My friend Tom Wagner sent me the two turtle pictures which I've posted after the poem. I must also credit the idea for the poem to Tom. Some of the language is from an e-mail he sent to me after I asked about where the turtles spend the winter. I found his answer, like some other conversations he and I have had, to be cast in the language of poetry; so I took it a step further and made the poem. (For you English teachers and other language purists, I know you will understand why I thought twice about the use of further instead of farther in the previous sentence... and then settled comfortably on further.)

MYSTERIES

I have noticed how rocks arrange and rearrange themselves
in places where there is no tide, no strong wind.
Sand slips subtly to reconfigure the landscape.
My own inner space shifts in ways I don’t control.

When spring comes, turtles reappear after hibernating
through the long winter to redecorate northern lake shores.
How do they know to burrow again into the mud and sand
in November to hibernate until the ice goes out?
How do they know when it’s time to resurface?
How do they know when they’ve found the right place
to deposit their eggs so they will hatch under warm summer sun?
How do the hatchlings know about the mud and sand?

My friend says the turtles are one more example of the mysteries
of our creator, so I ask why the creator didn’t get right to the point
and make things easier to understand, simpler to explain to children.
He says he and children like the mystery of sand and rocks and turtles...
Photo by Tom Wagner
Photo by Tom Wagner