The Preserve Poem by Eric S. Houser

Beautiful Pitch Pines, Sycamores, and Black Oak, border winding sandy trails,
Bygone Cranberry Bogs are fed and nourished by a whispering brackish creek,
Dragonflies hunt and share their airspace with meandering Black Swallowtails,
Where in the forest, Tree frogs, Warblers, and Barred Owls boldly speak,
Water-lillied lakes are bordered by White Cedars, Blueberry bushes, and Bronze Cattails,
While Belted Kingfishers, and Blue and Green Herons fish with elegant beaks!
A Beaver's Lodge, a Tree Swallow's nest, a dew-dropped Spider's veil,
Mountain Laurel flourishes with white-flowered blooms and red-striped streaks!
Soaring high above on a rising thermal, a Bald Eagle calls and protests a harassing Red-tail!
Along the bog, a Downy Woodpecker and a cautious Chipmunk squeak!
Near a lake, a Female Box Turtle lays her eggs in a fresh dugout of wet sand and gravel,
Pitcher plants and delicate mushrooms abide on the forest floor and on fallen trees,
In the canopy, Cicadas call in a rhythmic unison, one last time in summer, to no avail,
While Phoebes and Pewees, feeding their young, incessantly rotate their insect sorties,
Days shorten, nights cool, leaves turn to crimson, as the winds of change prevail,
Honk! Honk! The migration begins, with winter not far away, from Nature's worries!