I am thinking of the trees

I am thinking of the great cedar in front of my house
the feeling of flying with pīwakawaka, tauhou and tūī
when I gaze out the second-storey window high
on the hill

I am thinking of the drone views of fires that started
the year, orange sky over brown slopes, animals scurrying
to safety among 23,000 acres aflame in LA’s surrounds

I am thinking of the idea of refuge

I am thinking of our Aotearoa spaces, the National Parks
Act of 1980 that saw natural beauty as something worth
reserving, as something of ‘national interest’

I am thinking of US public lands, some 28% of this vast  
terrain, area declared protected and out of reach
of human avarice

I am thinking of the idea of refuge

I am thinking of the 20,000 rangers and the fragility
of their jobs, people working for the Everglades, the
Smoky Mountains and Zion National Park, named
for the idea of refuge

I am thinking of the idea of refuge

I am thinking of scientists at Fish and Wildlife whose work
is to see things we don’t see every day, of civil servants
whose job is to serve our planet in ways we may not
consider from our comfortable homes

I am thinking of the rare beetles and spiders who have little
protection now, of the black-footed ferret, endangered
with no voice of its own, of spotted owls and silent manatee,
of little birds found only in tropical forests in Hawai‘i,
of the grizzly and grey wolf, their majesty disregarded

I am thinking of the idea of refuge

I am thinking of the lumber company exec who manages
our forests, of the new order to log two-hundred-eighty-
million acres

I am thinking of Thoreau; I am thinking we can never have
enough nature

I am thinking of the discarded safety measures founded
in the US Endangered Species Act, granting protection for
more than half a century, but if a tree falls in a forest
we cannot protect, do we hear the sound?

I am thinking of the great cedar outside my window,
guarded under Aotearoa law, a haven for small souls

I am thinking of the idea of refuge

I am thinking of Robin Wall Kimmerer and a life
of reciprocity, of Mary Oliver eating the fish

I am thinking of Wendell Berry, poet citizen farmer
living for the land

I am thinking of what Selina said Hone said

I am thinking of the idea of refuge

I am thinking of the orphan bear cub, saved by Taoseño
from wildfire and nursed back to health, Smokey the new
symbol of forest fire prevention, living a long and protected
life – I met him when I was a kid, on a field trip to the National Zoo

I am thinking of the idea of refuge

I am thinking of Ursula Bethell’s Pause hanging over
my desk, of Brian Turner, wild hearts and Wild Dunedin
I am thinking of land as a poem and the language of Joy
Harjo with her horses

I am thinking of John Muir and how to reach the universe
through forest wilderness

I am thinking of the idea of refuge

I am thinking of protection, I am thinking of safety
I am thinking of the rumble of words on the page

I am thinking of how to see the forest and the trees

I am thinking of the idea of refuge

I am thinking of Gilgamesh cutting down the biggest cedar
I am thinking of that ancient story, how great trees fall
and walls rise 

Michelle Elvy
after more news of more firings in the US, early April 2025

Michelle Elvy is a writer, editor and teacher of creative writing. Her books include the everrumble and the other side of better, she has edited numerous anthologies, including Te Moana o Reo | Ocean of Languages, edited with Vaughan Rapatahana (The Cuba Press), and the forthcoming Poto! Iti te kupu, nui te kōrero| Short! The big book of small stories, edited with Kiri Piahana-Wong (MUP).