Luray Gross: The Boy and the Mockingbird
Once in a time not so
long ago, there was a boy
generous enough to share
his name
with a mockingbird
Wayne Hsiung: Four Takeaways from the Shocking Conviction in the Beagle Rescue Trial
Beagle rescuers may soon join the laboratory dogs in being trapped in a cage.
Ma Yongbo: A Dream at the Beginning of Winter (English & Chinese)
The broad leaves of the sycamore tree fall onto the small car,
once all the leaves have fallen, the car’s colour turns white,
receiving signals from the stars of the departed
Video: A Bear Remembers
A local boy is trying to find the source of the mysterious sound that haunts his village. When he shares his footage with an old woman it sparks memories of an ancient bear spirit that roamed the hills during her childhood.
Sean Sexton: Elysium
I am ready, like Basho — to turn away
from beauty today as he once refused to
consider Mt Fuji, stark in the distance,
one more time — not to be bothered by
the ineluctable.
Michael Simms: Charities I Recommend
There are thousands of worthwhile charities in the United States, so sometimes it is difficult to choose only one or two to support.
Nolo Segundo: Delusions of Progress
It struck me some years ago when I saw cave paintings in France from 40,000 years ago that people then were just as intelligent as we are.
Tara Lohan: Why America Is Removing Thousands of Dams and Letting Rivers Run Free
After centuries of dam building, a nationwide movement to dismantle these aging barriers is showing how free-flowing rivers can restore ecosystems, improve safety, and reconnect people with nature.
Diane Wakoski: Braised Leeks & Framboise
The Saturnian taste
of old raspberries, and the moon’s
clear-fingered insistence
of leek. These two intangible things
I owe you
Jonathan Anomaly: What’s Wrong With Factory Farming?
The costs of factory farming as it is currently practiced far outweigh the benefits. Here are a few suggestions for how to improve the situation for animals and people.
Naomi Shihab Nye: Every day as a wide field, every page
And there were so many more poems to read!
Countless friends to listen to.
We didn’t have to be in the same room—
the great modern magic.
Jane Kenyon: The Beaver Pool in December
The beavers thrive somewhere
else, eating the bark of hoarded
saplings. How they struggled
to pull the long branches
over the stiffening bank…
George Witte: Laurels
Garland me with pestilence,
blown in, unbidden, rooted out or burnt
with toxin, only to revive.
Michael Simms: The Crows
We barely recognized ourselves
But the crows knew
Who we were and where we’d been
Why we returned
