November 2019

Ah, November! As always, there is much for which to be thankful; yet, this year our celebration of Earth's bounty feels somehow bittersweet. Perhaps, it is the sight of our children striking for action on climate change. Or, perhaps, it is the sting of Greta Thunberg's poignant UN plea. Or, alas, the scientific confirmation received mere weeks ago that what we'd long suspected is true: There are fewer birds now than when we ourselves were young - three billion, to be exact. This month's Poem of the Month by Dawn Paul reflects the collective mood of urgency, anger, and sadness which tempers our festive feasting this season.

Listen

By Dawn Paul

We have for so long tried to speak to you.

Bees murmured, falcons keened, wolves howled,

but you spoke only to each other

of metal and fire.  We sent the snake to whisper,

and you cursed it.

Humpback whales sang their songs,

you threw harpoons.

Gorillas—such a family resemblance—pleaded

with their dark eyes and you cut off their hands.

Now we must speak and be heard.

We are all imperiled.

Glaciers gush meltwater sorrow,

filling the sea with their tears.

Waves gnaw the coast in frustration.

Still, you do not listen.

So we will send our oldest.  Now,

the stones will speak.

They have been pondering your ways for eons.

This one wears a face like your own.

Shyly, it turns its eyes away, facing earth.

But see its parted lips?  Listen—this stone

has something to tell you.

Peering Around the Corner by Joe Wheelwright

“Listen” is included in the Old Frog Pond Farm and Studio chapbook of ekphrastic poetry, Speaking of Sculpture, edited by Susan Edwards Richmond and designed by Lynn Horsky, featuring photographs by Robert Hesse of outdoor sculpture jurored by Nick Capasso and curated by Linda Hoffman. The poem is a response to Joseph Wheelwright’s sculpture, Listening Stone.

Dawn Paul teaches writing, literature, and interdisciplinary courses at Montserrat College of Art in Beverly. She has received writing fellowships from the Vermont Studio Center, the Ragdale Foundation, Spring Creek Project and Friday Harbor Marine Laboratories.  She is the author of two novels, The Country of Loneliness (Marick Press) and Still River (Corvid Press). Her short stories, creative nonfiction, and poetry are included in the anthologies Only Connect (Cinnamon Press, Wales, UK); In the Eye (poetry to support the Gulf Coast after Hurricane Katrina); and Going Alone—Solo Outdoor Adventures and Steady as She Goes—Women and the Sea, both published by Seal Press, New York.  Her chapbook on 18th century scientist Carl Linnaeus, What We Still Don’t Know, will be published by Finishing Line Press in late 2019.