Anni and Tanja explore the importance of nature inspired poetry in our efforts for a more sustainable future. Poets are encouraged to call in and read their ecopoetry live, on air! Featured poets include: Denzel Johnson, Kristine Carter, Mara Eve Robbins, Katrina Kissell, Jackie Ann May, Shelby Alinsky, and many members of our WMNF community of callers.
Dew – Aug 15, 2018
Within the morning dew
I am reminded that today is new.
Cleans from my shins of yesterday’s worries.
The sun warms me like a mother’s hug.
By the end of morning, the Florida sun becomes furious. Hard at work with little time to waste.
Like all of Mother Nature’s creations, I give her time and seek shelter where I can until she has done her day’s work fueling the pastures.
By the end of the day the chickens return to their coops and the turkeys to their roosts.
The lambs nestle to their mothers’ nips for one last sip.
With the set of the sun my work is done.
Until tomorrow’s dew where I will start anew
-Shelby Alinsky
I roll and tumble through my sadness
Sinking into water
sweating..
Tasting the salt
Feeling the Dark
Finding
My way out again
The damp soil of the mountains welcomes me
Envelops me
Until
I
Disappear from my
self
I can’t stop
I desire the loneliness of the woods
Convincing myself
One less
is ok
– Tanja Vidovic
Dear Dawn
I have awaken with a thirst
Thank you for sweet drops of hope
I am ready, basking in morning light
Dear Day
I stride in wanderlust, immersed in adventure
Thank you for your rainbow ride
I am enthralled, roaming in your sunshine
Dear dusk
I am both tireless and weary
Thank you for your deep shadows
I am with company in twilight, sharing our story
– Jacob Sisson
Yellow Sulphur Springs
lantern lantern
honey bee
mistook
mistake
made gracefully
honey honey
dragonfly
mistook
mistake
to fortify
dragon dragon
herringbone
mistook
mistake
for going home
herring herring
albatross
mistook
Mistake
and took a loss
wing of bird
and beam of sun
mistakes
mistook
another one
beam of sun
wish on a tree
mistook
mistakes
for a honey bee
-Mara Eve Robbins
This Acorn
This acorn barely hanging
on to the branch holds
a million futures.
For inside that tiny nut,
an oak waits to sprout.
And from that one tree,
thousands of acorns
will feed a squirrel colony
and a family of woodpeckers
And from all the uneaten acorns,
a forest will spread its roots,
nourishing generations of squirrels
and woodpeckers…
Some future fall,
my great-grandchild shall take
his children through that oak forest
and laugh at the squirrels
and woodpeckers pulling off the acorns
barely hanging to each branch.
-Kristine Ada Carter
Drought’s End-
The first rain came while I was away,
leaving dappled leaves telling me of gentle showers.
I stood beneath the oaks and thanked the plants
for their greenness and the Great Spirits for the rain.
The second rain came quietly in the night,
stealing over the house with a sigh.
I turned a sleepy smile, grateful for the lullaby,
thankful for generosity that had visited a second time.
The third rain, softening now, dashed in
driven by dancing lightening and waltzing on the wind.
What is man-made glistens free of dust, what is alive
stands taller and stronger, as do I, blessed once again.
-Sarah Hathaway’s father
The closer I get to nature
the finer I feel
the further I walk into the woods
the easier it is to deal
swimming in the ocean
sifting thru the sand
looking towards the stars
makes me understand…
it’s Not about Me
– Robin Zoller
The Falling Leaf
Do not mourn the falling leaf.
To do so would be mourning
the joy of the flight.
Maybe there is a slight pain
releasing from the branch.
But then, each launch
a different Wright Brother’s
experiment.
Here a cascade.
There a twirl.
Perhaps a tuck and roll.
Flowing with instead
of against the wind.
Finally, on touchdown:
a joining to all
the leaves fallen before you
and becoming soil
for a new tree to grow
a thousand leaves
in just one season.
-Kristine Ada Carter
ISLAND
There’s an island of trash in the ocean,
It gets bigger every day.
There’s an island of trash in the ocean,
And the dolphins have less room to play.
There’s an island of trash in the ocean,
And the fish are none too pleased.
There’s an island of trash in the ocean,
And we’re losing bees and trees.
There’s an island of trash in the ocean,
But I’ll tell you something strange —
There’s an island of trash in the ocean,
But I still believe in change
-Jacqueline Ann May
Everything’s Chrome in the Future
this isn’t a climate doom poem
this isn’t a “this is all your fault” poem
you won’t get mad reading this
you won’t be sad reading this
the translucent future in which we live and propel towards
bends forwards and backwards, cupid shuffles side to side
to the right
to the right
to the right
to the right
to the left
to the left
to the left
to the left
the future contorts without predictable vertebrae
ice in my glass melts like a fever dream
now kick!
now kick!
now kick!
now kick!
light bending on the waters surface, ever blending
with clear walls of silica and heat and fresh promises
and not a single memory of heartache
Our chrome home of a futuristic megadome
is right here, reusable metals that don’t get mined from
tribal lives or indigenous cries. A Phil of the Future future
grinning with the end of colonization in all forms
the end of all wars, the opening of all doors
little tamagotchi did you know
a plastic water bottle can only be recycled 2 or 3 times
before its molecules break down
beyond their ability to reassemble
to be recycled?
It is an inconvenient truth.
One that plastic producers and recyclers
either do not realize themselves
or want to keep a lid on.
little tamagotchi, did you know
a sheet of paper can be recycled 5 or 7 times
before its fibers break off, shortening
and have difficulty reassembling
for recycling?
at which point it is good for newspaper, egg cartons
and 3rd grade paper mache
It is an inconvenient truth.
One that loggers and paper producers and recyclers
either do not realize themselves
or want to keep a lid on.
little tamagotchi
I know you know
glass and aluminum are some of the only
everyday substances that can be recycled indefinitely
forever, five-ever, six-ever
fo-evuh evuh
but I’m tryna say little tamagotchi,
this isn’t a climate doom poem
this isn’t a “this is all your fault” poem
The kinds of folks that read poems
know that plastics are killing us.
The goal then is to not berate.
It is to ease hearts, inspire lights in eyes
in putting solutions in hands, in homes,
giving up the ex-lover, the old flame of polyurethane
The kinds of folks that read poems
know something is wrong.
The goal then is to not depress.
But to give folks the means for change, the opaque hope
that there is a beautiful tomorrow worth saving.
A Jetsons like future, shiny and sleek,
a store like Sans Market where you can get glass,
toothpaste tablets, wooden toothbrushes
and reusable and refillable anything’s
a braver, newer world like those on
Enterprise, Voyager, Stargazer,
call it solar punk, call it utopia
but don’t call it late for supper
and let folks know that
there is a future worth saving
and that you and I
and that you and I
are worthy of saving too
–Denzel Johnson Green
Money talks in a language we all know and hate,
root of all evil, still we propagate its lies,
promising happiness from riches, thighs singed from burning britches—
Mouths open wide like hungry, hungry hypocrites!
Just saying, if the shoe fits well… you better wear it, until you wear it out!
You and your Goodwill are making me doubt the
whole of humanity,
in this economy, it’s begun to bother me
when you start to see less value in things that are around you,
rather make a wish to China or splurge on brand names but
both those options are the same
if you don’t know the hands that made it—
How you spend your money is how you make a statement,
and what will we be saying when the landfill’s full?
I think we started something we can’t handle like
we know the planet is not disposable, right…?
…well, still I blame the money because it lies
so sweetly, says:
“It’s ok to be a little greedy!
And hey, it’s fine if you can’t afford it.
Let’s make a deal—
Look! You credit scored it!
Don’t it feel great to sell your soul? Haha
Think of the perks and not the toll.
Besides, you never had control! It’s all those
big bad companies that profit from gluttony,
all so you never need
to feel regret! It’s just a fact—
Eventually all life
ends
in
Debt.
-Katrina Kissell
If you love what we do on Sustainable Living, don’t forget to tune in every Monday at 11am on WMNF 88.5fm or listen to past episodes in the archives. If you’d like to donate to show your support, head over to the donations page and direct your pledge to the Sustainable Living Show.
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