1.
The blue-headed vireo pokes its thread of song
in and out among balsam buds erupting like
green caterpillars   the first red maple leaves.

Each hop   unpredictable   and yet decisive
its body knows just how to stitch shafts
of sun to recovering winter branches.

A poem by Gary Lawless written for the eelgrasses of Sears Island, in Penobscot Bay.

Writing the Land is a collaborative outreach and fundraising project for land protection organizations. Through anthologies, poets help raise awareness of the importance for land conservation.