Poems for the Wild Earth

by Gary Lawless (Editor)

multicultural anthology of eco-poetry

88 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 1994

Reviews

[Andy Caffrey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gary Lawless edited this collection of Earth First! warrior poetry. His intent for the collection was "to speak for the wild earth. For this gift to fully work its magic, it must be carried, it must move (so maybe it should have been a chapbook?). These are poems for walking, for quiet, for rallies and public hearings (in fact, one poem is even called "At the Planning Commission"), and for prayer... Follow these poems into the wild world, listen to them, carry them, and find your own way to speak for the wild earth."

My favorites were two by Peter Blue Cloud and one that makes reference to the 1990 car-bombing murder attempt on my two friends and Ecotopia Earth First! co-organizers Judi Bari and Darryl Cherney. That's Sharon Doubiago's "Forests Forever Is A Feminist Issue." which also talks about a forest worker made into a eunuch from backpack spraying 2-4-D pesticide in Oregon forests after a clearcut:

Course they leaked
down the back
into the crack
of your behind.

to the scrotum

the most absorbent tissue
of the human body

Lawrence Ferlinghetti's angry tribute, "Dreamt of Moby Dick the Great White Whale," is another favorite.