Hendy Woods

Bradley Earle Hoge

Damp primordial—
mosses marking trees

like telescoping
stratigraphy.

Various colors spiraling
up the bark

twisting the trunks of trees
like strands of DNA.

Kaleidoscope of ages,
travelling back in time—

hypnotizing
portal to an epoch before

scars of management for recreation.
Momentary mindfulness

disrupted by voices
becoming cacophony

of conversations ripping
the forest apart. Laughing,

barking—not wolves,
but dogs, engineered

to serve and protect—
sirens, beeping of trucks 

backing up. Reminding
—this grove

is surrounded
by civilization.

Fire’s scorch on redwoods
not lightning strike,

not smoldering from within,
but spreading like disease.

Invasive mold
killing tap oak, and elysium.

There is no escape
to be found in this quaint

park—bordered by orchard—
river—roads. If you stop

to contemplate nature
—scapes and sounds—

you can hear the cars.
The more silent you become

the more disturbance
enters. Turning the forest—

not into sanctuary,
but rather into shrine.

The Science

The science behind this poem has to do with restoration/conservation ecology. There are many challenges for a restoration ecologist, especially for a forest adjacent to an urban or agricultural area. Controlled burns are often the most effective strategy to maintain diversity in a forest, but are often not available as a tool due to risks to surrounding areas; This problem is exacerbated for forests by the accumulation of litter due to restricted burning making the fire more dangerous if it does occur.

The Poet

Bradley Earle Hoge’s poetry appears in numerous anthologies and journals, most recently in Red Planet, Fleas on the Dog, and Courtship of the Winds, and upcoming in Fault Zone: Reverse, and Utopia Science Fiction. His book Nebular Hypothesis was published by Cawing Crow Press in 2016. He has also published four chapbooks and was the Managing Editor for Dark Matter Journal. He has been a teacher, a children’s museum curator, a college professor, and a vagabond. He currently teaches science at the Nueva Middle School in Hillsborough California.

Next poem: How lovers journey through the solar system by Moira Garland