Animal Stones and Other Poems: A Celebration of the Earth’s Wildlife

By Steve K. Bertrand

The information about the book is not available as of this time.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Oct 26, 2021
• ISBN: 9781543498356

Steve K. Bertrand

For this pictorial history of Paine Field, Steve K. Bertrand has selected more than 200 images from the local community, historical societies, regional libraries, and state archives. He has traced the rich history of Paine Field from its earliest days to its present status as a bustling airport and commercial aviation center. These photographs provide a glimpse into the people and events that influenced this small community in the Pacific Northwest.

Book preview

the Guardians of planet Earth

ANIMAL STONES

and Other Poems

A Celebration of the

Earth’s Wildlife

STEVE K. BERTRAND

Copyright © 2021 by Steve K. Bertrand.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Rev. date: 10/26/2021

Xlibris

844-714-8691

www.Xlibris.com

834602

Contents

Preface

Introduction

A Northwest Sonata

Crow in Winter

Robin’s Lullaby

A Simple Truth ‘Bout Gastropods

The Birds Have Vanished

A Prayer for the Wind River Buffalo

Hawk

Killing Sea Lions to Save the Salmon

Autumn Song

A Spider’s but a Tiny Thing

Walking Through the Forest Early One Morning

The Healer’s Tools

Possum Drop

Regarding Names

Bird Tracks

Laughing to Myself

Winter Passing

Gold-Crowned Sparrow

Along the River’s Edge

Coyote Sightings

Yellow Canaries

Beachcombing

Punch Drunk

A Derelict Vessel in the Snohomish River

Crow & I

Riding the Thermals

After the Heron’s Visit

Humpback Whales

Keeping Company

Stoics

Hummingbirds

The Fisherman’s Son

Sea Lion Caves

The Return of Spawning Salmon

Visiting Montezuma Castle

A Bright-Yellow Goldfinch

The Canton Free Market

Island Dilemma

Terrapins

Naughty Crows

Pike Place Market

Old Ponds

Poem Written for a Summer Evening

Seaside

Spawning

The Certainty of Sun, Moon & Stars

Insect Wars

A Thousand Yellow Butterflies

Bee at my Window

Speak Up for the Fish & Forests

Raven’s Song

Wounded Birds

Hiking the Pacific Crest Trail

The Bone Sweeper

Companionship

Birdbath

Song of the Common Murre

Old Raccoon

OF CANARIES & COAL MINES

Wise Owl

A Dream of Angry Stallions

What the Raven Said

Three-Legged Toad

Tabby Cat

Doctor Jack Horner

Cricket’s Song

A Young Priest’s Contemplations

A Plea for the Chinook & Orcas

Owl & I

The Bumblebee

The Man Who Cares For Flora

Horse Enough

Special of the Day

Train Song in the Valley

A Family of Raccoons

Along the Snohomish River

Return of the Fishers

A Flock of Finches

Something the Crow Said…

She Walks the Beach

Chasing Rabbits

Pigeons & Crows

Fish Pond

Watching Raccoon

Upon Spotting a Spotted Owl

Southpaw

Spider

Because I Could Not Stop...

On an Autumn Afternoon Between Mukilteo & Whidbey Island

On the Plight of North American Animals

Portrait of an August Evening

A Morning Meditation

Waiting Patiently for the American Bullfrog’s Song

On Beauty

Fuzzy-Wuzzy

Island Girl

Reflections on a Watercolor by Arne Jensen

Potato Bug Poem

Raven’s World

Gettysburg

Enduring

Squirrel & Crow

Waiting for the Cathlamet

Medicine Woman

Silly Birds

Last Song

On Eagles & Crows

Ragged Robin

Bob

Song of the Black-Crowned Night-Heron

Living Amongst the Sasquatch

Pesky Mole

Robin’s Gift

Driving the Mountain Highway

A Dinner Guest

The Blossom & the Butterfly

The Eagle

Loyal Companion

Religion

Questions for the Birds

The Wolves Have Been Chased from the Mountains

Prideful Crow

The Land of Wind & Gull’s Shrill Cry

Hummingbird & Sparrow

The Art of Stealing

The Old Lighthouse

The Art of Storytelling

Moon, Breeze, Cicada’s Song

Crows

Guardians of the Desert

Moonscape

What the Cat Left Behind

Winter in the Tulip Fields

Moon, Mist & Frog Song

When Wolves Returned to the Yellowstone

At Home in Both Worlds

Milking Cows

Twilight & Hummingbird

The Foreigner’s Lesson

Hungry Birds

People of the Bowl

Squirrel & I

On A Stormy Night

Contentment

Gardening in my Backyard

Sharks

The Honey Bees in my Backyard

Little-Known Fact

Song Dogs

Salting Slugs

From Winter’s Bleakness

Of Marsh & Moon

Ravens Are Singing Lustily

A Lesson on Mortality

Old Man of Bow

Gathering Starfish

Late September

Meditations from a Mountain Temple

The Lion & its Pride

New Songs

Sea Cairns

Buddy

From My Garden

Gray Squirrels Have Left the Neighborhood

Flying with a Broken Wing

Gliders

Baiting

To Reduce the Risk of Wildfires

Return of the Gray Wolf to Washington

A Childhood Recollection

Predator & Prey

Ishi

Winter Landscape

Spending the Night on Jetty Island

Birdfeeder Rhapsody

From the Rocky Beach at Lighthouse Park

Something Could Be Learned

Hummingbird & the Butterfly Bush

My Song

The Teriyaki Takeout Standoff

On Goats & Sheep

To a Wayfarer Passing Through our Village

Approaching Dawn

Canis Lupis

A Turtle Washed Up on the Beach

The Grizzly Bear May Be Coming Back

Fetch

Wants & the Taking

For Ornamental Purposes

Rabbits

What Deters Ants

Autumn Poem in Snohomish Valley

Pigeons in the Park

The Jellyfish It Has No Brain

Forest

The Milk You Get

Of Lion, Tiger, Boar & Owl

The Champion

Far As I Can Tell

The Wonder of Fireflies

Meditations on an Evening at the Beach

I Live in the Country

Skin Medicine

Xanantunich

A Step Ahead of Prey

Midnight in Hong Kong

On an August Evening at Lighthouse Park

The Fate of Passenger Pigeons

Beauty is Fleeting

Halfway Through My Morning Walk

Island Dreams

On the hood

Do You Know the Way to White Cloud Mountain?

Washington’s State Bird

The Starlings in the Neighbors Rafters

The Wild Loon’s Song

Requiem for a Monarch Butterfly

To Kill A Humpback Whale

Winter Song

The Cave of Bear Man

Eight

Tell Me, Where Have all the Songbirds Gone?

Flies

Winter Garden

The Weight of Wetness

Through my Grandfather’s Telescope

Amongst the Reeds & Scrub Grass

The Guardian

To Meadow’s Edge

Pilchuck Julia Jack: Fisherwoman of the Pilchuck Tribe

Watching the Autumn Wind from a Stone Bench in my Backyard

Running The River Road

Squirrel in the Birdfeeder

Question

Finding One’s Song

Black Beetle

Barking Dogs

Lesson of the Tundra Swan

The Dragonfly Whisperer

On Joggers & Dogs

Raven’s Journey

View of the Valley

Between Sea & Mountain

Of Elephants & Whales

The Fisher King

Where the Old Eclipse & Simpson Lee Mills Once Stood

The Nature of a Hummingbird

Sirens

Tending Water Buffalo

Loon

Winter Thoughts in Japanese Gulch

Chicken Catching

Stubborn Fly

Red Bridge

The Bee Waterer

Of Silk & Steel

Songs to Wolf Moon

A Dialog with Steller’s Jay

Sea Turtles

While Watching a Whitetail Deer

Epiphany

I Go Where Wind Tells Me

Waiting for Higher Tide

A Very Cold Eye

Backing The Bear Down

The Opossum

Let Us Not Forget

Early Summer Morning

The Coming of Night

Standing at the Temple Door (Tokyo, Japan – 1967)

After Rescuing a Bee

A Flock of Angry Crows

While Hiking Through Prescott’s Granite Dells

Hong Kong - 1987

Trickster

Nectar from the Flower

Song of the Hummingbird

Indian Summer

Many Birds

El Lagarto

Wild Horse Mountain

Encounter with a Squirrel

Cat Dance

Gigging for Bullfrogs

Summer Moon

Progress

Sparrow Requiem

Down at M Dock

Witch Woman

Since Retirement

On Ravens & Crows

Beginnings

Cay Caulker

The Entomologist

Revisiting My Childhood Haunts

Reckoning

Winter on the Skagit

While Running Through the Bull Run Battlefield

Chasing Raccoons

Portrait of a Snow Goose in Flight

Not a Bird in Sight!

Gifts of the Sea

Thirteen

Wood Ducks

To The Huntsman

Swatting Mosquitoes

Of Man & Mouse

Red-Breasted Nuthatch

Refuge

Message from the Stone Age

Let the Wild Horses Run

Learning from Mother Nature

Gazing from the Sea Wall

Will the Chum Ever Come Back?

After the Storm

A Scolding from Pileated Woodpecker

Winter Storm

Possum Tales

Wharf Rat

The Meaning of Zen

The Simplest Song

Mountain Lion’s Whistle

Tatoosh

A Bald Eagle’s Nest

What The Spider Said

Seeing Life Differently

Choices

Winter Coming

Gone

Waiting for the Return of Spring

Ode to the Hummingbird

Welcoming Moon

Before Grandfather’s Death

Bonsai Bug

Clearcut

First Flight

My Dog Who Likes To Dig For Bones

Heron’s Way

Where the River Bends

Cicada

A Case of Harassment

Of Nuts & Squirrels

How Raven Brought the First People into this World

Stonehenge

A Stormy Sea

Blue Dragonfly

Driving the Horses North

Pond

Bobcat & Coyote

On the Edge of the Guatemalan Jungle

Everything

Kingfisher

Beating the Robins

Points of View

Five Ways of Looking at Bamboo

The Ostrich

At the Edge of my Dream

Groundhog Day

The Weight of Words

The Garden Bordering Our Neighbor’s House

The Nature of Coyote

Who Knew?

On Hunters & Their Prey

Fish Story

An Anna’s Hummingbird at my Feeder

The Monkey Tree

A Skagit Indian Speaks of the Cascade Mountains

Picking Himalayan Blackberries

On an August Afternoon

Trust

Taking a Steady Aim

At the End of the Working Day

A Favorable Rain

Paleolithica

Why Birds Sing

Above the Abandoned Indian Cemetery

Steller’s Jays

I Live On San Juan Island

Winter Tales

When Raven Attempted To Steal The Sun

White-Throated Sparrow

Koala Bears

The Watchman

To Survive in the Desert

Grandfather

The Tulalip Carver Who Slowly Brought Raven to Life

Sentinel of the Highway

Trumpeter Swans are Returning to Snohomish County

So It Goes…

Owl & Moon

Night Watch

The Strangest One Heard

September Evening

Writer’s Block

Salmon & Steelhead Fisheries Expanded on the Washougal River

Five Goat Mountain

Kill That Spider

Where are the Wild Places of my Youth?

Bee Hive

Riptides

Dilemma

Natural Selection

Bird Knowledge

Counting Gecko Lizards

Of Purple Dinosaurs

Visiting the Big Buddha in Kamakura

Taps at Sunset

Great Blue Heron

Eagle & Salmon

The Masters of Kamakura

Gray Gull

Fancy-Dancing Crows

Someone Stole the Goat on Beverly Park Road

The Ghosts of English Boom

As Far as Spiny Lobsters Go…

Catching the Bremerton Ferry to Seattle

Walking Maple Beach with my Grandson

Driving I-90 West

A Barred Owl on a Cedar Limb

The Scavenging Crows have Finally Left

Saving A Humpback Whale

The Neighborhood Sleuth

Mask Carver of Nootka Sound

The Neighborhood is not so Tame

Whitehorse Mountain

Weeping Spruce

Return of Spring

Visitation Rites

Walking through my Old Neighborhood

Moon & I

Appalachian Summer

Butterflies

Robe Valley

Bread Line

Down by the Slough

Outsmarting Heron

Bone Moon

The Wondrous Coelacanth

Roadrunner

Patch (Or... Coming Out of COVID-19)

Low Tide at Mukilteo Beach

Shaman’s Song to the Sun

December

In Praise of the Hummingbird

Wanderlust

Homecomings

Spring on the Potomac

Spring Lamentations

Early Spring

Winter Comes Early

My Constant Vigilance

Meditations from Repulse Bay

Song of the Abandoned Village

A Pleistocene Crocodile on the Wall

Rafting the Mopan

Gift of the Crows

Rock of Cashel

A Northwesterly Wind

Eulogy for a Vesper Sparrow

Exploring the Mysteries

Early this Morning

The Place Where Little One Lived

Rural Highways

Chinook Wind

Frog at the Well

The Fisherman’s Ritual

Upon Departure

Song of Winter

Night

On Summer Evenings

On a Pleasant August Afternoon

Coyote Dream

A Crow Caws to Moon

Since the Heavy Rains

The Japanese Garden

On Writing Poetry

Song of Bookwus

Passing Storm

Rites of Autumn

Finicky Birds

Walking Through the Neighborhood at Night

Winterscape

Winter in an Apple Orchard

The Best Intentions

Elusive Truths

Reflections on Prehistory

Cherry Tree

Songbirds are Falling from the Sky

Saving the Bees

The Ivory-Billed Woodpecker

The World’s Smallest Feline

Great Apes

A Broken-Winged Canada Goose

Confession

Grey Heron

Whiskers

To Walk Amongst The Trees

"The Earth does not belong to us.

We belong to the Earth."

-Chief Seattle

"The greatest threat to our planet is the belief

someone else will save it."

                                                                       -Robert Swann

"The single biggest threat to our planet

is the destruction of habitat and along the way

loss of precious wildlife.

We need to reach a balance where people, habitat,

and wildlife can co-exist –

If we don’t, everyone loses... one day."

                                                                       -Steve Irwin

"Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot,

nothing is going to get better. It’s not."

                                                                       -The Lorax

"If you really think the economy is more important

than