On June 26th, our team (Anya, Alex, Jo, Liz, Stephanie, and I) attended Matt Love’s New Ways workshop at the Lovell Showroom within the Fort George Brewery in Astoria, Oregon. Coming from Salem, we spent approximately 2 and ½ hours in the car, which for me, was prime time for some writing!
Throughout this whole process, I’ve been heavily supported by our other members, which led me to a much needed break in the creative wall that I had hit -- a wall so strong that it impeded my inspiration for years. The most impactful weapon which broke down my barrier, was the interest and appreciation of my own poetry by our entire team. I had never thought of myself as a writer, let alone an English major, but after I was paired with our group of brilliant scientists, I began to realize and appreciate the abstract ways that my mind comprehends various ideas and concepts. Admittedly, I did not feel ‘abstract’ as my mind wandered and interpreted our power over nature as hustling prostitutes in the red light district in a poem written during this grant -- instead, I felt normal.
To give everyone a better understanding of some of the hidden meanings within my own poetry, I’ve decided to do a close reading of a piece I wrote during Love’s workshop. This piece urges a reader to be one with nature, and to determine the detrimental effects of industrialization.
Wildfire:
Chain me to stability.
One with nymphs and zesty sprites
Bless this soil with our syrup,
Redwood roots to lap it up.
Etch a mark on withered skin,
But cores will always tell the truth.
Flood the drought and germinate
I’m here when you’re gone
1.
Throughout this whole process, I’ve been heavily supported by our other members, which led me to a much needed break in the creative wall that I had hit -- a wall so strong that it impeded my inspiration for years. The most impactful weapon which broke down my barrier, was the interest and appreciation of my own poetry by our entire team. I had never thought of myself as a writer, let alone an English major, but after I was paired with our group of brilliant scientists, I began to realize and appreciate the abstract ways that my mind comprehends various ideas and concepts. Admittedly, I did not feel ‘abstract’ as my mind wandered and interpreted our power over nature as hustling prostitutes in the red light district in a poem written during this grant -- instead, I felt normal.
To give everyone a better understanding of some of the hidden meanings within my own poetry, I’ve decided to do a close reading of a piece I wrote during Love’s workshop. This piece urges a reader to be one with nature, and to determine the detrimental effects of industrialization.
Wildfire:
Chain me to stability.
One with nymphs and zesty sprites
Bless this soil with our syrup,
Redwood roots to lap it up.
Etch a mark on withered skin,
But cores will always tell the truth.
Flood the drought and germinate
I’m here when you’re gone
1.
- Trees are the stability of earth. Their expansive root systems also provide themselves with incredible stability.
- Wood is typically used for building structures due to its stability
- Roots, are like chains, linking the earth to the tree
- Our environment is becoming less and less stable each year, and we need to ‘chain’ ourselves to the stability we still have
- Play on environmental social movements, where one would chain themselves to a tree to protest clear-cutting.
- The hardest end stop (period) is used to give the line stability
- Nymph is both a term used in science to describe a variety of insects and is also used to describe mythological fairies
- Both nymphs and sprites are mythological figures, usually depicted in luscious, ancient green forests.
- Literally to be ‘one’ with the nymphs and sprites, and also to be chained to the tree -- the one with the nymphs and zesty sprites
- Using ‘sprite’ allowed a play on consumerism, especially when paired with the end of the following line ‘syrup’
- The word ‘bless’ pairs nicely with the mythological figures of sprites and nymphs
- The imagery in this line is furthered by the word ‘our,’ as it is both the blood of the protestor and the syrup or sap from an ancient tree mixing together, fertilizing the soil.
- Using ‘redwood’ brings a sense of age to the poem, which again pairs nicely with the ancient, mythological aspects, as these trees have been here longer than humans have.
- Roots suck up nutrients from the soil to nurture a tree, and also look similar to veins, which ‘bleed’ our ‘syrup’
- ‘Lap it up’ brings an animalistic, non-human feeling to the poem.
- Humans love to etch their names into trees, but these etchings only affect the ‘skin’ of the tree, not the rings inside which dictate history
- The use of ‘withered’ seeks to prove that our environment is not stable, as is slowly degenerating over time. Withered also brings a sense of wisdom and age, as the wrinkles come with time
- Tree cores can be used to learn a lot about the history of the tree, but also of the environment, such as what the weather was like during a specific year.
- Though a tree may not show the effects of its environment on its skin, its cores can’t lie
- ‘Flood the drought’ is a call for action. We need to stop addressing the problem, and start trying to change it!
- ‘Germinate’ gives hope that we can recover what we have already lost
- This line can be reversed to state “you’re here, when I’m gone” which is the way that these trees should be treated. They often outlive our lifespans, and experience much more than we could in our short 80 years of life. Unless we change our ways, we may get to a time where ‘we’, humans will be here when our ancestors and elders ‘trees’ will be gone.
- The line is also left enjambed, as we can still stop the path we are taking.