Poetry Sunday: The Layers by Stanley Kunitz

I love this poem by Stanley Kunitz that I discovered this week. It seems to perfectly describe my life, and maybe the lives of all of us who have lived - ahem - for a few decades. See if you can recognize yourself in its lines. 

The Layers

by Stanley Kunitz

I have walked through many lives,
some of them my own,

and I am not who I was,

though some principle of being

abides, from which I struggle

not to stray.

When I look behind,

as I am compelled to look

before I can gather strength

to proceed on my journey,

I see the milestones dwindling

toward the horizon

and the slow fires trailing

from the abandoned camp-sites,

over which scavenger angels

wheel on heavy wings.

Oh, I have made myself a tribe

out of my true affections,

and my tribe is scattered!

How shall the heart be reconciled

to its feast of losses?

In a rising wind

the manic dust of my friends,

those who fell along the way,

bitterly stings my face.

Yet I turn, I turn,

exulting somewhat,

with my will intact to go

wherever I need to go,

and every stone on the road

precious to me.

In my darkest night,

when the moon was covered

and I roamed through wreckage,

a nimbus-clouded voice

directed me:

“Live in the layers,

not on the litter.”

Though I lack the art

to decipher it,

no doubt the next chapter

in my book of transformations

is already written.

I am not done with my changes.

This week in birds - #674

 A roundup of the week's news of birds and the environment:

The American Bird Conservancy's Bird of the Week is the Yellow-winged Blackbird. It is a bird that is not found in North America but is found in wetlands throughout much of South America in habitats similar to our own beloved Red-winged Blackbird. Happily, its population appears to be stable and its status is not presently of concern.

*~*~*~*

The new Environmental Protection Agency administrator believes his job is about supporting industry and exporting fossil fuels rather than protecting the environment.

*~*~*~*

The Florida Scrub Jay is classified as "threatened" under the Endangered Species Act. Now a lawsuit there could cause their status to deteriorate further.

*~*~*~*

The defeat of Viktor Orbán in Hungary's recent election is potentially very good news for the country's environment. 

*~*~*~*

Greater Sage Grouse males are attempting to lure mates near the Jackson Hole Airport where a number of the birds have been struck and killed. Conservationists are deploying dancing animatronic birds to try to entice  them away.

*~*~*~*

The nutria is an invasive species that is causing havoc in California and conservationists are working hard to try to eradicate it from the state. 

*~*~*~*

How did the Grand Canyon form? Some new research may provide clues.

*~*~*~*

This tiny creature is a warty frogfish named Domino and it is believed to be the first of its kind to be born and raised in captivity.

*~*~*~*

In March, renewable energy provided more power to the United States than natural gas and that is a first for the country.

*~*~*~*

Studying civil war between rival chimpanzee groups in Uganda may provide some clues for scientists about the roots of warfare in the human species.

*~*~*~*

Becoming an expert birder can have many benefits and it turns out that one of them may be to reshape the brain and protect it from aging. 

*~*~*~*

The Kakapo is an endangered New Zealand bird on the brink of extinction, but the species is having a very good breeding season that has produced 95 living chicks so far.

*~*~*~*

The glowing lures of the female anglerfish serve the dual purpose of attracting mates and helping them to snag meals.

*~*~*~*

As climate change disrupts their traditional prey, more gray whales are entering San Francisco Bay in search of food and, unfortunately, many of them die there. 

*~*~*~*

Insects are key to a healthy environment. These are some simple actions we can take to help them. 

*~*~*~*

Despite pressure to end commercial whaling, Norway has reopened its annual whale hunt.

*~*~*~*

It turns out that exposure to heat and air pollution can increase the risk of suicide.

*~*~*~*

Another harmful effect of climate change is to alter the way our planet smells.

*~*~*~*

An entomologist has discovered a relationship between two ant species in which one provides a "carwash" service to the other!

Poetry Sunday: Firefly by Jacqueline Woodson

As a child in the country - no television to distract me in those days - one of my favorite activities on a late summer evening was chasing fireflies, or lightning bugs as we called them then. I liked to catch them in a jar to make my own special flashlight. (My mother always made me let them go, of course. ) 

There were plenty of fireflies in those days, enough to light up those summer evenings. Not so many these days. Watching them twinkle in the dusk as the sun went down is a fond memory that will, I hope and wish, always be with me. "Firefly wishes always come true."

Firefly

by Jacqueline Woodson

It's almost May
and yesterday

I saw a firefly.

You don't see

them a lot

in the city.

Sometimes

in the park

in the near dark

one comes out

you'll hear

a little kid shout

Lightning bug! Firefly!

It's almost May

and yesterday

I caught a firefly in my hand.

First firefly I

seen in a 

long, long time.

Make a wish,

Miss Edna said.

Make a good one.

Firefly wishes always come true.

This week in birds - #673

 A roundup of the week's news of birds and the environment:

The Eastern Warbling Vireo is the American Bird Conservancy's Bird of the Week. It is a rather drab bird and tends to stay high up in trees which often makes it difficult to spot, but it can be found during spring and summer over much of eastern North America. Its population is in good shape overall and it does not appear to be in any immediate risk; however it is sometimes a victim of the Brown-headed Cowbird's brood parasitism.

*~*~*~*

Scientists have found a surprising trove of fossils in a Texas cave.

*~*~*~*

In case you haven't already seen them, here are some of the amazing photos sent back by from the Artemis 2 mission.

*~*~*~*

"Overnight successes" in conservation definitely do not happen overnight.

*~*~*~*

Five missing bird species that had been thought to have been lost were rediscovered in 2025.

*~*~*~*

More bad news for the Gulf of Mexico: The Trump administration will exempt oil and gas drilling from measures meant to protect endangered whales and other imperiled species.

*~*~*~*

The International Union for Conservation of Nature announced this week that Emperor Penguins, the largest of the penguins, have been added to the endangered list.

*~*~*~*

Underneath California's Salton Sea sits a treasure trove of lithium, making it the "Saudi Arabia of lithium."

*~*~*~*

Cascade red foxes are very reclusive and difficult to photograph but one photographer managed to overcome those problems.

*~*~*~*

What is a shark? New genetic analysis is giving us a better understanding of the answer to that question.

*~*~*~*

And we are still learning more about the Neanderthals, including the fact that they did indeed hunt big game.

*~*~*~*

More crops are grown for fuel and livestock feed than are grown for human food.

*~*~*~*

Can we help control global warming by stashing carbon dioxide in the sea?

*~*~*~*

In New England, fishermen are contributing to science as they ply their trade.

*~*~*~*

In Australia, rock art gives clues that Tasmanian tigers may have survived on the mainland for longer than previously thought.

*~*~*~*

A new study has found that sharks in the Bahamas test positive for drugs including cocaine and painkillers.

*~*~*~*

The North American butternut tree is struggling to survive but new research is giving it a second chance.

*~*~*~*

Octopus sex can be a very weird thing, indeed.

*~*~*~*

In war-torn Ukraine recently, people gathered to watch the release of hundreds of rescued bats.