by Tim Moder
Salamander crawl under grass, freeze
beneath the open sky, blend into raw
dirt and corrugated crumbled logs.
Mayflies swarm in Cherokee Village
for Tanager, Sisken, and Indigo Bunting.
The Tellico opens to Seminole Bats.
Urodela, always wet- so fast. A blink
of red spots or black and silver streaks.
Dinosaur/centipede walk in wiggles
around and around the hemlock trunk
through the Rhododendron.
Grandfathers breathe through their skin.
They survived the ice-age to play in shallow
sphagnum fields at Citico and Ballplay Creeks.
Mud puppies and Eastern Newt
take their time moving in the bog,
pretty as the Eastern Parson Spider.
They remind me of the Alligator.
Tim Moder is a poet living in northern Wisconsin. He is a member of Lake Superior Writers and The Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa. His poems have appeared in Paddler Press, The Tiger Moth Review, Olney Magazine, Penumbra Online and others. Find him at Twitter @ModerTim.