I Am Nature: Environmental Poetry

Illustrations by Katherine Jones

Four poets from north-east Wales came together recently to write a collection of eco poetry called I Am Nature: Environmental Poetry, published by Veneficia Publications. Leaf Pettit, Diana Sanders, Andrew Sumner and Patricia Sumner realised they had more in common than friendship; they were all passionate about the environment. 

In fact, Andrew works as a landscape architect and environmental consultant, Diana volunteers at a Repair Café and edits the local Friends of the Earth magazine, Leaf has played a leading role in a community project to create a green space with wildflowers at the heart of her village, and Patricia writes children’s stories, some of which have ecological themes. They decided they needed to do something meaningful together to raise awareness of both the wonder and fragility of the natural world. 

The poets feel lucky to live in or near the Vale of Clwyd, a national landscape, where the rolling Clwydian Hills form a stunning backdrop to a patchwork quilt of green fields. It is undoubtedly a beautiful place but when the poets looked closer, they realised that parts of this landscape were a near monoculture; a wasteland where very few native species of flora and fauna could survive.

Apart from the hedgerows, some remaining patches of native ancient woodland, and hilltop moorland which has been maintained as artificial climax vegetation, biodiversity in Dyffryn Clwyd is much depleted. 

They feel blessed, though, that there are still pockets of land where some species hang on. In many areas of the UK, largely due to modern, industrialised farming, native species have been lost. We all owe a huge debt of gratitude to our hardworking farmers who produce our food, yet some farming practices seem to be unsustainable. 

Patricia’s poem ‘Maize’ highlights large-scale farming practices, where the ploughing of fields to grow maize for cattle feed can damage the soil and destroy natural habitats. This is a short extract from her poem:

Oak Tree by Katherine Jones

Grasshoppers feasted on acres

of green. Bees supped on clover and thistle.

Bats hurled themselves through darkness

to race after hurrying moths.

Silver-winged insects rose in clouds

with our dewy footfalls... 

Now, lines of orderly maize

fill the barren land. The great oaks’ roots

have been sliced by ploughs.

Two stately sycamores

are encaged. There is no space to walk

the field’s perimeter.

The old footpath that linked the byways

has disappeared…

Leaf’s prose poem ‘Recovery’ is more optimistic, highlighting that we can do more to encourage biodiversity in our own outdoor spaces. The poem explores a new approach to gardening, which we sometimes see during ‘No Mow May’. 

Leaf explained, “We all make everyday choices which impact our environment, from our recycling efforts to the laundry detergent we use, to the way we garden. As a gardener I am keenly aware of the often-negative perception of wild plants and minibeasts as ‘weeds’ and ‘pests’.

My poem ‘Recovery’ invites the reader to reframe their view, to see wildflowers and creepy-crawlies not as a nuisance but as nature’s champions. The poem seeks to empower each of us to make environmentally positive choices and reminds us that sometimes less is more.”

Gorse by Katherine Jones

RECOVERY

That morning, over breakfast in the garden, the headline cried, “50% decline in insect populations since 2005” and in that instant she knew what she must do.

She took down the netting, folded it neatly. Stowed the secateurs and the shears on a shelf.

Pushed the lawnmower deeper into the shed, careful not to disturb a spider’s web. No longer would she garden, she vowed. She would let the sawflies strip her Solomon’s seal to skeletons.

Let woodlice feast on strawberries.

Let sparrows peck pea-shoots.

Let blackbirds plunder blackcurrant bushes. Let snails rasp at salad leaves.

Let cabbage white caterpillars devour brassicas. Let slugs live under plant pots. Let greenfly colonise rosebuds. No longer would she garden. She would let the lawn turn to meadow. Let ragwort and nettle, cow parsley and poppy fill the flower borders. Let bramble and briar rampage through her hedges. No longer would she garden. Instead, she would lie in the grass and listen to the honeyed hum of tomorrow.

Diana is captivated by the sea and several of her poems in I Am Nature: Environmental Poetry investigate the effect that human activity is having on sea creatures. In the following poem, though, she celebrates rewilding.

Diana said, “I wrote ‘Sea Meadows’ to celebrate the often-unnoticed work done by groups and individuals who are committed to making positive changes in their communities and the environment. 

In this case it highlights the restoration of seagrass meadows in North Wales by Seagrass Network Cymru which is a collaborative group who are working to halt seagrass loss, recover 266 hectares of seagrass by 2030, and double the extent of sea grass by 2050. In this age of climate anxiety, it’s important to remember that individuals and groups can and do make a difference.”

SEA MEADOWS

She

plants

seagrass –

nursery habitat

for cod, plaice, lobster –

crams hessian bags with seeds

and settles them one metre apart so

they have elbow room. When they grow,

they will apprehend more carbon than a tropical

rainforest. Adventure playground for octopus, dogfish

and young seals. Hiding place for sea horses and shadowy

creatures weaving in and around ancient stems

and flowers

which moved from land to sea 70 million years ago. Grasses sprout around

islands and piers – broadcast their pollen.

Bubbles of oxygen rise in clear curtains

and her seagrass meadows stretch on and on

like an endless African plain.

Andrew is also fascinated by rewilding projects and his poem ‘Rewilding’ demonstrates his sense of hope for the future. It’s written in two parts; Part 1 is called ‘Decline’ and Part 2 is ‘Resurgence’. 

He explained, “My two-part poem was written one day when I had gone for a walk through an area I knew well, only to find that the fields had been ploughed, the hedgerow trees felled and the wonderful little corners once rich with plants and insects had gone. 

It’s a pattern we see everywhere and sadly it’s one that will not be stopped easily. I developed the poem to try to picture how much better our world could be – and so easily we could achieve it, if there was the political will.”

Here is an extract from both parts of Andrew’s poem:

PART 1

The Poets by Sue Lloyd

Setting out across wintering ploughland,

they pass beyond the rotten gate,

tread the frost-crusted, tractor-smeared clay.

Stretching out, embracing them, barren

sodden soil tries to draw breath

before the torture of springtime pesticides.

Their heavy steps drag them across

an empty, dying valley, taking them

to the sagging footbridge where a washing-

powder and faeces-scented brook

slides sullenly in its trapezoid channel... 

PART 2

Dragonfly by Katherine Jones

A summer afternoon in shimmering heat.

There is adventure in their gait

as they wind along cattle paths

between stands of willow and reed.  

They pause where the meandering stream tumbles over stones

and widens to fill a shallow pool which dances

beneath the buzz of dragonflies and ‘gorak’ of frogs.

Purple loosestrife sways in the breeze

and water mint scents the air.

A myriad of late tadpoles cram the muddy shore

among sweet flag and burr-reed...

I Am Nature: Environmental Poetry contains 30 poems from each poet, covering a variety of topics from environmental problems to people’s relationship with the land, and to our ability to lose ourselves in the wonders of nature.

Patricia commented, “You’ll be pleased to know that it’s not all despair and regret in this collection of poetry. While we have highlighted environmental issues and described with great sadness the impact we have had on flora and fauna, we also revel in what we have left. Each of us falls in love with nature over and over again, returning to the wild places we know and cherish.”

Diana added, “I hope this collection of poems will inspire more people to care for the precious and fragile planet that is our home.” 

Welsh eco poet Glyn Edwards has recently reviewed the poetry collection. This is an excerpt from his review:

“In this liminal age where human nature strives ever more for connection with the imperilled natural world, there is a need for artists, for writers, for poets. ‘I am Nature’ gifts a reader with a polyphony of environmental poets. Each poet investigates with nuanced perspective – often meditative, often urgent.

These overheard voices are in intimate dialogue with place and species... This is a unique anthology – a plural project, forged in the most important objective of all contemporary art: the search for enchantment.” 

I Am Nature: Environmental Poetry is published by Veneficia Publications. It’s available from the publisher, from Amazon and from all major bookshops.