Michael Schulte

Michael Schulte's experiences include paddling as kayak patrol for the U.S. Forest Service, pioneering rivers and caves in Mexico, spending a night listening to sharks gnaw at manta ray remains underneath the boat in which he and his fellow shark bait hunters traveled, working in Antarctica, and teaching Spanish.  His reverence for life, for nature, and for the beauty of both is breathtaking. 

Some of Michael's photography is online at http://www.flickr.com/photos/eyeforbeauty/

                   Taken From Water
                                                        --Michael Schulte

Yes, the sweet quicksilver lining of age. 

Taking of prey tends to be dramatic,

the often sudden and often deadly

intersection of lives and wills. 

Retrieving a memory is a solitary act. 

A bald eagle will soar,

one might say lazily for the 

apparently effortless harnessing of thermals. 

There is no conflict. 

The aerial sailor will eventually be tempted

by the lure of silver

flashing close to the surface. 

Age bestows a trove teeming

with knowledge and experience.  

Widespread wings of endless glide

tuck and the hunter falls out of the sky. 

Memories rise to meet consciousness dipping. 

The hurtling missile, with a most

wilderness of air-water sound,

unfolds, thrusts, and impales. 

There is connection.  

If you are intent and close,

you may hear the snapping of a spine. 

Ah ha!  The eagle, a bird once more,

rises heavily and dripping, clutching 

a shimmering prize. 

We savor the sweetness of having lived

at least some moments very fully.