Joshua Ward

@themigratorypoet.bsky.social

🦃Virginia Tech: - BS Wildlife Conservation ‘22 - MFA Creative Writing (Poetry) ‘28 Poet/Writer, Birder (Life List: 1008), Herper, Wildlife Photographer @thefinderofthefurtive on IG Albion Review, Equatorial Mag. 2023 Giovanni-Steger Poetry Prize.

A casual morning in the bog: my lifer White Fringed Orchid (Platanthera blephariglottis), one of dozens blooming between tamaracks and spruces, swamp candles and cottongrass, purple pitchers and sundews, with singing Lincoln’s Sparrows and Yellow-bellied Flycatchers

A White Fringed Orchid (Platanthera blephariglottis) blossoming in front of the morning sun in an Adirondack peat bog

Sitting in the parking lot of Breaks Interstate Park, the only place within like 15 miles that has good cell signal, just called like 9 senators offices, and a Cerulean Warbler sings in the trees above me. Proof of God?????

My mom (veterinarian) had a client ask about me the other day. My mom told her that I’m headed back to VT for an MFA. Today, she came in with a selection of poetry books, and asked my mom to pass them to me🥹 Neruda, Lorca (whom I’ve wanted in my library for a while), Cohen, and more!! #poetrysky

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A friend just asked me what I do to stay hopeful and I told him one of my favorite strategies…I stay hopeful by remembering that no one has any idea what the fuck is going to happen, so as long as we don’t know, we gotta do what we can.

Marine veterans are speaking out against the troop deployment in Los Angeles. Across the country, they’re taking down their American flags that have flown in front of their homes for years. Remember, we have friends everywhere.

How does a president just have the power to strip research funding from a university. No one person should have that power. Presidents should be civil servants, not kings. Otherwise we would just have kings

The first two Shrek movies are undoubtedly unmatched masterpieces but the third one doesn’t get enough credit for also being great. Snow White using the power of Led Zeppelin to unleash a horde of birds against two talking trees? The sequence of the king dying? The baby nightmare scene? Iconic

Since I’ll be busy on the Global Big Day, a college bestie and I made today our “unofficial big day”, and we raked in an even 100 species, including 21 warbler species, a Barn Owl, and 30 Bobolink! Undoubtedly the highlight for me were these ridiculous flame azalea blooms, spotted by said bestie!!

Blossoms on a Flame Azalea

Writing/doing any sort of work in a coffee shop/cafe has me eating in the daintiest manner possible. Were I in my car, I’d be housing this pastry. But here? With my journal and my lemonade, surrounded by strangers? I’m taking little rabbit bites with my pinky up.