'From My Window - Ode to Boyer Slough'

Eight hundred feet - nature silenced on the slough.

Barrenness and desecration, a new view.

Clear cut and brown to summer water level, true,

Except five tamaracks, and cedars - a few.

Tall sentinels standing 80 years or more,

Cover and shelter along the shore.

Gone now forever; such an eyesore!

Trees and beings in a community once thrived.

Now little remains to survive.

Eagles and osprey, hummingbirds, too;

Geese and ducks to name a few;

Beavers, turtles, deer, and moose

Lament spaces lost to hunt or “hang loose.”

“Green Space”? What’s that, you ask,

In a decade or two, perhaps,

A living fence, roof garden, some trees,

Or native shrubs, to attract birds and bees,

A menial offering for critters’ ease

Eight lots in eight days for buyers (a few),

Enticed to come to this place on the slough.

We heard the coins drop, and it did not stop.

Now, slash piles and logs to haul, burn, or chop.

Suggested reading: "The Hidden Life of Trees" by Peter Wohlleben, German forester and author.

PATRICIA THURSTON

Sandpoint