Suddenly it seems the stilt grass is everywhere
Called to my attention when Don pointed it out
Surprised to see it here as well as in Ohio
Where he lives and teaches ecology subjects.
Walking the trail at the Celery Farm Nature Preserve
One early September afternoon thinking my thoughts
Immersed in the heat of late summer lingering over the lake
Shallow water glazed speckled green with duckweed.
Given that this immigrant grass has arrived from Asia
Sent to us in packing material used in commerce
Left untouched by the native ravenous deer
This place will once again never look quite the same.
Taking root and taking over in the shaded areas
Displacing the preferred previous vegetation
Disrupting the native host ecosystem we value
Continuing the long history of transformation.
Some of us want to try to stop these invasives
Like Jim who mobilized us to pull garlic mustard
And I joined the effort to show support for the attempt
Though the result was an exercise in futility.
Effective biological intervention is possible sometimes
Like the beetles imported to control the loosestrife
But the phragmites have taken over so much
The best we can do is weed whack along the path.
At the same time a different invasion is happening
In Indonesia where the palm oil plantations proliferate
Decimating the orangutan forests cut and burned
Replaced with a wildlife dead zone monoculture.
This grass and those palms connect as a paired impact
Making a kind of inadvertent cultural exchange
An unintended consequence of our global economy
Where the Indonesians are bearing the brunt of it.
Altered landscape at the Celery Farm is nothing new
Since the Dutch and English invaded these parts
Harvesting peat and draining the swamp
Bringing foreign animals and planting foreign crops.
The species succession continues in our time
As Fred points out the way it was some years ago
When least bitterns nested here instead of Canada geese
Introduced in a case of good intentions gone wrong.
Fred planted wildflowers and now butterflies abound
And many other volunteers have made enhancements
Because this is really a kind of community garden
Designed to benefit wildlife and benefit us in turn.
The mile-a-minute spreads like wildfire
As the hordes of deer browse all the oak saplings
And yet this is just another example of success
Not unlike the wonderful success of our species.
Every generation knows only the landscape we live in
Aware as we age that everything is temporary
Perhaps accepting that nothing remains the same
Perhaps trying to preserve the memory of an earlier time.
