March 31, 2012
Peepers and bullfrogs singing Rite of Spring
Two barred owls, dark-draped wings, stealth bombers of the wood
A blue swallowtail, ten Common blues and a checkerspot: butterflies warming
One flowering tree, delicate white petals shivery like ladies’ skirts in a breeze
Thirty-seven redheaded woodpeckers, grunt-grunt, hammer strut
Twelve pileated woodpeckers, the drilling knock-knock-knocking on heaven’s trees
Three does watching me, twitching lacy tails
Two red-tail hawks shrieking, “Get away from here!”
A fat groundhog waddling, its belly dragging mud
Forty-three pelicans, gleaming white in the sun, floating downstream on FatherRiver
Six waterfalls etching the limestone east to west, master carvers, water music
A snowy egret fishing without a license
Nuthatches, black-capped sparrows, olive-hued goldfinches:
Birdsong anthems and the chorus is
Wildnesswildnesswildness
About Eugene Jones Baldwin
I am a writer: non-fiction, fiction, journalism (Alton Telegraph), essays (The Genehouse Chronicles) and have a website: eugenebaldwin.com. I've published a couple dozen short stories and had eleven plays produced. Current projects: "Brother of the Stones" (available on Kindle), a book of short stories; "The Faithful Husband of the Rain, short stories"; "A Black Soldier's Letters Home, WWII,;" "There is No Color in Justice," a commentary on racism; "Ratkillers," a new play.
I am an avocational archaeologist and I take parts of my collection of several thousand Indian artifacts (personal finds) to schools, nature centers, libraries etc. and talk about the 20,000 year history of The First people in Illinois. (See link to website)
I'm also a playwright (eleven plays produced), musician, historian (authority on the Underground Railroad in Illinois, the Tuskegee Airmen) and teacher.
