Midnight Spirits

We are the distant,
fragile, spirits of stars.
Snakeskin dimples,
sinuous water.
Sitting up straight
on a dream.
Fish hunting at night.
Lights and darkness-
the soundly sleeping crew.

Mother, Father

Our generations

fail you.



You are the sun

You are the forest before fall,

the smell of mushrooms.



We are coffee dripped

into a laughing stream.



Our right hands

caress you

lovingly

we have almost

left them

behind.

mannahatta resources

cool Hudson river environmental resources:

Clearwater!
HYPERLINK "http://www.clearwater.org/education/" http://www.clearwater.org
A great environmental organization built around a working, sailing replica of a 200 year-old ship! Public sailing programs, environmental advocacy, and Pete Seeger!

Hudson River Museum!
HYPERLINK http://www.hrm.org/" http://www.hrm.org/
A museum for all ages and curiosity categories:
Art Peeps: cool art museum, check out the Hudson River School fall show until January 26.
Science Geeks: a permanent, kid-friendly but adult-engaging exhibition on the Hudson as an ecological entity.
Steam Punks: a super decked-out Victorian style mansion you can peruse. It’s nuts. Ask Matt Cleary.

The New York/New Jersey Trail Conference
HYPERLINK http://www.nynjtc.org/content/where-you-can-go-bus-or-train
An awesome nature resource in many regards. They make great trail maps. They maintain trails and you can volunteer to help them do so. And they have a section of their website devoted to public-transit accessible hiking. Bouldering too.... rock on.

Fireboat.org
HYPERLINK http://www.fireboat.org
An historic fireboat that is super cool, and offers free rides up and down the Hudson when weather permits (all seasons ‘cept winter.) Check the “calendar” option of their website when the weather warms.

Hudson Highlands
HYPERLINK http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hudson_Highlands
My mecca. I’ll take you hiking there if you want. Or explore on your own. You can’t go wrong. See NY/NJ Trail Conference for some great topographical maps of the area.

Reecent Writing 2

Twilight

Whisper with your eyes, child
the mountain breeze
is listening
the laurels remember you

Listen
with your children
eyes dilating
in longing
we are minarets
forgetting where
we came from
we are broken spines

Listen to your whispering
Lie wide awake
In longing

At this hour
Most abundantly
We love

Recent writing 1

Garden

When trees and light
make a mockery of space
security guards, arms uplifted,
call to each other like birds.
This I have seen.

Cherry trees with raindrops
on leaves’ tips, hanging amidst
incandescent night-
Oh dalliance, oh
sculpted cauliflower, oh
dusk in the Bronx,
cold in the Bronx.

The Oily Beast

(composed of email subject lines from an environmental group's list serve)
Wolves Face Death from Aerial Hunting.
Thanks for Helping to Save America's Wolves.
Jonathan, which wildlife issues do you care about most?
Wolves on the Way to Work.
Jonathan, Pledge a Day of Service to the Earth.
Attention Jersey and New York: Help Save Whales, Sea Turtles.
Jonathan, Give Back on Earth Day!
Jonathan, which wildlife calendar should I send you?
Urgent: Gulf Oil Spill Kills. Please Take Action.
Spill, Baby Spill? Call Discovery and Urge Them To Unplug Palin.
Exotic Snakes Threaten Native Wildlife.
Thanks for Speaking Out!
EMERGENCY: Immediate Oil Threat to Endangered Sea Turtles.
Legal Challenge, Emergency Response Could Save Sea Turtles.
HUGE VICTORY for Polar Bears thanks to YOU!
Wolf pups face guns, poisons in Rockies.
Horrifying.
Urgent: Wolf Showdown Next Tuesday
eNews: The Oily Beast.
Polar Bears vs. Sea Turtles... 48 Hours Left!

A little activism

There’s diesel in the drinking water.

let me tell you something:
we are not the gulf; oil sludge on water,
petroleum on pelicans.

let me tell you something else:
we could be.

Hydraulic Fracturing is Coming Here. We need to stop it,
you and I,
in New York State.
Until the Corporates
can prove
its safe.

They’re going to drill your ground you know,
they’re going to drill,deep, deep down
and they’re going to blast
bruised water
mixed with sand
and toxic chemicals
To break up the stones
where our drinking water
and natural gas deposits
sleep.

they’re going to catch that clear gold
gas
on its way back up
and sell it back
to us.

New York,
poetry
lovers,

when the rain falls
what power
keeps the water
out of subway tunnels?
Oil.

I’m asking you
to live local
and find new ways
if you must
buy, or drive,
and call your state senator
to keep our water
alive.

Because they’ll fuck up Eden
to give you Eden
so don’t believe
their edonomics.

Make the corporate man
prove to us
it’s safe.
It shouldn’t be our job
to clean
or drink
their mess.

Come rally, tomorrow, in Long Island City,
At noon.

Call your New York State assemblywoman,
or go to Frackaction.com.

And when we get it banned here
call you U.S. senator
swear off oil, and get hydro-fracking kicked out
of the U.N.

because we’re where it began
and we’re gonna be
where it ends.