A Collection of Eco Poetry (By Me)

Hello! I noticed that some of you (primarily, my mom) have been requesting that I post some of my poetry on here, since I keep referring to my poetry. So, I thought I would post a couple of the poems that I have written this year. I've been writing poetry since middle school, and I have a ridiculous amount of old poems from junior year of high school when I wrote a poem a day for a year, but I have decided to spare you my awkward high school verse.

Instead, I'm going to share poems from the poetry class I'm taking this year. I'm in a poetry seminar (seminar meaning there's only eleven of us and we sit around a table and discuss stuff as our class time) called "Eco Poetry," in which we work on reading and writing poems about the natural world, as well as researching and learning stuff about the environment. It's really fun and I could talk a lot about the stuff I've learned from the class and from the other students, but instead I'm just going to share some of the poetry I have written for the class.

All of the poems are about nature. I mostly liked to focus on the seasons, which is my topic for my conference project (which is an individual research project we do alongside each class at my college). I picked my favorites, so I hope you like them. Feel free to leave feedback/criticism in the comments!
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Autumn
(the prompt was "write a letter to autumn")

I saw you in the woods again,

running and laughing with your girlfriend Color.

 

How little you seem to think

of the creatures in the forest beneath you,

 

as you force the leaves

to bleed ‘til they dry

 

and make the forest a beautiful grave.

 

And why am I so taken by you?

 

You spin a waltz of fiercely blue skies,

with a cackling smile, so warm.

 

Your arms flail,

and make the wind storm.

 

Why do your months make my lungs rise up?

Like the beauty of earth

 

Turned furiously wild?

Papery leaves careening in the wind

 

And birds fleeing on the spine of day?
 

 How to Survive the Winter
(the prompt was to write a poem of instruction)

First, prepare.

Outside, colors surround you.

Inside, turning to steel.

Spend your days

gathering.

Each tree is a feast for the taking,

but not for now-

do not think you can get away

with an extra nut or two today.

Hide everything you can

in your hoards, in the trees.

Work now, or starve.

There are thieves.

Even your brothers are thieves.

You must work alone.

You must work against the world.

Build a nest.

Steal leaves as you have stolen nuts.

Shiver.

Anatomy of a Blizzard
(the prompt was to write a poem about the coming blizzard)

Unlike most animals,

a blizzard doesn’t have a heart.

But it does have a mouth-

the whole sky,

squeezing and vomiting and crying.

It just lets go-

leaves all its mess

for the earth to deal with.

A blizzard hurts.

Torn from what it used to be:

rivers, lakes, mountain streams.

Now heavy, in the sky- cold, frozen, and alone.

No wonder it whirls,

crashes, and shrieks.

A blizzard is proof that hearts

are not necessary for despair.

 

 

Hoarfrost

(this is from my conference project about the seasons)

 

In the summer we form

when the earth- cool with morning-

takes us liquid from the air.

But it is cold now.

We lock into place, crystalline,

thick over each frozen surface.

We were water.

We were vapor.

We are ice.

We are too cold

to dream. 

 

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I hope you liked these poems! I plan for my new experience this week to be related to this poetry class, so this is just going to be a week of poetry for my blog. :)

Thanks so much for reading. Now I'm finally going to go watch the Parks and Rec finale.

I'll see you Saturday,

-Ariel