Friday, February 18, 2022

all we can save: truth, courage and solutions

 

Greetings, Poetry Friday audience! It's the 3rd Friday of the month, when you'll find me considering our response to the climate crisis. Now, I am no expert in much that's related to global warming--not the exact science of its causes, not the relative power of various solutions, not the numbers that quantify the damage--but I am an expert in CARING about it (and lots of other things. In general, when I see something, I say something--and my Outbox is full of Strongly Worded Letters to prove it).  And I've learned that it's of basic importance to climate action to CARE about the Earth and its beings.  

I'm pretty sure we are all past that basic level here; poets in general are poets because they've fallen hard for the wonders of nature, the miracles of life.  Much harder is to sustain attention to the truth about what's happening the climate and connect that to courageous actions that solve it. Anyone who can help us with that, we want to know them!

Today I want to introduce us all to a book I bought last summer and didn't get around to cracking open until this week, and girl am I sorry about that!  I thought I knew what was in it--essays--and what they were about--climate stuff--and I bought it mainly to support Ayana Elizabeth Johnson, whose podcast I have loved and written about before.

But friends, this book turns out to be a book of POETRY.  Yes, there are essays, and yes, it's about climate stuff, but when Ayana and her coeditor Katharine K. Wilkinson say ALL WE CAN SAVE: Truth, Courage, and Solutions for the Climate Crisis, they are saying that in order to get to the solutions, we need the kind of truth and courage we get from POETRY.

And so this book--which "illuminates the expertise and insights of dozens of diverse women leading on climate in the US," features poems by names I know (Ellen Bass, Marge Piercy, Joy Harjo, Ada Limon, Patricia Smith, Jane Hirshfield, Damille T. Dungy, Sharon Olds, Alice Walker and Mary Oliver), and names that are new to me (Lynna Odel, Ann Haven McDonnel, Joan Naviyuk Kane, Ailish Hopper, Catherine Pierce, Naima Penniman).

Would anyone like to read it WITH me?  For all kinds of reasons, I know I'll jump in and stay in if others are expecting me to. It's 375 pages and 8 sections, with most essays  7-8 pages long, some shorter, some a few pages longer.  I know there are folks here who read several books per week, but I'm slow enough with everything else to propose reading (and digesting) maybe one section a week, and meeting to discuss once a month.  If you're interested, let me know in the comments or email me--a group of 4 would be a good minimum.

And now, to offer you both truth and courage, here's one poem from the book, also found at Poets.org:

Dead Stars | Ada Limon





















 

From The Carrying (Milkweed Editions, 2018) by Ada Limón. Copyright © 2018

Thanks to our host for today, Laura  Purdie Salas, who has perhaps wisely decided not to write the whole entire world for kids but to offer us "Small Reads for Brighter Days." Either way, it's always lovely over there!

15 comments:

  1. I love your passion for the environment. I feel guilty that I am not doing much except driving a Prius. This is such a gem from Ada Limón. I've unpacked it with my students. I love how she packages her wondering in with a simple everyday story of taking out the trash.

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    1. Here's another thing (of the few) that I miss about teaching. Sigh...

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  2. ooh I love Ada Limon's "nest of trying." I believe books find us when we're ready and need them most...so perfect timing for you and this book! Thank you for sharing it with us. xo p.s. I love your K affirmation in the comments at Laura's blog! Perfect!

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  3. I love the questions in this poem, What would happen if we loved (the earth) harder? I would like to read this book and thanks for this post and book title.

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  4. Such a powerful poem that speaks of concern and bravery. I love how it is couched in questions. Thanks for sharing, Heidi, and for your devotion to the Earth.

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  5. This is a great poem that speaks loudly, but in such a caring way. As an environmental educator (who worked with children) I feel I need to read this book - however, I am not sure I can do it on a group schedule. You made a lot of great points in your post about poets already being invested in our earth home. Thank, Heidi - you always provide something deep to thing about! ~ Carol from The Apples In My Orchard ~

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  6. That mouth full of dust--this is such a call to action, Heidi. Limon mixes the ordinary and the extraordinary with such ease and impact.

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  7. "What would happen if we decided to survive more?" is a question I will be grappling with for a long time (the rest of my life?). As others have mentioned, Limón's ability to intertwine the mundane and profound is extraordinary. You know that this book is right up my alley and that I would love to delve into it more deeply. Let's talk.

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  8. Heidi, thank you for drawing my attention to this poem that allows me to ponder about self and the earth. There are so many great lines. I read through the Teacher Page and found this activity for middle school children that really resonated with me.
    Write an illustrated essay about doing something that would make you “so big / people could point to [you] with the arrows they make in their minds.”
    Leave it to you to find a book with merit and a poem that makes us think beyond our everyday life. I would love to join a discussion but I am scheduled for cataract surgery in March and April. Let me know more about your discussion group idea. It is getting harder to read constantly. Thanks, Heidi.

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  9. I'm IN for a book "club." I've been looking for a Poetry Month project and wonder if response poems to this book would be a way to go...Let's chat.

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  10. I LOVE this poem! I think my favorite line is: "Look, we are not unspectacular things." How perfect is that?

    I would love to be part of a group. I checked and saw that this book is available on Kindle, so I could download it in spite of my iffy mail service. My time zone is EST +2, so that could be an issue.

    I also wanted to add that the video I posted this week, a conversation between Jane Hirshfield and Dorianne Laux, has some climate change relevance too.

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  11. I'm late finishing up everyone's posts, Heidi. Timing is sad to me because there have been several articles recently forecasting the ocean's rising within the next decades. I wish I could join but I'm committed to a poetry group & am still reviewing. There is no time. But I did sign up for their newsletter & will get the book. Limón's poem is, as all of hers is, powerful and the voice for many, the wondering? Thank you!

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    1. I subscribe to Orion magazine & recently purchased this book from them, really lovely! https://orionmagazine.org/product/earthly-love/ You may want to check it out?

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  12. "poets in general are poets because they've fallen hard for the wonders of nature, the miracles of life." So well said, Heidi - that and the truth that follows. It is hard to sustain our focus on the crisis before us. Thank you for all you do to remind us, and to engage us, on this important topic!

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  13. Sooo much packed into your post! Passion, poetry, wrapped up in desire to steward our fragile earth. I am an Orion subscriber, and The Sun subscriber, and pour over the calls being made for souls to pay attention. I'm reading OLD GROWTH right now... more "are we ok with this?" reflections! Thank you!

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Thanks for joining in the wild rumpus!