Image by Jasmine Fassl.
Photo by Ирина Сороколетова: https://www.pexels.com/photo/girl-in-hat-sitting-on-pier-18447713/
Here we present two more short pieces of nature writing inspired by
Eleanor Updegraff’s ‘The Writer in the World’ workshop
which took place in the forests surrounding
Burg Rappottenstein during our 2025 Writing Retreat.
I Stole A Fairy Rock
by Tamara Saltman
I didn’t mean to.
I mean, of course I did pick it up.
But I didn’t know.
It was resting on a new stump,
the maple still yellow and firm.
A white rock, oblong and rounded
by generations of water.
I felt its weight; wondered.
The forest rustled
and murmered around me.
The air was loamy and still;
no breathe of air
brushed my cheeks.
A blackbird called out
a telling, not a warning.
I carried it home across the ocean
where it sits on my desk
whispering
You’d better write this down
it told me that first morning
You owe us stories now –
What Is A Pinecone?
by Keith Gray
The pinecone is the world’s slowest grenade. Chuck it; heave it; throw it; toss it. One day it will crack open and boo-oo-oom into the explosive beauty of a new tree.