved
A young owl camouflaged
Against the bark, shielded by leaves.
A branch above its sibling
Both alertly watched every move
Turning their heads, observing
Camera lenses capture their calm.
Enduring excitement of eyes eager
For another glimpse,turning our heads.

USFWS Photo

A golden eagle was spotted too
And the slate span of a heron,s wing
A tarantula hawk performing little fling
Nothing could quite compete, however,
With the happiness and joy of that owling.
Along the straight road
In the Valley of Shining Water
Among the mountain ranges.