A News Sonnet A Day for April 2010: 11

I've set myself a goal for National Poetry Month this year: Compose a sonnet based on a science-themed news story each day.

Today's installment takes its cue from "A fresh look at Mount St. Helens" by Sid Perkins, Science News.

Her Sense of Timing

She's tended to her wounds for thirty years,
But much has changed since Mount St. Helens blew.
The forces under which life disappears
Make other species sprout and grow anew.

Red alder overshadows Douglas fir.
The elk returns, the blackbird and the hawk,
But precious few amphibians recur.
Still-ashen paths are treacherous to walk.

The mid-spring morning blast had favored those
Who live beneath the ice or hunt by night,
Or whose migrations kept them from the flows.
For others, Helen's timing wasn't right.

Four-fifths of damaged flank once more are green,
But landslides keep her nowhere near serene.

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