Michael Simms: The Crows
We barely recognized ourselves
But the crows knew
Who we were and where we’d been
Why we returned
The True Story of Thanksgiving
The Thanksgiving story you know probably goes like this: English Pilgrims, seeking religious freedom, landed in Plymouth, Massachusetts, where they found a rich land full of animals and were greeted … Continue reading
Michael Daley: Desire
I saw the planets align tonight, then fog in sheets,
cloud in waves, whipped across Mt. Erie
and unburdened the night of its new worlds.
Derrick Z. Jackson: The Fight for Clean Water — Majesty or Madness
I came upon six great blue herons grabbing herring out of the water as gulls swooped down for the leftovers. The Charles is now its own wildlife refuge.
Robinson Jeffers: Hurt Hawk
I’d sooner, except the penalties, kill a man than a hawk; but the great redtail
Had nothing left but unable misery
From the bones too shattered for mending, the wing that trailed under his talons when he moved.
Esther Duflo: Tax the rich — and save the planet
Nobel Prize-winning economist Esther Duflo calculates the staggering cost of wealthy nations pumping greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, proving that getting billionaires to pay their fair share in taxes is the best way to cover these damages.
Laure-Anne Bosselaar: The Garden
Because everything I learned from the stained
glass windows I was told to kneel under
still remains thorned & stained & torn,
& all the teachings I was told to believe, still
leave me dis-believing & I wish it were not so —
Mantas Balakauskas: letter from Rome
I’d really like to tell you everything
but there in the cities we once fully trusted
white noise dominates
Byron Hoot: On That Day
In a few days, it will be the anniversary
of my father’s death and I will have
to see if grief visits or stays away.
Robert Cording: Dome Houses
When erected, the domes must have looked
like something built to colonize Mars.
Gary Margolis: Overlooking the Sea
Who wouldn’t want
to be led back to their century,
their tent, their house of stones?
Their window, overlooking the sea.
Barbara Crooker: Praise Songs for Autumn
Each day, we must learn
again how to love, between morning’s quick coffee
and evening’s slow return.
Louise Bogan: Simple Autumnal
The measured blood beats out the year’s delay.
The tearless eyes and heart, forbidden grief,
Watch, the burned, restless, but abiding leaf,
The brighter branches arming the bright day.
