Although sometimes overlooked in conservation efforts, like many bird species, the Brown Creeper is heavily impacted by habitat loss and forest fragmentation. Studies have shown that the Brown Creeper is particularly sensitive to even moderate-intensity logging because they forage on large-diameter trees and need mature forest tree snags to nest.
It’s easy to forget about me,
a piece of bark come to life,
perhaps a glimpse of
white tuft tucked under.
Only when in love do I sing,
trees, beautiful trees.
Otherwise, my sweet warbling (some say)
sounds like a small chain dropped in a heap.
What do I care what you hear or see?
I like to start at the bottom,
then get to the canopy of things.
Philosophically, I’m spiraling, upward, upward.
(Never downward like some nuthatch.)
And I never creep, sir. (Nor wear a crown.)
When it’s time to come down, I leaf-ly
flutter rootward: begin again.
My life, my world, is tree to tree.
My joy is between each tree and me.
—
Sierra Nelson is a Seattle-based poet, essayist, and performance artist. Nelson’s books include The Lachrymose Report (PoetryNW Editions) and collaborative I Take Back the Sponge Cake (Rose Metal Press), and editor of Three Hearts: An Anthology of Cephalopod Poetry (World Enough Writers). A MacDowell Fellow and Carolyn Kizer Prize winner, Nelson’s work has appeared in King County Buses, the Seattle Aquarium, Slovenian Natural History Museum, Cascadia Field Guide, and I Sing the Salmon Home anthology.
