 It’s Poetry Friday! Join us this weekend by perusing the links via our host, Heidi Mordhorst’s blog: my juicy little universe.
Earth Day 2024 approaches. I seek hope in words and images. The fragility of our future and all that we are losing – species, ecosystems, a shared sense of responsibility to one another and to the non-human beings of our planet – weighs heavy.
I married my husband because he helped me understand that we can only change our own corner of the world. My particular corner involves writing for children. Telling the story. And maybe inspiring others to live mindfully.
I am grateful for this beautiful collection of poetry (thank you Heidi Mordhorst for spotlighting it here).
One of the poets included in this anthology is Anna Sims Bartel. Her poem, “When we tell the story” is worth the whole cost of the book. It ends:
This is our invitation.
When we tell the story
of how we survived the collapse,
we might say:
Â
like birds, we learned
to move as one.
We grew lighter
And lengthened our wings.
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This week, Emergence Magazine spotlights an adaptation of the documentary Earthrise, the story of the Apollo 8 astronauts who captured the first image of the Earth from space in 1968. Frank Borman spoke before Congress after the experience. He quoted poet and writer, Archibald MacLeish:
…to see the earth as it truly is
small and blue and beautiful
in that eternal silence where it floats
is to see ourselves as riders on the earth together,
brothers on that bright loveliness, in the eternal cold,
who now know that they are truly brothers…”
I will leave you with one of my favorite songs to sing with children. It became a picture book in 2020: This Pretty Planet (by Tom Chapin and John Forster; illustrated by Lee White).
The chorus is a prayer of praise:
This pretty planet spinning through space.
You’re a garden. You’re a harbor.
You’re a holy place.
May we tread lightly and tell the stories.
Patricia Franz is a kidlit writer and published poet. She believes children, dogs, and sourdough have a lot to teach us about life, joy, and wonder. She has raised two boys, four dogs, and holds a master’s degree in Theology with a focus on children’s spirituality. Patricia, her husband, her Bernese Mountain dog, Bonny, and her sourdough starter split their time between the Arizona desert and the Sierra Nevada mountains. 
Best. Post. Yet!
I’m easily overwhelmed by thoughts of our poor dear planet. The only logical response is to try to “change our own corner of the world.” Thank you for the reminder!
Patricia, first I noticed the beautiful cloud swirl by Mexico in your intro photo, and then I realized that is probably a major storm. Sometimes zooming out (or in) gives a completely different view. Thank you for your thoughtful post. I am going to try to get a copy of dear human. I was moved by the excerpt you selected.
What a lovely post! Thank you for the meaningful selection in honor of Earth Day.
Beautiful sentiments throughout. Thank you, Patricia. (My fingers are still crossed for you!!!)
Patricia…how lovely. EVERY year I do something with “This Pretty Planet”; last year at this time it was after-school workshops. I’ll send you the books we made and a video of the song. You picked a very very good poem from that book, as well. Thanks for ALL this.
Thank you for this! I am on the lookout for DEAR HUMAN.
Thanks for the titles, Patricia, new to me & I will find them! I’m now reading a new book of essays, a gift to me at Christmas, lots of deep science and sometimes messages for hope – The World As We Knew It, Brady & Isen, editors. May we all grow lighter and lengthen our wings!
So many bits of beauty and hope here, Patricia. Thank you–they are much needed.
So much goodness, Patricia. 🌎❤️
This post takes my breath away with its beautiful reminders, tasteful suggestions, and the huge heart of the poet who writes it. Thank you. Earth Day is so important. Happy Earth Day to you. I am putting Dear Human on my request list right now!
Such hope here. Thank you.
Oh, Patricia, happy Earth Day to you. It seems such a smaller and better world after I read your post. I love that image of the blue earth hanging “in that eternal silence” and the sweet quote from the book that I’ve added to my list.
Thanks for this marvelous post, Patricia. I hadn’t heard of the book This Pretty Planet before. I just put it on hold at the library.
Patricia, your Earth Day post affirms that we all must act with a “shared sense of responsibility to one another and to the non-human beings of our planet”. Thank you for that statement. Each year, I celebrate Earth Day with a commitment to the planet and for the years that I was an educator, the same commitment was passed down to the children. MacLeish’s lines that resonated with me are: to see ourselves as riders on the earth together,/brothers on that bright loveliness. Wouldn’t that be promising to be united with one spirit to save our planet?