Detour

Posted bywordsandcoffee1Posted inPoetry, W3 PromptsTags:, , , , , , , , 
under roads divided by the snow, 
go
slow and take caution with control-- 
no
I haven't seen them in a while, 
child,
but I've heard their haunting song, along
the banks of the massive river,
silver 
slivers of shadows in the fog,
smog
wears a different face here,
fear
doesn't hold its tongue.

I wrote this poem for the Wea’ve Written Weekly prompt #145. This week’s prompt was provided by our host David at the Skeptic’s Kaddish, and his prompt is as follows:

Echo Verse has one simple rule: Repeat the end syllable(s) of each line.

There are two ways to do this:

  1. Repeat the ending syllable(s) at the end of the same line;
  2. Repeat the ending syllable(s) on its own line directly beneath each line.

I struggled with this poem form for a while, and I’m not sure if it’s because of how the description is phrased or what it was. I think I finally got the hang of it!

The image above is one someone posted on social media of a recent blizzardy day in Michigan, just north of the Mackinac Bridge. I’ve crossed the bridge about a handful of times, most often to visit a friend who lives in western Michigan; I made the trip both when we lived in upper Michigan (the “U.P.”) and via a long journey from Wisconsin. It’s a pretty impressive bridge that freaks me out even on a clear day (I’m scared of heights and it’s 551 feet above the Straits of Mackinac, where Lake Michigan and Lake Huron converge).

Every once in a while, the bridge is closed– such as last week Thursday when the wind was a little too rough for people to drive across it. That’s when the above image popped up on my social media feed. People were shocked by the conditions and also by what appears to be a wolf in the lower left side of the photo (though the wolf population has been increasing to problematic levels in that area for a while now).

The roads north of the bridge are often empty in winter and packed with motorcycles, RVs, and people hauling trailers in the summer. I highly recommend driving through the U.P. in the off-season (just, maybe, look out for wolves).

19 thoughts on “Detour”

  3. This feels so atmospheric, Sarah. The repetition creates a haunting and reflective mood, drawing me into the snow-covered landscape and the tension in the air.

    Just a small note: echo verse typically involves repeating the final syllable or sound of each line, but your approach with rhyming the last two words creates a unique effect that’s still captivating. It’s such a great twist on the form!

    Much love,
    David

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    1. Hah, totally! I read somewhere that only two cars have ever gone off the bridge, one was due to driving at a high speed/losing control and the other was intentional. Supposedly, no cars have ever been blown off the bridge, but it still feels like you’re being blown around when you’re up there. It can be a scary drive, especially for someone afraid of heights like myself. 😬

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  5. I’ve been across 4 times in my life and it was always a thrill (verging on terror). I love that the wolves have been reintroduced to the UP – it is good for the ecosystem and for the health of the deer herds!!

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    1. I think it’s good as long as there’s a balance, but Michigan’s DNR says the population has now reached its maximum limit in the UP. Too many wolves, especially too close to residential areas, can lead to problems as well.

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      1. True. But if they allow indiscriminate hunting of wolves they’ll end up in the same predicament of not enough apex predators to keep the ecological balance!

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      2. Agreed, I think they need some sort of lottery or similar to create a balance, nothing extreme. They went from almost none at all to far too many. Now the deer population and others are threatened.

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      4. I believe it, especially with the crazy weather. Ours has had a massive shift up north where the wolves are; there are very few deer up there now. It’s sort of crazy how big of an impact we can see with one animal in the food chain. We are further south and don’t see any wolves; the deer population is much higher, mostly due to the mild winters.

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      5. The wolves change the course of rivers even!! I wish we had some predators to help with the deer population but instead we have to have herd reduction hunts. The deer in our neighborhood have eaten most of the daffodils and stripped all the little trees of bark and buds. It costs some of our neighbors a fortune… We of course planted unfriendly plants so ours survive!

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