Reginald Shepherd: Hesitation Theory
I drift into the sound of wind,
how small my life must be
to fit into his palm like that, holly
leaf, bluejay feather, milkweed fluff
Jessica Corbett: Russia’s Foreign Minister Warns US That World War III Wouldn’t Be Confined to Europe
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Tuesday warned the United States that if the war in Ukraine escalates into a wider military conflict, a potential World War III would not be limited to battlefields in Europe.
Pablo Otavalo: Étude
On the outstretched arm of a pinwheel galaxy
and doomed to be free. Into the bonfire
the vanities, as into a cave
the light.
Paul Christensen: At Sea on the Queen Mary Two
In the decks above, life was throbbing and squirming in anticipation of some event that would never come. Or if it came, would be so gradual as to be uneventful. The sea told me that.
Susan Kelly-DeWitt: Estate Sale
The day grew hot; the yard
held the heat until the late shade
gathered it. Deep in shadow
the ghosts convened
Lauren Magliozzi: Urban wildfires disrupt streams and their tiny inhabitants − losing these insects is a warning of bigger water problems
When you think of urban wildfires, you might picture charred trees and houses. But beneath the surface of nearby streams, fires can also cause a silent upheaval.
Dane Cervine: This Burning
I drove silently in the night
into the heaving hills of Los Angeles afire, so close now,
not knowing if there would be a way through
Matthew J. Parker: Prison Reform Envisioned by a Convicted Felon
I’ve had a lot of things done to me in both jail and prison, but coddling was never one of them. Yet in the late 1980s and 1990s, I heard this word used continually to describe prisons
Barbara Crooker: Who Do You Carry?
On city streets, the homeless unfurl
their sleeping bags like hungry tongues.
Marlowe Starling: Unsilencing the Desert
“Nomads are in contact with nature every day, surrounded by rivers, mountains, and deserts. The silence of the desert allows them to hear nature.”
Baruch November: Self-Portrait with the Baal Shem Tov
Let me fall if I must fall.
The one I will become
will catch me,
said the Baal Shem Tov.
Video: Lessons from people already adapting to the climate crisis
The Maasai people have lived sustainably off the savanna for centuries, raising cattle for sustenance and income. Climate activist Dorcas Naishorua paints a picture of how the climate crisis is threatening their way of life — and calls for local and international support as they’re forced to adapt to a changing environment.
Michael Simms: Waterfall
In Chatham Woods near our house
a spring bursts
from a hillside and falls
into a rocky pool
Video: Charlie Chaplin Swallowed by a Factory Machine — Modern Times (1936)
In Chaplin’s last performance as the iconic Little Tramp, his character struggles to survive in the modern, industrialized world.
