These warm, rainy nights of young spring,
salamanders begin crossing the road to water
and woods not so far away but
a dangerous journey, and I with flashlight
play Virgil taking them to a Paradiso.
For years, I have volunteered for the endangered species program in New Jersey, so I have seen the amphibians – endangered, threatened, or just in danger – crossing locally to vernal pools of water. Dangerous road crossings. See some salamander rain video and more info at endangerednj.blogspot.com
Seeing myself as Dante’s Virgil guide and my local woods as a paradiso may be a bit of poetic license but…