A recent invitation to a conference on "Ecocriticism" has me thinking about some definitions.

I've always been uncomfortable with the term "nature poetry." It seems to instantly conjure up images of some effete versifier with a quill pen regaling us with adjective-laden descriptions of flowers and sunsets. The problem with this, is that singing of the beauty and inspiration of nature often ignores the fact of our destruction of it. Bad nature poetry uses the natural world for its own selfish end,