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In Middlesex County, New Jersey
About thirty minutes from Elizabeth and
An hour from Manhattan
There is a park
Cheesequake
A strange word in English
Derived (stolen) from the Lenape words
Cheseh-oh-ke or Chichequaas or Chiskhakink
“Upland” or “land that has been cleared”
The land is now bordered
By freeways
And sliced through the middle
By the Garden State Parkway
Typical New Jersey
The intertwining of
Nature and industry
The park itself is beautiful
A “transitional zone of ecosystems”
Field and forest
Swamp and marsh
Pine barrens and lake
We hiked the trails
Blue and white
Breathing in the cool of the trees
The woodlands degrees cooler with
Thick rich green velvet mosses
Carpeting the bases of tree trunks
And covering the rocks
Fungis of different sizes and shapes
Lettuce-like hen of the woods, chip-like artist's conks
Parasitic ghost plants and tiny tawny grisettes
We tried to find the butterfly garden
But the weeds have obscured the path
The mountain bikers have overtaken that particular trail and
The garden is in disrepair
We came across a fallen tree, a giant now resting on its side
Its roots so thick it bought up the earth
We later learned it was a victim of Hurricane Sandy
Grasses are now growing on the wall of roots and earth
The resilience of nature
We sat by Perrine Pond
And watched an egret
Stalk her lunch in the water
We had our own lunch by the lake
And swam with tiny fishies
The water filled with pockets of warm and cold
Aaron cooked pork chops on the cast iron skillet above the coals
I added corn on the cob slathered in butter, sprinkled with salt
Is there anything more “American summer” than corn and an open fire?
The sun slipped away through the trees
The magical golden light of
Sunset in the woods
The extraordinary fireflies
Flitting and flirting
Bioluminescent bums in the darkening
Is it any wonder our ancestors believed in fairies?
In the night I had anxiety
It’s only a thin mesh tent between me and the
Bears or Human Predators Out There
Every crackle in the undergrowth
Surely a step closer to my demise
The bears did not eat me
But the mosquitos and gnats feasted
The proximity of the freeway meant we heard cars all through the night
I love waking up in the forest
The smell of earth
The remnants of last night’s fire
The coolness of the trees
I sat on a fallen trunk
And meditated on the moss
When we got home
The refrigerator, stove, and AC
Seemed like a miracle
I sometimes feel like I have a split personality
There’s Show Girl Me
She wants to see all the shows
Be in all the shows and
Live on Broadway forever and ever amen
And then there’s Forest Faery Me
Who wants to abandon society
And live off-grid
And commune with the trees
And the soil and
Know all the plants and flowers and creatures by name
I miss the woods
I miss the trees.
About thirty minutes from Elizabeth and
An hour from Manhattan
There is a park
Cheesequake
A strange word in English
Derived (stolen) from the Lenape words
Cheseh-oh-ke or Chichequaas or Chiskhakink
“Upland” or “land that has been cleared”
The land is now bordered
By freeways
And sliced through the middle
By the Garden State Parkway
Typical New Jersey
The intertwining of
Nature and industry
The park itself is beautiful
A “transitional zone of ecosystems”
Field and forest
Swamp and marsh
Pine barrens and lake
We hiked the trails
Blue and white
Breathing in the cool of the trees
The woodlands degrees cooler with
Thick rich green velvet mosses
Carpeting the bases of tree trunks
And covering the rocks
Fungis of different sizes and shapes
Lettuce-like hen of the woods, chip-like artist's conks
Parasitic ghost plants and tiny tawny grisettes
We tried to find the butterfly garden
But the weeds have obscured the path
The mountain bikers have overtaken that particular trail and
The garden is in disrepair
We came across a fallen tree, a giant now resting on its side
Its roots so thick it bought up the earth
We later learned it was a victim of Hurricane Sandy
Grasses are now growing on the wall of roots and earth
The resilience of nature
We sat by Perrine Pond
And watched an egret
Stalk her lunch in the water
We had our own lunch by the lake
And swam with tiny fishies
The water filled with pockets of warm and cold
Aaron cooked pork chops on the cast iron skillet above the coals
I added corn on the cob slathered in butter, sprinkled with salt
Is there anything more “American summer” than corn and an open fire?
The sun slipped away through the trees
The magical golden light of
Sunset in the woods
The extraordinary fireflies
Flitting and flirting
Bioluminescent bums in the darkening
Is it any wonder our ancestors believed in fairies?
In the night I had anxiety
It’s only a thin mesh tent between me and the
Bears or Human Predators Out There
Every crackle in the undergrowth
Surely a step closer to my demise
The bears did not eat me
But the mosquitos and gnats feasted
The proximity of the freeway meant we heard cars all through the night
I love waking up in the forest
The smell of earth
The remnants of last night’s fire
The coolness of the trees
I sat on a fallen trunk
And meditated on the moss
When we got home
The refrigerator, stove, and AC
Seemed like a miracle
I sometimes feel like I have a split personality
There’s Show Girl Me
She wants to see all the shows
Be in all the shows and
Live on Broadway forever and ever amen
And then there’s Forest Faery Me
Who wants to abandon society
And live off-grid
And commune with the trees
And the soil and
Know all the plants and flowers and creatures by name
I miss the woods
I miss the trees.
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