The poet as prophet, part I


The poet as prophet, part I

The internet is replete with resources on nature writing. But thoughtful treatments of nature poetry as a genre are scarce. Some of my writing colleagues practically dismiss it as a tired cliché.

Perhaps the greatest work of nature writing of the 20th Century was Annie Dillard's 1974 Pulitzer Prize-winning Pilgrim at Tinker Creek. Though a work of non-fiction prose, Dillard's poetic voice echoes clearly throughout the work. She explores poetry directly in her 1988 volume, Tickets for a Prayer Wheel.

It came as a great surprise to me to read the cynicism toward Dillard's writing expressed in the essay  Urban nature: teaching Tinker Creek by the East River , by Michael Bennett, an instructor at Long Island University. He got preoccupied with the resistance his students felt for Dillard's vision. Her ecocentrism is identified as failing to "consider that the inhabitants of urban places are as much a part of an ecosystem" as those idealistic writers who wander open spaces.

But in criticizing Dillard and Walt Whitman, Bennett has missed one of the essential messages of nature writers over the past two centuries. UK poet laureate Andrew Motion said, "Poetry itself is a very primitive and essential need." I believe this need could be extended to include a poetic experience of nature, and of our true relationship with the Earth. Kentucky poet and farmer, Wendell Berry, has said, "Urban people are connected to the land by their gastrointestinal tract." This is hardly a holistic relationship.

As one who has lived both on and off the land, I can understand why urbanites struggling against poverty might resent a naturalist's apparent privileges. But I also believe that economic problems are closely tied to neglect of our relationship with nature. By creative exertion, this connection can be restored.

In her book  Cultivating Sacred Space: Gardening for the Soul , Elizabeth Murray gives an account of one landscape artist and a marginalized north Philadelphia community that experienced this transformation together. Murray calls Lily Yeh, "a modern-day alchemist," whose pursuit of artistic expression led to the creation of The Village of Arts and Humanities. Since 1986, 55 vacant properties

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