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Swerve: Poems on Environmentalism, Feminism, and Resistance
"One of the best Environmentalism books of all time" - BookAuthority
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The late W. S. Merwin said Akers's nature poems are a "joy to discover" because they embody a "lost sense of the living world." In Swerve, Akers celebrates the wild while facing climate change, extinction, and loss. These poems confront us with the many threats to our world, eventually guiding us through stages of grief towards hope and action. The poems in Swerve give voice to the shock, fear, and desperation many feel about the environment. They meditate on the beauty of the non-human world. They champion women in the #MeToo movement who are empowering themselves and making vital changes. Powerful and compassionate, Swerve is ultimately a call to activism, inspiring readers to "swerve" and demand a better world. Ellery Akers is the author of three books of poetry. Her most recent collection is Environmentalism, Feminism, and Resistance (Blue Light Press, 2020). She is also the author of Practicing the Truth (Autumn House, 2015), winner of the Autumn House Poetry Prize, the San Francisco Book Festival Poetry Award, and an Independent Publisher Book Award for Poetry; Knocking on the Earth (Wesleyan University Press, 1988), named a Best Book of the Year by the San Jose Mercury News; and Sarah's Waterfall (Safer Society Press, 2009), a children's novel.
Best New Light eBooks
The late W. S. Merwin said Akers's nature poems are a "joy to discover" because they embody a "lost sense of the living world." In Swerve, Akers celebrates the wild while facing climate change, extinction, and loss. These poems confront us with the many threats to our world, eventually guiding us through stages of grief towards hope and action. The poems in Swerve give voice to the shock, fear, and desperation many feel about the environment. They meditate on the beauty of the non-human world. They champion women in the #MeToo movement who are empowering themselves and making vital changes. Powerful and compassionate, Swerve is ultimately a call to activism, inspiring readers to "swerve" and demand a better world. Ellery Akers is the author of three books of poetry. Her most recent collection is Environmentalism, Feminism, and Resistance (Blue Light Press, 2020). She is also the author of Practicing the Truth (Autumn House, 2015), winner of the Autumn House Poetry Prize, the San Francisco Book Festival Poetry Award, and an Independent Publisher Book Award for Poetry; Knocking on the Earth (Wesleyan University Press, 1988), named a Best Book of the Year by the San Jose Mercury News; and Sarah's Waterfall (Safer Society Press, 2009), a children's novel.
74 pages, Paperback
First published January 6, 2020
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
June 5, 2020
I am glad I read these poems. I wondered if these poems, on a theme, would have the power of poems that i often am waiting to discover the theme in. But they did. They sang, they jumped rope, they dribbled up the court, they danced…it was a very good collection of poems. The author’s command of language often revealed things that are often hidden. There is much here to use.
March 22, 2020
“Swerve” is a very appropriate name for this book, as it references sudden “swerves”, or changes in direction (i.e. one day the Berlin wall, the next day no Berlin wall). As an environmentalist, Akers notes that we do not know that the future holds. In this short (53 page) but amazing book, Akers addresses the topics of environmentalism, feminism, and resistance as issues that we need to confront.
Within these very well written poems we find a way to grieve our current state of affairs, at the same time that we are seeing hope for the future. We walk away with a new perspective on issues that confront us every day. We need to know that we are not alone, and that our grief needs to be experienced, then released, so that we can move forward.
The book is divided into three sections: The Earth, The Women, and Resistance. One of my favorite poems from “The Earth” is “Our Grief for the Earth Is Hidden”. Akers talks about how our world is being diminished, how species are becoming less populated, how we need to pay attention to the insects that are leaving us. In other words, we need to pay attention to the world around us.
There is a poem in “The Earth” entitled “The Buddhist Practice of Bowing”. The gentleness of Buddhism fascinates me and draws me. Akers is bowing to iron bracelets on prisoners, to women at both ends of the social/financial spectrum, and to young men who love cars. All of these things are part of life. In bowing to them Akers is acknowledging them. It is good to acknowledge things, but then to place them in our life where we can handle them.
In “Women”, the poem “Smoke” describes two different groups of people, both of whom are going to die. One group wants to make sure that the other group dies sooner. How reflective of our world!
In “Resistance”, the poem “Not Too Late” expresses the thought that as much damage as there has been on this earth, there is still time for a “rebirth”.
Akers poems are beautiful, sharing the truth of things we may not want to see. This little book is a gift, a gift that allows us to understand ourselves and the world around us much better. There is an imbalance in this world, which we need to acknowledge and move through. Grieve and move forward. Answer the call to activism.
What a wonderful resource for these very trying times!
Within these very well written poems we find a way to grieve our current state of affairs, at the same time that we are seeing hope for the future. We walk away with a new perspective on issues that confront us every day. We need to know that we are not alone, and that our grief needs to be experienced, then released, so that we can move forward.
The book is divided into three sections: The Earth, The Women, and Resistance. One of my favorite poems from “The Earth” is “Our Grief for the Earth Is Hidden”. Akers talks about how our world is being diminished, how species are becoming less populated, how we need to pay attention to the insects that are leaving us. In other words, we need to pay attention to the world around us.
There is a poem in “The Earth” entitled “The Buddhist Practice of Bowing”. The gentleness of Buddhism fascinates me and draws me. Akers is bowing to iron bracelets on prisoners, to women at both ends of the social/financial spectrum, and to young men who love cars. All of these things are part of life. In bowing to them Akers is acknowledging them. It is good to acknowledge things, but then to place them in our life where we can handle them.
In “Women”, the poem “Smoke” describes two different groups of people, both of whom are going to die. One group wants to make sure that the other group dies sooner. How reflective of our world!
In “Resistance”, the poem “Not Too Late” expresses the thought that as much damage as there has been on this earth, there is still time for a “rebirth”.
Akers poems are beautiful, sharing the truth of things we may not want to see. This little book is a gift, a gift that allows us to understand ourselves and the world around us much better. There is an imbalance in this world, which we need to acknowledge and move through. Grieve and move forward. Answer the call to activism.
What a wonderful resource for these very trying times!
March 17, 2025
While I really like the idea of combining nature advocacy and feminism, this book was a bit of a let down after reading Meltwater. While I appreciate the accessibility of the poems, for me, they just seemed to be lacking in the complexity and sophistication that Wahmanholm so richly delivers in Meltwater. I wanted more from the volume.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews