Brett Warren, Eagle Pond
Listen:
Prayer to the Living World
by Brett Warren
May I find my way in, from wherever
I am, past loamy bones of fallen logs
unmaking themselves as mushrooms rise.
May I be steadied by the give and gift
of pine needles underfoot, by the hollow
knock of a northern flicker, by the call
and response of chickadees. May I be
thankful for fur snagged on brambles
when a vixen hurried back to her den.
For coyote scat, starburst of berries
and seeds, dropped in the middle
of a root-knuckled trail. Show me snow
split by hooves, the skittery glyphs
of a white-footed mouse, possum print
pressed into mud before daylight.
I am here because I am yours. I am yours
because I am here. May the trees
stand their ground, feed each other,
let us breathe.
Brett Warren is the author of The Map of Unseen Things (Pine Row Press, 2023). Her poetry has been published in Canary, Cape Cod Poetry Review, The Comstock Review, Halfway Down the Stairs, Hole in the Head Review, One Sentence Poems, and elsewhere. She favors the edge habitats and forests of the Wequaquet Lake watershed, ancestral lands of the Wampanoag people. Her house is surrounded by pitch pine and black oak trees—nighttime roosts of wild turkeys, who sometimes use the roof of her writing attic as a runway. brettwarrenpoetry.com
Eagle Pond and Little River Sanctuary • Cotuit • 182.5 Acres • 4 miles
Plaque location: Located on the Eagle Pond main trail in Cotuit at the bench location (midpoint on the trail).
Eagle Pond and Little River Sanctuary is located at 1/2 mile down Putnam Ave from the intersection of RTE 28 and Putnam Ave. The Sanctuary consists of varying habitats of white cedar swamps, meadows, mature pinewood forests, and a kettle pond. Dog walking, hiking, fishing, kayaking, and ice skating are all popular activities at the Sanctuary. The main Eagle Pond Loop Trail (accessed from Putnam Ave) is 1.5 miles long with several spur trails of varying lengths.
Parking: ~7 spots at main lot (across from 820 Putnam Ave), 3 spots at Old Post Rd (next to 426 Old Post Rd) and 2 spots at Cordwood Rd North of Cordwood Landing.
