Tag Archives: wendell berry

Sigh

advocacy, poetry, thinking out loud

Writer, farmer, and activist Wendell Berry died yesterday, aged 92. He told the stories of his people in quiet prose and reflective, if sometimes combative, poetry. I have read a few of his novels, but it is his poetry that speaks to me most strongly. He is my favorite poet as I resonate with his love for rural life along with his anger at environmental destruction. I have written about him often on this blog. I suspect “The Peace of Wild Things” is his most beloved poem as we all find ourselves longing to escape to a place of quiet tranquility.

Berry, however, was much more than just a rural bard rambling through the fields. He was an environmental activist who used his poetry to lament the loss of nature and with it the diminishment of our own lives. Look & See: A Portrait of Wendell Berry documents the challenges of being a farmer in the 21st century through the eyes of Berry, his family and his neighbors and friends. It is not so much a biography of the man as a portrayal of a disappearing way of life. In the trailer, Berry recites a poem written in 1997 from his collection of Sabbath poems titled A Timbered Choir.

Poem in Your Pocket Day

poetry,

April is National Poetry Month, sponsored by the Academy of American Poets. April 30, tomorrow, is Poem in Your Pocket Day. The goal is to make poetry part of your day by choosing a poem to share with others.

Not sure which poem to share? The Academy of American Poets has lots of resources including a printable PDF with several poems and a very fun zine that features “Pockets,” a poem by 12-grader Rowan Yordy. You can also print a blank template to make your own poetry zine.

As regular readers of the blog may be aware, my favorite poet is Wendell Berry. His meditations on living simply in a complex world resonate with me. Ten years ago, I celebrated National Poetry Month by sharing a few April poems along with one of my favorite Berry poems, “The Peace of Wild Things”.

For this year, I am feeling less peaceful and more reactionary. Thank goodness, there is a Wendell Berry poem for that. In fact, there is a full anthology called The Mad Farmer Poems.

You can listen to Berry reading “The Contrariness of the Mad Farmer”. My favorite of the collection is “Manifesto: The Mad Farmer Liberation Front”. You can read the full poem at the link. Here is a taste of Berry’s ire at the world that is surprisingly contemporary:

So, friends, every day do something
    that won’t compute. Love the Lord.
    Love the world. Work for nothing.
    Take all that you have and be poor.
    Love someone who does not deserve it.
    Denounce the government and embrace
    the flag. Hope to live in that free
    republic for which it stands.
    Give your approval to all you cannot
    understand. Praise ignorance, for what man
    has not encountered he has not destroyed.

I wasn’t able to find audio of Berry reading the poem, but I did fine this fabulous jazz performance that included a reading of his poem. Enjoy:

Visiting the Birds

Nature,

Bob and I decided to take Wendell Berry’s advice and escape the despair of the world by to find the peace of wild things. We headed to the winter birding grounds in eastern North Carolina. If you have only ever been to the Outer Banks in the summer, winter is a very different experience, offering opportunities for solitude. I posted video as solitude doesn’t mean silence: swans, especially, are very noisy. The sounds invite you into their world.