Category Archives: Poems

A Diminuendo of Birdsong

The increasing numbers of species that have become extinct or threatened with extinction was the main message delivered by the recent report from the  Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES). Here are some of its findings specifically … Continue reading

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She walked in the world to love it . . .

Soon after her death on January 17th of this year, the loving eulogies and appreciations began appearing in the media universe. Whatever critics might think about the plainness of her style (which she consciously aimed for), many readers of Mary … Continue reading

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The Peace of Wild Things

Wendell Berry (1934- ), farmer, environmentalist, author of poems, novels, short stories, and essays, resides near his birth place in Kentucky. His poetry often reveals his deep reverence for the earth, like in the following example. The Peace of Wild … Continue reading

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The Avowal

A year before her death, Denise Levertov published two slim collections of her poetry, each volume with a particular focus or theme. In the Foreword to the volume devoted to a selection of her religious poems, she explains: Included here … Continue reading

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Nature’s freshness deep down things

The following poem by the Jesuit poet Gerard Manley Hopkins is an example of how natural and theological language can work together to create a powerful expression of the divine in nature: God’s Grandeur The world is charged with the … Continue reading

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