The Scientist

            -after Emily Dickinson

She tells me frogs are disappearing
at an alarming rate as we count the bees
foraging for nectar in stands of jewelweed.
Following the professor’s instructions, we caught
them in our nets, put them to sleep in jars on ice,
and glued tiny numbers on their backs.
Of clovers and of noon! She wants
to be a herpetologist after graduation.
She wants to save the frogs from extinction.
I am not sure what I want to be or save—
perhaps these bees or this meadow,
things unaware they need saving.

She collects a tiny cache of pollen
from stick legs to examine in the laboratory,
scribbles furiously in her waterproof notebook.
Her mother always called her a curious girl.
Dotted with yarrow and bachelor buttons,
goldenrod about to burst, this meadow—
our study site—is all story.
Nature is what we know—
Yet have no art to say—
I contemplate the gentle quiver of Queen Anne’s
lace, fields of guilt that extinction rates are all
our fault. Caring, she whispers, is sometimes
the hardest part.

Jessica Gigot is a poet, farmer, and writing coach. Her second book of poems, Feeding Hour, was a finalist for the 2021 Washington State Book Award. Jessica’s writing and reviews appear in several publications such as The New York Times, The Seattle Times, Orion, Terrain.org, and Poetry Northwest. Her first memoir A Little Bit of Land was published by Oregon State University Press in 2022. This poem was written as part of the Jack Straw Writing Program.

Published January 15 2023