Dear Ranger Rick

Ranger Rick, March, 2002

Last May, we showed photos of a stream taken in all seasons and asked you to write a poem about it or about a stream near you. Wow--we had no idea what great poets read our magazine! Here are just a few samples of what you sent.--R.R

What If I Were a Stream?

   What if I were a stream?
   Swimming briskly through
   unknown jungles,
   Rocks pounding on your skin,
   Fish swimming through you,
   As if you were invisible.
   Would I have dreams?
   Would I have feelings?
   What if I were a stream?

Glenda D., California

Brook Limerick

   Right by my house is a brook--
   Hidden away in a nook,
   Right inside our wood,
   In a place that is good.
   To find it, you have to look.

Katie B., Minnesota

The Spring Stream

   The water is as crazy as a
   Jumping cat.

   The bubbling, winding stream
   Is a gray ribbon
   Flowing over slippery rocks.

   Rocks as wet and smooth as
   Shining fish
   Hide underwater.

   A waterfall winds and disappears
   Into a cave.
   It leaps out like a dolphin
   Over a tree root.

   Busy water hurries
   Where we don't see.

Kathleen S., Maine

Stream

   The stream is a place whre the deer drin,
   A place where the fish can swim,
   A place where the frogs can lay their eggs
   And for all the little water bugs to skim.

Molly H. Michigan

Water

The stream's water rushes like a crowd of people going to a popular concert. The rocks are like security guards trying to stop the people, but they just go around them, creating rapids. The noise is like people screaming as they rush to get their seats.

Alec, New York

Stream Haiku

   Splashes in water
   Maybe find a frog nearby
   Soaked socks in my boots

Erin K., Missouri

Down by the River

   Down by the river,
   Where the cottonwood grows,
   And the banks are smooth
   Where the water flows,
   Rumbling--tumbling--
   Bathed in sunny glows.
   Down by the river,
   With a cheery splash,
   The water burbles happily,
   Free of people's trash.
   Lazily--or crazily--
   Silver minnows flash.
   Down by the river,
   The water flows on past,
   Slowing down around the curves,
   Sometimes going fast.
   When will it stop and sit,
   Silently at last?

Tessa C., New Mexico

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Ranger Rick, Dept. WG
11100 Wildlife Center Dr.
Reston, VA 20190
rick@nwf.org

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