I sit quietly in my canoe, wearing my broad straw hat to protect me from the tropical sun, remembering all of the photographs of South America that my grandfather once shared with me.  Here I am surrounded by the thick, green smells of jungle plants that grow one on top of another, making it hard to tell where one ends and another starts.  The air is so dense with humidity that in the upper reaches of the Andes peaks areas known as 'cloud forests' are formed fed by the rising moisture from the Amazon basin far below.  Only this morning, when we made our descent down the mountainside with our local guides and pack animals, I saw ferns that grew as tall as they had during prehistoric times.  A blue-winged warbler flew past us in a flash of colored feathers.  Now, I sit alone in the middle of the river; I am tiny compared to the lush jungle.  I feel hidden within the towering trees as I paddle across the calm water.  Even though I do not see many insects, I can hear them clicking, and buzzing making the jungle seem to have a voice, which speaks in a language older than any civilization's.  If you listen closely, you can hear the jungle telling its story: of orchids that grow on the bark of trees and of giant anacondas that swim silently down the river.  It sings in its bird-songs of the green canopy that grows overhead.  It sings its river-song of the jumping silvery fish and green plants that wave as I gently paddle through them.  It sings in the soft sound of the sword-billed hummingbird as it feeds on the wild fuchsia.  It is a perfectly balanced song of growth; flowers pollinated by insects, rivers swollen from mountain rains flow down to the Amazon and out to sea.  It has sung this song since the beginning of time.  But how much longer can this song survive?  See in the distance bridges are already being built across the rivers.  The towns with their churches are spreading, and the jungle is being burned to make room for the farmers' crops.  Listen to the song of the jungle and heed its warning before it is too late, and we only have photographs in old albums to remind us of what we have lost.  Listen!

Author's Statement

Clare Moore is a life-long resident of Wilmington, Delaware and mother of three grown children. She teaches 5th and 6th grade at St. Mary Magdalen School. Clare also conducts a summer camp program in drama and creative writing techniques for students. She has always been a collector of stories from around the world and uses them extensively in her teaching, especially for ancient cultures. She has always felt that storytelling is a wonderful way for different cultures to learn about each other. Clare has been chosen to participate in this year's Delaware Division of the Arts Writers' Retreat in Lewes, Delaware in October. She has written several fantasy and historical fiction novels, which have been shared with her class and is presently working on a multigenerational story of a troubled family. Clare is inspired by her family, her students and her dream group, with whom she meets weekly. She believes that storytelling and art are a perfect combination for creativity.

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