The Prairie is Always Alive

Tessa Seifried

There’s this view
up on a hill pretty high for Nebraska plains
They burn the top for camping
But the way up is bluestem and milkweed
Expanding below this hill is a prairie
that must be centuries old
untouched, dancing in the breeze,
dotted with Purples and Whites and Yellows
It smells like home, and I want nothing more
than to kiss the flowers of the yarrow plant
A gate separates that historic land
from the lowlands of the Platte River,
thick with grasses and cattails
And when the sun sets here along the horizon of those lowlands
it kisses the treeline winding with the silver ribbon of the river
Braided and barred
Dotted with barbed wire and grazing cows
When the sun sets along that river,
the whole sky turns to fire
and when that fire burns out
you can see the bubbles of light from nearby towns
of a few thousand,
unaware of how they make the stars disappear
The transmission towers become shadows,
turn to fantastical giants
And if I look over my shoulder,
I see the darkness in the thirsty corn fields
And this place, to compare, is simply a haven
that used to be the whole world

When I walk down that hill
the porcupine grass drills into my shoes
and the ticks crawl up my arms
The sensitive briar closes when my fingers find their leaflets
and the roots of the coneflower make my mouth go numb
And when I walk through the Platte
it comes up to my knees
And my ankles weigh down with the algae
The water I stand in lacks oxygen, I imagine
And when I breathe
I smell sulfur and smoke

Oh beautiful Nebraska prairie
What will they do to you
When the bubble of light bears bad news?
When the muddy river trickles to almost nothing?
What will you do then?
When your way of life is lost to hungry mouths?
There’s nothing more I love
than the wandering current of the Platte
A campfire at the top of a high Nebraska hill
Kind cows and meadowlarks
I hope the day never comes where she dies
In my memories the prairie is always alive

The Science

Prairies are a form of grasslands that can be found in many places, including the Midwest United States This specific poem talks about the prairies of Nebraska, which is a state very well known for its corn and soybean production. Because of agricultural demand, the native prairies are now shrinking to nothing, and many are feeling the effects of pollution from nearby factories and centres for livestock and meat production. The combination of industrial agriculture and pollution has led to unhealthy prairie ecosystems and the discovery of dangerous chemicals in nearby rivers.

The Poet

Tessa Seifried is an American student attending university in Chicago in order to get a degree in Environmental Science. Along with poetry, she is interested in novel writing, creating music, and environmental research. She's excited to have her first work published through Consilience, and she hopes to get many more works out to the world in the future. Connect with her on Instagram @leavesbythepond.

Next poem: The river pothole by Hywel Griffiths