Your moment of Everglades Zen: "Creatures of Mud and Starlight"

We know the bad-news reel gets old. It's good to stop and remember what we're working so hard to protect. Here's your dose of Everglades Zen.

Photo by Anthony Sleiman

"Creatures of Mud and Starlight"

Hi manoj,

You've probably heard us sing the praises of our first-ever Karen Mashburn Environmental Scholar recipient, Autumn Bryan. During her time as a Friends of the Everglades intern, Autumn provided invaluable contributions to our Young Friends program, which included her leadership in the launch of our new Library Learning Kits.

The Library Learning Kits, available in Martin, Palm Beach, and Broward County libraries, include Marjory Saves the Everglades by Sandra Neil Wallace, animal figures, and lessons for children. They are made all the more inspiring with the addition of original poetry by Autumn. Her poems narrate the unique wonder and beauty of the Everglades, celebrating its creatures large and small, in a lyrical voice that is reminiscent of our founder Marjory Stoneman Douglas' reflections on the Everglades. Autumn's efforts on the library kits motivated her to expand her Everglades-inspired writing to include longer-form poems. Below we offer a sample of Autumn's work for your enjoyment.

Creatures of Mud and Starlight

Sea turtles, round as rain barrels –

An endless chorus of cypress –

Ibis, their wings flapping like a thousand silken ribbons,

migrating from one end of the marsh,

escaping harsher tides and fiercer flight –

Their invincible presence astounds,

through the verdant grasses, seen and unseen,

creatures, veiled in shadow,

dotting the boundless green

sing a symphony of mud and starlight.

Have an Everglades moment of zen worth sharing? Email us at info@everglades.org (or just hit reply).

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