Many poems in this book are simple descriptions of the wonders of nature. Some address the tragedy of nature’s suffering caused by human thoughtlessness and negligence. Others are a response to the magical change of seasons, a cycle that transforms the colors of the earth’s foliage, bringing the advent of animals’ change of habitats, along with hurricanes, monsoons, and other storms. From one season to the next, the earth bears fruit, yields crops, and its meadows bloom. Many of the poems are from real-life experience, while others are products of imagination peaked by nature’s numerous and precious gifts for enjoyment, sustenance, and preservation. Some of these poems offer words of caution about human carelessness in preserving nature and its wonders. Does one ever pause to consider what it would be like without the advent of autumn, or any other season? Yet, the truth is that in some parts of the world seasons are already disappearing. These poems stress that we cannot stand idly by when there is proven scientific evidence that destructive climate change is a reality: disappearance of some island nations, loss of farm land, steady crumbling of glaciers and ice caps, and the demise of sea life. They plead: Save our planet!

What if many desirable things in nature were no longer there?—clean air, freshly grown vegetables, wildflowers, a waterfall, a green forest, spring rains, colors of flowers, a willow tree, fresh trout from a stream, autumn leaves, sunrise, sunset, mineral-rich farmland, etc. What if in a few years global warming and its devasting effects so damaged the earth, its atmosphere, and its resources, that many of these things were no longer possible? These poems address openly both the sorrows we face with forces that destroy nature and the things we celebrate in nature that provide much of humankind’s joy and sustenance. Some may ask appropriately, “What difference can a poet’s words make in correcting the paths of nature’s destruction down which humankind is traveling?” Certainly, words alone cannot save nature. Perhaps poetry can help to shape a new understanding of human failure, as well as to shape new visions of hope for the nature we know and are ever discovering.

About three-fourths of the poems in this book are concerned with the world around us, which we need to protect and preserve. They are the necessary prelude to the importance of creation care, which is addressed specifically in the concluding poems. The mountains and valleys are a source of sustenance for human beings, as well as for their animal population. The season cycles in the mountains are a delight with the tree leaves changing color. Riverbeds become almost dry from lack of rain, but in late spring they flow with the waters of melting snow. With each change of season, the sun circles the earth and sheds its light on places passed over in a previous season. This is experienced particularly in the mountain ranges of North America. They provide an amazing diversity of landscape, flora, and fauna, and options for the human food chain. Global warming, however, threatens the seasons, the life of the mountains’ flora and fauna, and even the ozone layer of the heavens. Hence, there is a call for creation care. Unless world powers step up and commit to preserving nature, forthcoming catastrophes can be clearly foreseen through careful scientific analysis. The responsibility is in the hands of the world’s most powerful nations.

This book is a collection of verse written by a senior citizen. Most spring from the author's own experience. In general they try to convey a little humour rather than the doom and gloom of much of the poetry today. Some, however, are based on more tragic events like 9/11, Columbia and the recent Tsunami that ravaged South East Asia. In others the author tries to express his feelings after the passing of old friends.

Many poems in this book are simple descriptions of the wonders of nature. Some address the tragedy of nature’s suffering caused by human thoughtlessness and negligence. Others are a response to the magical change of seasons, a cycle that transforms the colors of the earth’s foliage, bringing the advent of animals’ change of habitats, along with hurricanes, monsoons, and other storms. From one season to the next, the earth bears fruit, yields crops, and its meadows bloom. Many of the poems are from real-life experience, while others are products of imagination peaked by nature’s numerous and precious gifts for enjoyment, sustenance, and preservation. Some of these poems offer words of caution about human carelessness in preserving nature and its wonders. Does one ever pause to consider what it would be like without the advent of autumn, or any other season? Yet, the truth is that in some parts of the world seasons are already disappearing. These poems stress that we cannot stand idly by when there is proven scientific evidence that destructive climate change is a reality: disappearance of some island nations, loss of farm land, steady crumbling of glaciers and ice caps, and the demise of sea life. They plead: Save our planet!

This book investigates "cultural instruments," meaning normative forms of analysis and practice that are central to Western culture. It explores their history from antiquity to the early Enlightenment and their use and reworking by different cultures, moving from Europe to Africa and the Americas, especially the Caribbean, in the process giving close readings of a wide range of authors.

The forty-two chapters in this book consider Yeats's early toil, his practical and esoteric concerns as his career developed, his friends and enemies, and how he was and is understood. This Handbook brings together critics and writers who have considered what Yeats wrote and how he wrote, moving between texts and their contexts in ways that will lead the reader through Yeats's multiple selves as poet, playwright, public figure, and mystic. It assembles a variety of views and adds to a sense of dialogue, the antinomian or deliberately-divided way of thinking that Yeats relished and encouraged. This volume puts that sense of a living dialogue in tune both with the history of criticism on Yeats and also with contemporary critical and ethical debates, not shirking the complexities of Yeats's more uncomfortable political positions or personal life. It provides one basis from which future Yeats scholarship can continue to participate in the fascination of all the contributors here in the satisfying difficulty of this great writer.

This volume contains a selection of the Australian poet Michael Sharkey’s uncollected essays and occasional writings on poetics and poets, chiefly Australian and New Zealand. Reviews and conversations with other poets highlight Sharkey’s concern with preserving and interrogating cultural memory and his engagement with the practice and championing of poetry. Poets discussed range from Lord Byron to colonial-era and early-twentieth-century poets (Francis Adams, David McKee Wright, and Zora Cross), under-represented Australian women poets of World War I, traditionalists and experimentalists, including several ‘New Australian Poetry’ activists of the 1970s, and contemporary Australian and New Zealand poets. Writings on poetics address form and tradition, the teaching and reception of poetry, and canon-formation. The collection is culled from commissioned and occasional contributions to anthologies of practical poetics, journals devoted to literary and cultural history and book reviewing, as well as newspaper and small-magazine features from the 1980s to the present. The writing reflects Sharkey’s poetic practice and pedagogy relating to the teaching of literature, rhetorical analysis, cultural studies, and writing in universities, schools, and cultural organizations in Australia, New Zealand, China, and Germany. It also evidences Sharkey’s familiarity with literatures written in English and his wider career in publishing, editing, free-lance journalism, and the promotion of Australian and New Zealand literature, especially poetry.

Celebrating nearby nature and the marvels of our own backyards, this book helps you introduce children to the world around them. With quality children's literature and simple activities, you can cultivate a child's sense of wonder and joy and teach him or her the importance of living in harmony with nature. These projects span the curriculum and are presented in reproducible format, so they're easy to use. Highlighting the five senses (sight, sound, smell, taste, touch), they build connections between students and the land and create in young learners a sense of place-a true necessity for living in the world today. Grades K-6.