Like Earth, so much is round:
apple, orange, peach,
each with its core, pip, stone,
gathered from branch and ground.
Sun, moon and planets,
all are circular and in orbit.
The life of an animal is a cycle:
birth, growth, reproduction, death,
gnawing flesh and bone with teeth.
And poets take their knives
and forks and table etiquette,
and consume the planet,
regurgitating it back onto the soil of time
to live again in words and rhyme.
Kim M. Russell, 12th April 2021
Free image from wallpaperaccess.com
My response to earthweal weekly challenge: Toward an Ecopoetry
Brendan reminds us that ‘the poetry which is attracted to a forum like earthweal is what is called, in literary circles, eco-poetry, a poetry of Earth’ and writes about its history, which ‘begins with pastoral poetry and its celebration of rural life’ and explores work by some of our earthweal poets, which I enjoyed revisiting – have we really written so many excellent poems?
These words of Brendan’s resonated clearly with me: ‘I am ever reminded that my responsibility as a poet is always first to the poem, but the poetry of earth demands that poems grow roots in my life in this fast-changing earth.’
For this challenge, Brendan asks us to think about our poetry and consider how it works or doesn’t in relation to six questions he has posed. We don’t have to address them all, but we should give a feel for what eco-poetry is about and where it should go.
writing in north norfolk 
I love the idea of ‘consuming the planet’ and then ‘regurgitating it back onto the soil of time’ – this sounds like lots of fun! Excellent ending too, if we get our words and rhyme right, these earthly things can live again.
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Thanks Ingrid. I will revisit it a some point.
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Kim I liked how you approached this in circular motion. And in a few lines it captures the cycle of life. Nice job.
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Thank you, Patti!
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It’s a great metaphor, the culture of poetry as the eating of earth. Puts it on a happy horse of the carousel. (Maybe if we ate with our fingers the poetry would feel as good as it tastes.). Thanks for faithfully bringin’ it!
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That reminds me of that old Jefferson Starship line: ‘Your mother told you never to eat your friends with your fingers and hands…’
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“…and go round and round and round in the circle game”
I know this Joni Mitchell lyric isn’t directly related to your intent, but I heard her sings as i read, sooo…
Thanks for getting my 2nd coffee off to a Great start, Kimbo.
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… a wonderful ecopoem for Monday!
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Beautifully written Kim, I especially love
‘Like Earth, so much is round:
apple, orange, peach,
each with its core, pip, stone,
gathered from branch and ground’
and the metaphors of table etiquette and consuming the planet are very fitting xxx
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Thanks so much, Xenia. xxx
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Now that is a very cool perspective, poets consuming the planet then serving our words up. Fantastic. Made me smile.
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I’m so glad it made you smile, Sherry.
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The circles are just right–we take it in, we return it in different form. (K)
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Thank you, Kerfe.
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Very musical, Kim,
“birth, growth, reproduction, death,
gnawing flesh and bone with teeth.
And poets take their knives
and forks and table etiquette,
and consume the planet,”
I like that “death, flesh, teeth, poets, etiquette, planet” thread and the idea of the poet as a consumer of the planet>…jim
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Thank you, Jim, for close reading and appreciation.
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