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.
Hart Crane: Chaplinesque
For we can still love the world, who find
A famished kitten on the step, and know
Recesses for it from the fury of the street,
Or warm torn elbow coverts.
Abby Zimet: Ceasefire Delegates Insist Palestinian Children Can’t Eat Words
‘Never again’ means ‘never again, for anyone, anywhere, ever.’
Lynne Thompson: In this version, a teardrop
Tell them, tear, you are finished and
they should chuckle like old men who
stand between stanzas and a widow’s
Social Security check.
Jeff Cohen: Fired by MSNBC for Giving Voice to Iraq War Opposition, Phil Donahue (1935-2024) Was Courage Personified
The TV show host, who died Sunday at the age of 88, made his mark on our society. He fought for the underdog with style and grace and a sense of humor.
Chard deNiord: Songbirds Fly North at Night
I’m flying like a sparrow in my sleep
with only a pen to guide me
