Monday, April 21, 2014

Celebrate Earth Day with Poetry!



When you hike through a natural area - a wetland, national park, state forest - there's a creed: Take nothing but Pictures. Leave nothing but Footprints.

It's a reminder to tread the earth lightly, as we are but a visitor in wild places.

Earth Day is a good time to remember how we are part of the environment, not apart from it. To celebrate, I share the words of Marilyn Singer, with a poem from her book Footprints on the Roof (Alfred A Knopf, 2002). 

Burrows

Out in the country I walk across towns
            I'll never see:
mazy metropolises
            under the earth
             where rabbits hide from foxes
                 foxes hide from dogs
                 full-bellied snakes sleep snugly
                        worms work uncomplaining
Where what you see is nothing –
what counts is what you smell
            or hear or feel
I try to tread softly:
            a quiet giant
               leaving only footprints
                        on the roof

You can find more of Marilyn's poetry - and her wonderful children's books, at her website. We're joining Nonfiction Monday, where you can see what other reviewers are writing about. Review copy from library.

Check back tomorrow - and all this week - for EARTH Week activities.

1 comment:

  1. Sue what a great find! I love the art and the poetry is so good! Thanks for sharing on NF Monday. I am definitely looking for this one!

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