{"id":3701,"date":"2023-04-17T16:16:59","date_gmt":"2023-04-17T20:16:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/mark-west\/?p=3701"},"modified":"2023-04-17T16:16:59","modified_gmt":"2023-04-17T20:16:59","slug":"celebrating-earth-day-in-the-company-of-martin-settle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/mark-west\/blog\/2023\/04\/17\/celebrating-earth-day-in-the-company-of-martin-settle\/","title":{"rendered":"Celebrating Earth Day in the Company of Martin Settle<\/strong>"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Earth Day has been celebrated on the 22nd<\/sup> day of April since 1970.\u00a0 National Poetry Month has been celebrated during the month of April since 1996.\u00a0 I think it is fitting that the timing of these two celebrations coincide, for poetry lends itself to celebrating the wonders of planet Earth.\u00a0 With this idea in mind, I contacted Martin (Marty) Settle, a Charlotte poet who often writes about the natural world, and I asked him how he addresses environmental themes in his poetry.\u00a0 Here is what he sent to me:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Recently, I wrote a poem called \u201cWhen in the Company,\u201d which expressed my feeling of belonging and place in the company of other creatures. When I am city-weary and full of the intentions of humans, I find that visiting our mountains near Charlotte an antidote for my mental stagnation. In the midst of animals going about purposes that are not mine, I find that I am one among others rather than one separate from others. In a rich abundance of a variety of consciousnesses, one becomes connected to the great wave called life. This loss of ego is not a diminishing experience but a transcendent one.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

As I see it, when we save the ecology of our planet, we are really saving ourselves. My poetry does not take a political stance when it tries to reveal the wonder in the more-than-human world. Like Carson\u2019s title <\/em>Silent Spring, I seek by implication for readers to think about the loss of each creature and what it would mean to their lives. I believe that encounters with countless creatures fights off existential crises better than anything I know. That is what my poetry is about.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

When in the Company<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

what is missing<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

is to be with other<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

consciousnesses<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

the intentions<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

of human beings<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

are not enough<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

in the city<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

out here the osprey<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

leaves the tree<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

and dives<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

she is about purposes<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

that have nothing<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

to do with me<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

turtles float on a log<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

with meditations<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

no guru knows<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

a dragonfly has no \u201cwhy\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

balancing on the line<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

of my fishing pole<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

yes, I want to catch<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

another consciousness<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

but I have to think trout<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

to do it \u2013<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

match the hatch<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

tie a caddis to tippet<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

delicately present a lie<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

like a prayer<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

to an invisible presence<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

a water snake<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

a competitor<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

passes by my lure<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

his kind have chased me off<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

even stolen my catch<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I give him space<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

to avoid confrontation<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

down the middle<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

of the stream<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

a kingfisher clicks her way<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

flying low to make a catch<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I make a song<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

standing in my waders<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

to match the creek<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

and I cast and cast<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

until I disappear<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

For anyone who is interested in reading more of Marty\u2019s nature-themed poems, I highly recommend his recently published collection titled The Metaphorest.  <\/em>More information about this collection is available here:  https:\/\/www.finishinglinepress.com\/product\/the-metaphorest-by-martin-settle\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

As we celebrate Earth Day here in Storied Charlotte, I think we should all join with Marty in remembering that our wondrous planet is not just our home\u2014it\u2019s a home that we share with all of the other forms of life that make our lives possible.  <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Earth Day has been celebrated on the 22nd day of April since 1970.\u00a0 National Poetry Month has been celebrated during the month of April since 1996.\u00a0 I think it is fitting that the timing of these two celebrations coincide, for poetry lends itself to celebrating the wonders of planet Earth.\u00a0 With this idea in mind, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":202,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3701","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-storied-charlotte"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/mark-west\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3701","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/mark-west\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/mark-west\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/mark-west\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/202"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/mark-west\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3701"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/mark-west\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3701\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3705,"href":"https:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/mark-west\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3701\/revisions\/3705"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/mark-west\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3701"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/mark-west\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3701"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/mark-west\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3701"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}