At one of the readings for Minnesota In The Raw, a wise and perceptive participant noted that there is a sense of optimism in my poetry. I agree. The source of that optimism is nature, and specifically, the resilience of nature and that resilience is related to its wildness. Yes, I understand that we humans can denigrate and destroy that wildness, seemingly without care or caution. And yes, sometimes I do despair, as reflected in my poem “Storm’s Coming To The North Country.” Gerard Manley Hopkins said it well a century and a half ago in his poem “God’s Grandeur”, which includes these lines:
“Generations have trod, have trod, have trod;
And all is seared with trade; bleared, smeared with toil;
And wears man’s smudge and shares man’s smell: the soil
Is bare now, nor can foot feel, being shod.
And for all this, nature is never spent;
There lives the dearest freshness deep down things”
Of course, we now know that nature can be “spent” by human greed and mindlessness. To some, wilderness is to be feared and brought under control. Yet, when I need refreshment, I turn to nature; to the forest and to wild places. The trees and I freely share the same air. They breathe out and I breathe in that same air, only now, filled with their wild perfume and somehow, my optimism returns. I am fortunate to live in Minnesota, among so many trees, flowers, and grasses that are my friends and comforters, and where wild places are still allowed to exist (even if I do occasionally sneeze).