There’s an elegant simplicity in the form of the haiku that makes me want to just let this stand alone with lots of spaciousness. I would offer, though, this article, that an old school friend shared with me, as a nod to the grief that haiku poets are carrying these days:

“Haiku, like all poetry, deals with reality, both inner and outer, so haiku can’t but concern itself with what it sees and what it feels about what it sees. More than most forms of poetry, though, haiku is particularly keyed to the everyday. Climate change, and the effects it will have on how we go about living with its daily consequences, will be an ever-present, pressing – and depressing – theme.”

Since we travelled the Spiral Path of the Work that Reconnects, together last spring, with the Active Hope Climate Squad, Evelyn Coggins and I have shared this hopeful-hopeless question of “what is ours to do?” when it comes to climate. I like the idea of taking a moment to consider things from the moon. Enjoy her poem.

If I could leave here

I would travel to the moon

To stare at the Earth

I need perspective

On how and where I must act

To save our planet.

Seeing a start point

Would be most helpful for me

To prioritize my steps

And when the moon sets

On the last morning on Earth

All hope leaves with it.

by Evelyn Coggins