Richard Schiffman
God of Cactus
Hidden Elm
Artist Statement: Talking & Listening to Plants
I write about the natural world both as a science journalist and as a poet. On a reporting trip to the Amazon some years back, I was overwhelmed by the experience of the rainforest. Never before had I felt so embraced by life! Sadly, the Amazon basin (and so many other green places around the globe) is being deforested at an increasing and ultimately unsustainable rate. That ocean of vegetation upon which our climate system and oxygen-rich atmosphere depend is under mortal threat.
As a journalist I write about such threats. As a poet, I celebrate the richness of the living world and our enduring connection to it. Plants in particular are such mysterious beings. They are mute, yet in their presence we feel their joy in being what they are. This joy is infectious. Poems are admittedly feeble attempts to translate what we sense into words.
I always feel happy walking in forests or exploring meadows rich in wildflowers. Where is this happiness coming from if not from the exuberance of the green life that surrounds us? I know that won’t sound like a very scientific statement. I am convinced that science will eventually come around to acknowledging the sentience and indeed the mind-boggling intelligence of the other lifeforms that we share the planet with. It will also bear to the fact that we are inextricably tied-- not just physically, but emotionally and spiritually— to all the other lives around us. But poets know that we cannot wait for that scientific imprimatur. We need to declare our love and allegiance to life right now in poems, in prayers and in ceaseless efforts to protect the natural environment.
Only then, will we have a chance of saving this precious world before it is too late!
RICHARD SCHIFFMAN is an environmental reporter, poet and author of two biographies based in New York City. His poems have appeared on the BBC and on NPR as well as in the Alaska Quarterly, New Ohio Review, Christian Science Monitor, New York Times, Writer’s Almanac, This American Life in Poetry, Verse Daily and other publications. His first poetry collection, What the Dust Doesn't Know, was published in 2017 by Salmon Poetry. His poetry about the natural world is informed by his lifelong spiritual practice and his conviction that the world is divinely alive at its core. He regards writing poetry as an act of devotion.