It is spring in the Northwest, and although we had rain on Easter the days have green and bright. April is an ideal month to celebrate Earth Day as our yards and parks reawaken and we can spend more time outside in the later evenings. I have always loved the Earth and National Poetry Month overlap—we need everyone to be an ecopoet to solve this environmental crisis.
Last November, I spent a day at the Kauai Writer’s Conference. We were on the island on a family trip and I wanted to stop in to see what they offered. A highlight of my time at the conference was hearing Marie Howe read ecopoetry by the ocean. She is really the poet’s poet and I have been a fan for many years. Several of the poems that day stuck with me.
Since April is National Poetry Month (and our lovely local bookstore, Village Books, has a sale on all poetry books all month long) I wanted to get a copy of her New and Selected Poems.
These writing prompts are focused on poetry, but feel free to write prose if you are feeling that way. The first is inspired by one of Howe’s poems and the last one is a reflection on a new climate change term I have learned recently. For each, try to write for at least 8-12 minutes.
Writing Prompt #1: Inspired by the poem “Postscript”
Let’s look at this wonderful poem. It evokes so many emotions. I will admit that hearing her read this in front of a roaring ocean was quite moving!
Let’s look at the opening line.:
What we did to the earth, we did to ______________.
Use this line as a starting point. What comparisons can you make? Does your poem beg you to repeat this line, like an incantation? What images, places, and people can you use to finish this sentence? Where doe it take you?
For more about Marie Howe’s work go here. Also, this is a recent podcast conversation about her ecopoetry. Enjoy!
Writing Prompt #2: Climate Whiplash
The Guardian is one of my top sources for environmental news these days. This article introduced me to a new term-climate whiplash. This is defined in this article as “is a rapid swing between very wet or dry conditions and can cause far more harm to people than individual extreme events alone.”
How have you witnessed or experienced climate whiplash? Does your environmental writing follow an erratic pattern of hot and cold, wet and and dry? What does climate whiplash teach us about change?
Ooh that Marie Howe poem is so spot on.💜
Thank for this Marie Howe poem which has blown me away. Wow.