Marram Grass


Roots of marram grass weave fine
webs under the sands as
a network expands
thousands of feet.
Stalks bow down to west winds
and multiply season after season
until the tasseled dune
waves with green grace.
Each year the dunes grow higher
in tasseled grasses
in marram grasses’
loving embrace.
--Barbara Spring
Excerpted from Sophia's Lost and Found: Poems of Above and Below

Marram Grass Builds Sand Dunes

In West Michigan the wind and waves have built sand dunes. Some of the best dunes on the planet are found there. Marram grasses hold the dunes together.  Their roots weave a network of webs under the sand that keeps the sand from escaping.  Pictured is marram grass but there are other types of grasses.

Read more about sand dunes along the Great Lakes in my book, The Dynamic Great Lakes.

This book is suitable for readers from middle school through adult and is available at bn.com, Amazon.com and is available for Amazon's Kindle e reader.

Marram Grass Builds Sand Dunes

Marram grass holds sand in place on the shores of the Great Lakes when westerly winds blow.  The roots of marram grass are a fine network that help build sand dunes.  I wrote this poem:
 
                                     














 Marram Grass

Roots of marram grass weave fine

webs under the sands as

a network expands

thousands of feet.

Stalks bow down to west winds

and multiply season after season

until the tasseled dune

waves with green grace.

Each year the dunes grow higher

in tasseled grasses

in marram grasses’

loving embrace.

 

         __Barbara Spring

         Sophia's Lost and Found: Poems of Above and Below
 
This book is available here:
http://www.amazon.com/Sophias-Lost-Found-Poems-Above/dp/1424125448