RENEWED CALL TO FRIENDING

by Riverdave Owen  

North Carolina State Parks “Friends” Conference, Kill Devil Hills, NC  

January 22, 2011

Friends of a natural area

Just what might that entail

Please join me fellow naturalists

Let’s saunter down a trail.

Of longleaf pines on moonlit nights

A great horned owl we hear

He asks if we would lend a hand

Protect his night frontier.

Of frasier firs on lonely ridge

A cub and mama bear 

They turn and look we hear them say

Attend to our welfare.

Of grand live oaks by tidal marsh 

A laughing gull display  

Will our grandchildren ever hear

This wild soliloquy?

Of lakes and hills one thousand rills

Send rivers to the sea

We’ve all been called to now befriend 

Great Mother’s symmetry.

Time seems to flow indifferently

As commerce marches on

Consuming natural habitat

Expanding brick and lawn.

But yet we find new sympathy

Take flight from Jockey’s Ridge

Naturalists and friending folk

With sacred lineage.

The challenge is monumental 

This task is consummate

Our State Parks cry for focused care

We must not hesitate ...

Photo by Riverdave: Eno River, Christmas 2010