Poem: "Pandomonium"
Sep. 26th, 2023 07:01 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ysabetwordsmithThis poem came out of the September 5, 2023 Poetry Fishbowl. It was inspired by a prompt from see_also_friend and curiosity. It also fills the "Fate / Future" square in my 9-1-23 card for the Story Sparks Bingo fest. This poem has been sponsored by fuzzyred. It belongs to the series Polychrome Heroics.
"Pandomonium"
[1976-2018]
Aspens can sprout
from seeds, but rarely,
so many of them live
as clones, old roots
sending up new stems.
Originally identified in 1976,
Pando is a male aspen clone
in the Fishlake National Forest
lying in south-central Utah.
He covers 108 acres
and weighs 6,000 tons,
making him the largest
known organism by weight.
He has survived for thousands
of years, but he's in trouble.
Humans have disrupted
the ecosystem in many ways.
They wiped out large predators,
leaving elk and mule deer to eat
the tender tops of new stems.
They changed the climate,
making it hotter and drier.
They also tinkered directly,
allowing cattle to eat part of
Pando and fencing other parts,
confusing the clone so that
one forest started splitting itself
into three sections -- Pandomonium.
Aspens are resilient, though; they
can adapt to new challenges.
They have to be adaptable
in order to live as log as they do.
By the 1980s, people realized
that Pando was starting to struggle,
not enough young stems to replace
the older ones as they died off.
So people studied him in hopes
of learning why that was happening.
When they realized that herbivores
were causing problems and fences were
confusing Pando, they took new steps.
People started by banning cattle
from grazing within the clone.
They opened hunting to remove
mule deer and elk from the area.
They took down the fences
to reconnect the sections.
Inspired by the reintroduction
of wolves to Yellowstone, activists
lobbied for years to restore them
to the Fishlake National Forest,
along with other apex predators
such as bears and mountain lions.
As soon as the wolves returned,
the deer vacated Pando posthaste.
Since then, the new stems have
had a much better rate of survival.
The fate of Pando is no longer gloomy,
and his future is improving once again.
* * *
Notes:
Pando is a male aspen clone covering about 108 acres. In local-Earth, he is struggling to survive due to threats from humans, herbivores, climate change, and other problems. Human interventions such as partial fencing have confused Pando.
In order for Pando to survive, humans must protect him more vigorously and coherently. Consider an example from the video "How Wolves Change Rivers."
see_also_friend and curiosity. It also fills the "Fate / Future" square in my 9-1-23 card for the Story Sparks Bingo fest. This poem has been sponsored by fuzzyred. It belongs to the series Polychrome Heroics."Pandomonium"
[1976-2018]
Aspens can sprout
from seeds, but rarely,
so many of them live
as clones, old roots
sending up new stems.
Originally identified in 1976,
Pando is a male aspen clone
in the Fishlake National Forest
lying in south-central Utah.
He covers 108 acres
and weighs 6,000 tons,
making him the largest
known organism by weight.
He has survived for thousands
of years, but he's in trouble.
Humans have disrupted
the ecosystem in many ways.
They wiped out large predators,
leaving elk and mule deer to eat
the tender tops of new stems.
They changed the climate,
making it hotter and drier.
They also tinkered directly,
allowing cattle to eat part of
Pando and fencing other parts,
confusing the clone so that
one forest started splitting itself
into three sections -- Pandomonium.
Aspens are resilient, though; they
can adapt to new challenges.
They have to be adaptable
in order to live as log as they do.
By the 1980s, people realized
that Pando was starting to struggle,
not enough young stems to replace
the older ones as they died off.
So people studied him in hopes
of learning why that was happening.
When they realized that herbivores
were causing problems and fences were
confusing Pando, they took new steps.
People started by banning cattle
from grazing within the clone.
They opened hunting to remove
mule deer and elk from the area.
They took down the fences
to reconnect the sections.
Inspired by the reintroduction
of wolves to Yellowstone, activists
lobbied for years to restore them
to the Fishlake National Forest,
along with other apex predators
such as bears and mountain lions.
As soon as the wolves returned,
the deer vacated Pando posthaste.
Since then, the new stems have
had a much better rate of survival.
The fate of Pando is no longer gloomy,
and his future is improving once again.
* * *
Notes:
Pando is a male aspen clone covering about 108 acres. In local-Earth, he is struggling to survive due to threats from humans, herbivores, climate change, and other problems. Human interventions such as partial fencing have confused Pando.
In order for Pando to survive, humans must protect him more vigorously and coherently. Consider an example from the video "How Wolves Change Rivers."
