ECOCRITICISM NOW: The essays, reviews, and poetry collected in this thread trace responses to the interlinked terms nature, ecology, and ecocriticism, all of which have come to occupy increasingly important roles in a number of everyday and academic discourses over the last few decades. The “now” of its title is therefore not only a mark of the interest of certain contributions in the development of ecocritical theory (ecocriticism at this moment in time), but also an injunction, a call for more. This thread is co-edited by Tom White.

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GERRY LOOSE has lived in England, Ireland, Spain, Morocco (briefly) and now Scotland. A slow-moving nomad, he is poet, writer and land artist who works primarily with subjects from the natural world, as well as the world of geo-politics. His poems and texts are as often found in built and natural settings as on the page.

He also designs and makes gardens. His poetry is as likely to appear in these (and ungardened landscapes) as on the page.

Among his most recent publications are Fault Line, Printed on Water, New and Selected Poems (Shearsman Books) and that person himself. His awards include a Creative Scotland Award, the Robert Louis Stevenson Fellowship, the Kooneen Säätiö Award and the Hermann Kesten Award. His latest collection, An Oakwoods Almanac (with Morven Gregor), is out with Shearsman Books (June 2015). www.gerryloose.com

The following poems are taken from Fault Line (Vagabond Voices, 2014). For further context, listen to Gerry guide Colin Waters (Poetry Editor at Vagabond Voices and Communications Manager for the Scottish Poetry Library) around Faslane, home of the UK’s nucelar deterrent, with this podcast from the SPL. 

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I
about right for these parts
mostly birch
some oak
my living room
where the white hind has
scented me
though I’m glassed in
standard class
on the halted train
through Glen Douglas
she follows my gaze
over her shoulder
to hillside bunkers
trots downwind
in the direction of
the sea’s drifting
foam specks
Faslane

 

 

while an owl
edits my sleep
an object

 

 

XXXV
a thrush is speaking
tarragon in the garden
it’s July 14th
a thrush is speaking all
are born and remain free
and equal in rights
it’d be good to be
smelling buddleia
when the time

 

 

little sister
white bone
earth sap
I name it
hidden carefully
gun cache in green
delayed deferred
broken red straw
berry

 

 

XXXVII
the President jets off
to a far black country
urges the hungry
to consume
& be his friends
the way a landowner
is friends with his fence

 

 

one of the banned
names
lus na fola
blood herb
shepherd’s purse

 

 

LVII
birches are shedding august
yellow leaves
the President says
there are solutions
geo-engineering
artificial trees

 

 

talismans & atonements
thumbprints of conscience

 

 

LXXIX
the Players
begin wakening
stretch to
immediate cafetieres
toast & mobiles
text mntns
meaning not mountains
not Beinn Chaorach
gathering frost
but munitions

 

 

the hand that targets
the army
will be cut off
the Leader says
the tree
a spruce
points the first limb
across the fence

 

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If you wish to read the poems in page view, the following link will take you to a PDF – Gerry Loose Poems

All works published by the Glasgow Review of Books are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommerical-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License and the journal reserves the right to be named as place of first publication in any citation. Copyright remains with the poet. http://www.glasgowreviewofbooks.com