Always Time for Earth Day🌿
Earthly Words in a Timely Fashion
Hello! Happy Sunday :) I hope you’re having a nice day today. <3
I had promised after our Earth Day Poetry event at Elizabeth Street Garden to do a post spotlighting some of the readers and their words. I went to Japan a few days after the event, so it was a chaotic time of getting things accomplished before flying away. Now I am back in NYC and once again am catching up! :)
If you’re wondering about the status of the garden, we are taking things one day at a time. Here is a previous post with links and directory of updates and information.
Saving our Beloved Green Space!
Hello everyone. It’s been a whirlwind of intensive work and activity, and I wanted to take a moment to share updates with you all.
If you are curious about the readers from Earth Day and their words, here they are below!
So please, get comfy with me, pour a cup of your favorite beverage (I’m under a big forest green velvet blanket with a cup of coffee), and enjoy this quiet celebration of Poetry and Earthly Words. 🌿
The event really was lovely, a perfect springtime gathering to honor the power of the world and the power of the word. 🌿
Some of the readers shared unpublished works, poems soon to be available in digital and printed mediums, so I’m not able to share them here today, though I do encourage you to keep tabs on them, catch up on previously printed works by them all, as well as the poems by other writers they chose to read on Earth Day. And please scroll down to Coulee’s Poet Tree activity from Shel Silverstein as something fun to do today. :)
Also, if you are in NYC, the next poetry day at the garden, as part of a series co-hosted with McNally Jackson Books, will be June 22nd at 4pm, with the theme of ‘Resilience.’ So if you are in the city or have a friend in town, please come by to share a poem or listen to the readers beneath the shady trees. <3 Scroll down to see where you can email a poem or two ahead of time. :)
🌿EARTH DAY READERS🌸
The readers chosen for Earth Day were a mix of dear old friends, dear new friends, writers recommended by trusted peers, garden volunteers, and a few unexpected ones who appeared on the spot. Thank you to everyone who showed up to listen. I didn’t feel rushed or like anyone was wishing they were someplace else. It was a nice and warmhearted atmosphere, and I felt we were all connected by a patience reserved for those who admire and relate to the pacing of nature and poetry. <3
🌹JESSE🌹
I was the first reader and host of the event, and shared poems and readings which can be watched in the video above, filmed by Yvonne, or read on this previous post here. <3
🌻HENRY WESSELLS🌻
Henry Wessells is an antiquarian bookseller and author of Another Green World and The Elfland Prepositions (short fiction), The Private Life of Books (poetry), and A Conversation larger than the Universe. He lives in New Jersey. The Endless Bookshelf is his chronicle of “simply messing about in books.”
READINGS SHARED ON EARTH DAY
‘Ephemera’ by James Walsh, published in 2011 as part of an installation at the Observatory, Proteus Gowanus Gallery. 30 copies were also made in a handprinted edition. Henry read the piece in full, though here is a short excerpt to share today:
🌿
what eye can trace them
in their varied wanton
amorous chaces
bounding and fluttering
on the odoriferous air
with what peace
love and joy
do they end
the last moments
of their existence
🌿
🌿
He also read from A Book of Rhymes, the recently published manuscript by our dear Charlotte Brontë, available now from Tartarus Press. :) Henry is incredibly modest, so I made a direct and concerted point to highlight his role in bringing this text to light. So a round of silent applause for Henry, thank you for helping to bring Charlotte’s words to us after a lifetime of being lost and forgotten.
🌿MIGWI MWANGI🌿
Migwi Mwangi is a storyteller from Nairobi. His work has been featured in Copper Nickel, Gulf Coast, Michigan Quarterly Review, Cincinnati Review, and West Trade Review among others. A recipient of the George Bogin Award from the Poetry Society of America, he holds an MFA from NYU. He is currently consumed with Paul Cezanne and Etel Adnan—how they each meditated on the world’s light and darkness through still lives of mountains. There is something there he wants to know.
READINGS SHARED ON EARTH DAY
“My work is interested in how we might be able to live despite and because of the griefs, terrors, and violences of our lives. How we might be able to thrive in love and joy.”
1. Ode to Oud
2. Contrasuture
He is working on a website now, so keep an eye out for more from him. <3
🌸VALENTINE/V🌸
V Conaty is a writer, editor, and producer from Birmingham, AL based in New York City. They have been a producer and recurring guest-host at Commonplace: Conversations With Poets, a literary conversation podcast founded by Rachel Zucker. They founded Bomb Cyclone, an online journal of ecopoetics and mixed media art, and continued to publish genre-bending work responding to ongoing environmental crises from 2018-2020. Work may be found online at Brooklyn Poets, Verso Books, and in the print anthology We Want It All: An Anthology of Radical Trans Poetics published by Nightboat Books, among other places. Find them online here.
READINGS SHARED ON EARTH DAY
One of the poems read by V was “Things, or systems thinking,” to be published this summer in Tyger Quarterly.
Another was a poem by Alice Paalen Rahon, read from Shapeshifter, translated by Mary Ann Caws.
“In a poem dedicated to her past lover Pablo Picasso, the poet and painter Alice Paalen Rahon (1904–1987) writes, “I’ve been living in a map on the wall. I think I am at the crossroads of the wind. I converse with it.” In many ways, hers was a life of shapeshifting and drifting. Born in France, Rahon was championed by André Breton and she was the first woman to be published in Editions Surréalistes in 1936. She would eventually leave Europe and settle in Mexico, where she helped introduce abstract expressionism. Rahon counted Frida Kahlo, Leonora Carrington, and Anaïs Nin among her friends.” - Poetry Foundation
🌷JESSIE ASKINAZI🌷
Jessie Askinazi is a writer, photographer, performer, and self-proclaimed “poet laureate of Sanrio” based in New York City. Her poetry has recently appeared in Dream Pop Press (where she was nominated for Best of the Net and a Pushcart Prize), Dreginald, the New Orleans Poetry Festival, and the forthcoming issue of Cruel Garters. She recently performed readings at Hauser & Wirth gallery and the Elizabeth Street Garden, both curated by Jesse Paris Smith. She was a contributing photographer for Purple Fashion Magazine’s cultural Diary for nearly 10 years, and her portraiture can be found here.
READINGS SHARED ON EARTH DAY
🌷
Created Waters
Wetlands need no house to flood
This their calm—cypress-wrapped,
palm-shadowed, thick with gospel marsh
Here, twigs rouse hymns
that trumpet with devotion
as mothers underground spin
cold-bird dreams in reptile skins
offer rainless warnings as
upstream crumbles
Still, my warm mouth mimics
citrus, Florida sun dripping pulp—
shocking, monthly
Long hours tan deep in minerals
where the masculine heart
flows backward
sprouts green without pocket
or claim
Above, leaves drink light
their mouths open and close
Lakes, too, open or close
sometimes ringed in duckweed
A wood stork calls
urging my mouth: rejoice—
deserter clouds drift
through ash-lit sunset
So brief, this nursery
My mouth in the wetlands:
A smile
or the bend of an egret's wing
in flight
🌿
“I wrote this poem about the Wakodahatchee Wetlands in Delray, a wildlife refuge, which opened in 1996. While I was astounded by its natural beauty, my heart sank as I worried about how this extraordinary preserve will survive as climate change worsens.
The wetlands receive its recycled water supply from the Southern Region Water Reclamation Facility; it is free of contaminants and high in mineral content. The plants and algae that grow there purify the water. In "Of Man and the Stream of Time,” Rachel Carson writes, “Water, perhaps our most precious natural resource, is used and misused at a reckless rate”. She notes how our planet is “rapidly becoming a thirsty world” due to rising temperatures, dry soil, and changes in precipitation. She also states that, because of damaging human activities, “migrating birds are not only threatened but have already felt the destroying hand of man”. Over 178 species of birds call the Wakodahatchee Wetlands home.
While overlooking the horizon at Wakodahatchee, I also thought about Louise Erdrich’s article “Not Just Another Pipeline” for the New York Times, and how she wrote “many tribal traditions recognize women as keepers of water.” When writing this, I pictured ancestors warning our generation about the devastation caused by climate change. I also imagined “irregular sounds of the masculine heart flow[ing] in reverse,” and that is a commentary on feminine energy being necessary for climate change solutions.
I wanted to highlight the ways in which we are a part of nature rather than simply operating within it.”
🌸
Excerpt from ‘To be of use.’
I love people who harness themselves, an ox to a heavy cart,
who pull like water buffalo, with massive patience,
who strain in the mud and the muck to move things forward,
who do what has to be done, again and again.
-Marge Piercy
🌿
This excerpt originally published in the book of essays, Erosion: Essays of Undoing.
🌻ELOISA AMEZCUA🌻
Eloisa Amezcua is from Arizona. Her debut collection, From the Inside Quietly, is the inaugural winner of the Shelterbelt Poetry Prize selected by Ada Limón. A MacDowell fellow, her second collection of poems, Fighting Is Like a Wife, was published by Coffee House Press (April 2022).
READINGS SHARED ON EARTH DAY
Unpublished work was read for us, so stay tuned for its release coming soon! In the meantime, please look for her previously published works and keep an eye out for her. <3
🌷COULEE SLATNICK🌷
“Greetings all my fellow humans on this beautiful planet called earth! My name is Coulee Slatnick and I am a born New York City native who has spent most of my life surrounded by the forever changing culture and diverse vibes that makes this vibrant city the magical place it is today. I currently run the oldest music shop in Manhattan alongside my father known as The Music Inn where we sell instruments found from all over the globe. Due to this alone I feel such a connection to this earth just being part of this one place and am grateful to celebrate this earth day alongside all my fellow humans who I want to wish a Happy Earth day!”
READINGS SHARED ON EARTH DAY
“Before I was born, Shel Silverstein would come visit our shop and spend time with my father. When he found out my mom was pregnant with me, he did a small sketch of a character of his, holding up a sign congratulating my parents. Due to their friendship, my parents always kept his poetry books around the house which I grew up loving. I found his poem called the ‘poet tree’ recently and found it fitting for Earth Day, as it truly showed just how connected Shel was with the earth even through all his wit and humor.”
Download the PDF of the Poet Tree here to do the activity in your community :)
🪵YVONNE BROOKS🪵
Yvonne Brooks is a writer, photographer, co-host of Poetry in the Garden at Elizabeth Street Garden, host of International Literature Book Club at McNally Jackson, Elizabeth Street Garden volunteer and supporter.
READINGS SHARED ON EARTH DAY
Excerpt from"Terra Mater," written for
Earth Day at Elizabeth Street Garden:
Tracing sinuous strands
of umber leaves
twining through the gazebo,
she braces for the twilight bell.
🌺BRANDON PECHUCA🌺
Brandon Pachuca is an Urban Data Scientist with a background in architecture + urban planning. Brandon works at Elizabeth Street Garden as a gardener and political outreach co-chair.
READINGS SHARED ON EARTH DAY
In The Garden
I see her in the garden
Light shining through long blonde hair, Sunglasses covering her marbled blue eyes. An energy radiates through her worn-in jeans and red-striped shirt. She turns with sincerity in her glowing smile.
I see her in the garden
My heart freezes, becoming cold to the touch. The hidden grief has found me yet again. Peeking through my meticulous disguise, Anger ignites within my eyes, unable to see clearly.
I see her in the garden
She waters the rose bushes, I reach for what is not there as the anger evolves into rage. I still cannot comprehend why she was taken. Shoving my hands in the dirt, I feel her warmth again.
I see her in the garden
She sits next to the sprawling vines Coffee cup in hand next to an open chair For anyone who needs a moment - she would listen.
I see her in the garden
My limbs return to my body. I pull my hands from the warm earth, wiping off the dust. Staring at the hands she gave me, I look up, and I don't see her anymore. I guess this is just the other side of love.
🌹FRAMED FLORALS🌹
As I mentioned in the previous Earth Day post, Lacie from Framed Florals dropped by the Earth Day event to gift me a beautiful Dogwood flower, framed with an envelope of dried flowers and stickers from her shop, of which I am a major admirer.
Thank you again so so much, Lacie!! :))
The group (except for Eloisa who had to head out) of the event’s readers seen below. As mentioned above, Yvonne and Joseph (the garden’s Director), organize a regularly occuring Sunday poetry event co-hosted by McNally Jackson - each month with a different theme. The next one will be June 22nd at 4pm and the theme is Resilience, so if you are in NYC and have a poem to share, please join at the garden! If you like, you can submit a poem or two ahead of time to art@elizabethstreetgarden.com to reserve your spot in the lineup <3 Unlike this event which was mostly curated beforehand, you can also show up early on June 8th to sign up to read your piece. My first time ever reading a poem to an audience was August 1, 2021 at one of these Sunday readings where the theme was ‘Grow.’ 🌱
And here as we left the garden, was the red sky on Earth Day - unfiltered, wanting of nothing, just showing its beautiful colors, whether anyone is watching or not.
Thank you everyone for reading along! Please of course share your thoughts, reflections, ideas, reactions - any poems of your own, poems you love, any responses to the poems and poets above. Thank you all and have a wonderful day! xoxo
You are right. Always time for the earth.
I am so happy that the garden is still with us. I will definitely pay it a visit over the holiday.
I wrote a little poem for the garden last summer, I still live in hope that it will come true :)
The Garden
The Garden
Deep within a city scape,
Lies a magical garden,
A treasured secret amongst local folk,
And a home for all of nature’s wonder.
Bird song fills the air with the joy
of feathered friends.
Statues sit in wait,
Inscrutable,
Yet with the eyes of generations bearing witness,
To the sound of men threatening their existence,
Challenging their domain.
Sun beats down on blades of grass,
Invigorating trees and bushes,
Flowers pushing upwards to meet its glowing smile,
Nature readies itself for battle,
The threat of pain fails to break its resolve.
Man came with unveiled intent
An intent to wreak havoc in this peaceful domain.
Birds cried out en masse to prevent the destruction,
Their cries became song…and the song was that of victory.
For the men who sought to destroy
retreated defeated,
As the army of enlightened humans
proved too hard to defeat.
They would not stop,
Growing stronger by the hour,
More determined by the day.
The magical secret garden
was saved.
The demolition halted.
The birds sang loud,
A thunderous sound of joy
echoed from the garden,
All was well,
All were safe,
The statues winked…
Their cries became song…and the song was that of victory.
For the men who sought to destroy
retreated defeated,
As the army of enlightened humans
proved too hard to defeat.
They would not stop,
Growing stronger by the hour,
More determined by the day.
The magical secret garden
was saved.
The demolition halted.
The birds sang loudly,
A thunderous sound of joy
echoed from the garden,
All was well,
All were safe,
The statues winked…