A New Jersey Wetland

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New Jersey Wetland Preservation

The following is a poem I (Rhonda, creator of Biosavants) wrote while working on New Jersey wetland conservation project to preserve an endangered and threatened plant. This work was done in New Jersey and was completed to understand and conserve the Swamp pink flower, Helonias bullata, which is a wonderful plant.

A New Jersey Wetland

Looking for the Swamp pink, Helonias.

Fellow Assistant in the field discovers a box turtle with an ornate shell; protected with a

pattern of orange-yellow spiked circles and

dots on a black background

A solitary loner in the

wilderness

Just her spirit and shell

hidden in a pocket of dry soil

Later I view a hummingbird near her

nest: Wings form a mere image

from the constant

flutter against

the white clouded blue sky

Before the rains my foot gets stuck in

the thick succulent mud.

Between my fingers I appreciate

its

richness; It is fragrant with nutrients

and minerals

The consistency of split pea soup

And colored by the darkest of blacks.

I appreciate it as I observe….

the diversity of plants that feed off its wealth.

I am happy to see its blackness turned to

different shades of vegetable

green flora,

deep brown bark of young Holly

trees, white

delicate flowers of blueberry

bushes and

fringe trees and last but not

least….

The large fragrantly blissful pink

Swamp

flowers, Helonias