poetry

November 7, 2024 - In April 2021, we launched The Ecological Disciple. Today, I share an update of the first post of this column, as a spark of light against the fear and despair that many are currently experiencing. I pray that these words will be a comfort and an encouragement. By Louise Conner

September 5, 2024 - The poem, Set the Garden on Fire, by Chen Chen gives a poignant picture of the contrast between welcome and exclusion. While exclusion keeps out the other, welcome is generous space where the different is made to feel familiar. By Louise Conner

March 14, 2024 - The poem, Moving the Woodpile, reveals a perspective into the relationship we, as humans have with the rest of creation as the narrator literally and figuratively, moves the woodpile and reveals to us what is underneath. By Louise Conner

December 7, 2023 - There are many things surrounding us that can make us fearful, but as this poem reminds us, the changes that we see and don't necessarily want or understand, do not need to leave us paralyzed with fear. By Louise Conner

October 12, 2023 - in the face of the stark statement that "Everything is transitory," Ellen Bass, in her remarkable poem, "The Big Picture," reminds us that the big picture isn't the only picture there is. By Louise Conner

This poem by Marshall Island poet Kathy Jetñil-Kijiner brings home to readers that climate change doesn't just threaten "nations" in the abstract, but affects specific people, creatures, and land that are part of those nations. By Louise Conner

July 6, 2023 - The untitled prayer poem by E.E. Cummings, which begins with the line, "i thank You God for most this amazing day," is a celebratory chorus of joy, rejoicing in the earth and the God who is responsible for it. By Louise Conner

June 1, 2023 - As this poem by Jane Hirshfield alludes to, the "unseen, unread, unremembered," do transforming work that makes life possible—both for themselves and others. By Louise Conner

April 6, 2023 - In the nooks and crannies of the world, with no human present, songs of praise to the Creator still sound. By Louise Conner

March 2, 2023 - Contemplation and activism come together in the work of Homero Aridjis, Mexican writer and environmental advocate, who uses language to see, love, and protect the world we live in. By Louise Conner

January 12, 2023 - What happens when our attention snags on something that takes us out of our isolated selves into a larger, richer place? The poem, To the Fig Tree on 9th and Christian, by Ross Gay, gives us a taste of what can transpire when that happens. By Louise Conner

August 11, 2022 - The poem, Iowa City: Early April by Robert Hass, speaks of a creation full of life, visible and active all around us. Like the bat in the poem, it stops us in our tracks, and can, when it is "loose," fly straight at our face and make us topple to the floor. By Louise Conner

June 23, 2022 - The creatures described in Characteristics of Life are humble, tentative, and vulnerable, easily overlooked and easily harmed in a world that values primarily what is like ourselves. What do we have in common, after all, with a mollusk? By Louise Conner

May 12, 2022 - In the "Blessings & Prayers" sections of The Bell and the Blackbird, David Whyte explores being touched by what is around us and blessed by it. Two poems in this section, "Blessing for Sound," and "Blessing for Light," make particularly good companion pieces. By Louise Conner

March 10, 2022 - To see the connections that exist in this world is essential if we are to live well within it. The poem, Invocation, by Everett Hoagland reminds us just how necessary it is to see those connections and to live accordingly. By Louise Conner

January 27, 2022 - The poem Lost by David Wagoner speaks about the movement from being lost to being found—from disconnection and disorientation to connection and placement. This movement from one to the other is accomplished, ironically, according to the poem, by standing still. By Louise Conner

December 23, 2021 -This poem reminds us of an essential truth—a way of seeing what is around us in a different way—much like turning the knob on a set of binoculars so that our view changes from a fuzzy mess to a clear picture of what we couldn't distinguish before. By Louise Conner

Dec. 20, 2021 - By reading Psalm 148, through eco-theological lenses, we can begin to see (and hear) the symphony of praise that echoes through every nook and cranny of creation and calls us to join in. By James Amadon

December 9, 2021 - We hope you enjoy today's post, with contributions sent in by some of our readers. By Louise Conner

December 2, 2021 - It is not just with other animals of the earth that we share a commonality, but with the earth itself. By Louise Conner

October 21, 2021 - When we approach life from a posture of praise, believing that praiseworthy things are all around us, we can see things to praise that we might have overlooked and, with practice, might even find ourselves able to praise things we did not ask for or want. By Louise Conner

September 30, 2021 - For the earnest ecological disciple seeking sources of inspiration, a rich cache can be found in the poetry of the Victorian Jesuit Gerard Manley Hopkins. By Jeff Reed

September 2, 2021 - When a peach isn't "just" a peach, it can be pathway which leads from blossom to blossom, from joy to joy. By Louise Conner

July 22, 2021 Hopelessness paralyzes; in order to step into changes, we need believe that change can affect the future. By Louse Conner

July 1, 2021 - Borrowing the lens of this poet to look at the world can help someone see what is around them with new eyes. By Louise Conner

June 3, 2021 - The love of this earth we are part of may be innate to humans, but that makes it even more grievous when other loves squeeze out space for that elemental love in our hearts. By Louise Conner

May 6, 2021 -Instead of the words, "Don't just sit there, do something!" perhaps we need to hear, "Don't just do something, sit there!" By Louise Conner.

April 22, 2021 - Welcome to The Art of Creation, a Thursday post of The Ecological Disciple. By Louise Conner