I’m moving across the country for this poem from my new 30 Painless Classroom Poems book, Wacky, Wild, and Wonderful: 50 State Poems. I didn’t know we had rain forests in the U.S. until I wrote a series of ecosystem books for Capstone several years ago. Here’s the Washington poem.
Note: The Hoh rain forest in northwestern Washington is a temperate rain forest. A temperate rain forest has a wet and a dry season, unlike tropical rain forests. The Hoh receives 12 to 14 feet of rain per year, which causes plants to grow very quickly there! In addition to numerous trees, mosses, lichens, ferns and other green growing things cover almost every inch of the rain forest, giving it a rather jungly feeling.
A Note from the Poet:
I had a good time imagining how quickly you might be covered up with forest “clothes” if you stood as still as a statue in the Hoh for any length of time.
[Addendum: Listen to a cool sound meditation/journey of the Hoh. Thanks, Catherine Flynn, for the link!]
12 Responses
Good morning Laura. Once again, wacky, wild and wonderful. Perfect for a “W” state. We have a lot of lichen around here; I must remember not to stand in one spot too long!
this is wonderful I have never heard of this forest before
I’ll have to read moor about it I hope to get your book
Thanks, Jessica–it was new to me, too!
Exactly, Martha! If you take root, your great-granddaughter will have to come find YOU for storytime:>)
Good morning Laura. Once again, wacky, wild and wonderful. Perfect for a “W” state. We have a lot of lichen around here; I must remember not to stand in one spot too long!
this is wonderful I have never heard of this forest before
I’ll have to read moor about it I hope to get your book
Thanks, Jessica–it was new to me, too!
Exactly, Martha! If you take root, your great-granddaughter will have to come find YOU for storytime:>)
This poem was one of my favorites. I’d love to visit this wondrous jungle. Are you familiar with Krista Tippet’s radio show On Being? She interviewed acoustic ecologist Gordon Hempton recently and he talked about the Hoh rainforest. You can listen to the “sound meditation” he recorded here: http://onbeing.org/program/last-quiet-places/feature/hike-through-hoh-rain-forest-soundscape-meditation/4563
NO! Oh, how cool! Thanks, Catherine:>)
This poem was one of my favorites. I’d love to visit this wondrous jungle. Are you familiar with Krista Tippet’s radio show On Being? She interviewed acoustic ecologist Gordon Hempton recently and he talked about the Hoh rainforest. You can listen to the “sound meditation” he recorded here: http://onbeing.org/program/last-quiet-places/feature/hike-through-hoh-rain-forest-soundscape-meditation/4563
NO! Oh, how cool! Thanks, Catherine:>)