2. Eco-poetry can inspire a broad awareness for our
environment by presenting different ecological
perspectives.
Eco-poetry is often marked by an appreciation for
nature as self-regulating cyclic systems, separate from
nature and environmental poetry.
Eco-poetry is clear and somewhat minimalist; rather
than experimenting with visual and textual
design, eco-poets dedicate their efforts to the aesthetic
flow of their work by creating a fluid message through
organized stanzas.
3. “Today we very much need sustainable poetry.”
--L.M. Scigaj
4. sus·tain·able
adj sə-ˈstānə-bəl
-
Definition of SUSTAINABLE
1 : capable of being sustained
2 a : of, relating to, or being a method of harvesting or
using a resource so that the resource is not depleted or
permanently
damaged <sustainable techniques> <sustainable agricult
ure>b : of or relating to a lifestyle involving the use of
sustainable methods <sustainable society>
— sus·tain·abil·i·ty noun
5. Ecological poetry promotes awareness of the
environment and the natural world, including its
current realistic state.
Ecopoetry inspires awareness by presenting ecological
perspectives of sustainability.
This poetry implies that the interests of humans and
nature should be balanced.
6. This message becomes attainable when our
relationship to nature and our environment is
recognized ~> the option for sustainability can be
considered as a part of our daily lives.
Ecopoetry is a possible medium to purvey this
message.
7. “The ethics behind sustainability are derived from the
same principle of bio-centric harmony. Simply
stated, sustainability means that humans can harvest a
sufficient amount of a natural resource for consumption
so long as we do not deplete the resource base” (Scigaj
78).
Implying the need for bio-centric harmony is an
indicative attribute of eco-poetry.
8. Through a creative medium, eco-poetry helps to create
recognition of our interdependency on the biosphere.
Writers are able to compose and inspire awareness with
eco-poetry, not simply by the use of hard science, but by
understanding our existence and how it correlates with
nature, and the environment.
9. Eco-poetry is clear and somewhat minimalist; rather
than experimenting with visual and textual
design, eco-poets dedicate their efforts to the aesthetic
flow of their work by creating a fluid message through
organized stanzas.
Eco-poetry is often marked by an appreciation for
nature as self-regulating cyclic systems, separate
from nature and environmental poetry.
10. It helps us define our relationship to
nature:
“A sustainable poem is the verbal record of the
precept, of the poet’s originary perception” (Scigaj
80).
“It is the verbal record of an interactive
encounter...between the human psyche and
nature, where nature retains its autonomy-- where
nature is not dominated, reduced to
immanence, or reduced to a reliably benign
aesthetic backdrop for anthropocentric concerns”
(Scigaj 80).
11. Eco-poets actively assist nature in keeping a form of
separateness and autonomy, and also equality, through
awareness maintained by creating ecopoetry.
Ultimately, the language of expression and ecological
awareness is homologous to the way our ecosystems
function.
Language as a form of expression in eco-poetry stands
apart from other creative forms of writing.
It is a flexible tool that relates the experiences and
perceptions of the corporeal body.
12. Abbs, Peter. Earth Songs: A Resurgence Anthology of
Contemporary Eco-Poetry. Green Books UK, 2003.
Fesltiner, John. Can Poetry Save the Earth?: A Field
Guide to Nature Poems. Yale University Press, 2009.
Scigaj, Leonard M. Sustainable Poetry: Four American
Ecopoets. Lexington: UP of Kentucky, 1999.
