Watershed Poetry

Copper River Record  August 2017
By Robin Mayo 
For ten days in July, high school students from the Copper Basin and Cordova participated in the Copper River Stewardship Program, an intensive exploration of the watershed which gives the students a chance to learn about the diverse communities and ecosystems that make up the region.  The theme of the program this year was “Helping youth find their voices,” with daily writing and reflection projects.  Alex VanWyhe was our guest educator, leading the humanities portion of the program.  Ten years ago, Alex was a student in WISE’s Watershed Leadership Program, a precursor to the Copper River Stewardship Program.  He now teaches English at Haines High School, and his participation in this year’s program brought it full circle.
The ten students were chosen through a competitive process, and will earn high school credit for completing the program and doing final projects.  This winter we will plan an evening for them to share their projects with the community.
The students paddled canoes up and down Alaganik Slough to a US Forest Service camp on the Copper River Delta, where we helped maintain artificial nest islands for Dusky Canada Geese.  We took a long ferry ride through Prince William Sound with a chance to learn more about the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill.  Then we joined a BLM Glennallen Field Office river crew for a raft trip down the Gulkana River from Paxson Lake to Sourdough. 
Early in the trip, the students learned to write Haiku, a Japanese poetry form with a simple 5-7-5 syllable count.  Alex encouraged the students to write throughout the trip, with the incentive of a poetry competition and prizes on the last day.  Students and staff alike tapped out rhythms on canoe paddles, tent walls, and raft oars for the rest of the trip, and scribbled our words into “Rite in the Rain” notebooks.  On the final evening, the stewards gathered around a fire and shared their best efforts.
The Copper River Stewardship Program is organized by WISE, Prince William Sound Science Center, Copper River Watershed Project, US Bureau of Land Management, US Forest Service, and Wrangell-St. Elias National Park.  This year’s program was made possible with funding from Prince William Sound Regional Citizens Advisory Council, Alyeska Pipeline Service Company, and BLM.
 
Patiently walking
Throughout the day we slowly went
Through Dusky Bay
Joseph Hardy
 
Cool liquid glistens
In the morning sun as waves
Spread like wildfires
Kaleb Carillo
 
Spa-loosh we tramp on
Through the bogs squishy terrain
And the sound of life
Izaac Nelson
 
Team Dusky works hard
Viciously ripping Sweet Gale
From Shrek’s musky swamp
Jessie Hale
 
Once used boats now tied
Waters change behind our backs
We wander onward
 
Boots stomp natures path
The scenic view is foreign
We wander onward
 
Artificial land
We are tasked with maintenance
We have met our task
Will Hand
 
Invisible from view
Nestled between the shrubs
Protect the nests
Ethan Beckett
 
We slide upon rocks
Struggling from their heavy grasp
Worn rafts now flow free
Will Hand
 
Hear the water’s rush
A tintinnabulation
Nature’s instrument
Moses Korth
 
Why does everyone forget,
Summer isn’t over yet.
Nine months of winter I did my school,
Just like any other fool.
And just as that’s all dead and gone,
Just as winter’s finally done,
I find school has followed me here,
This is now my serious fear.
Oh, why does everyone forget,
Summer isn’t over yet.
Moses Korth
 
Golden rays cast down
From the foggy sky above
Warming the ocean
Cassidy Austin-Merlino
 
 Mud clouds around you
Disguising the underneath
Who knows what’s below?
Kelsie Friendshuh
 
 As the tide passes
We sit, cold in the water
Writing a haiku.
Cassidy Austin-Merlino and Kelsie Friendshuh