Description: 
In this presentation I have included 4 original poems written by me, and 2 others written by very respected poets, which includes one of my favorite poets, Joy Harjo. These poems discuss many different themes all surrounded around the wilderness and the earth. I have also incorporated pictures to help you have a visual as you read these poems. It will allow you to feel a sense of closeness when you read. Lastly, I have also included a clip of an Indigenous woman reading her poem as well. I believe the message is powerful and something that should be heard to wrap this class up!  


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1.  Crinkle (Pollution) 
The ground hears it louder than you do, 
it echos as it falls to its decay 
They say out of sight out of mind 
but the earth has a mind of its own, 
it’s unclear 
It’s bombarded with filth and clouded 
with trash, no mind can think like that 
Soon it will start to leak and spew way beyond the ground 
That’s when our ears will hear the reminiscences of the crinkle



 2.  Wild party (Wilderness History, Indigenous) 
The land was the dance floor, filled with so much joy and share 
Party party party, like no one’s there 
They come on boats and ruin the fun 
Why?
The party has just begun
Dances to show and traditions to share 
Wrong! 
Land to steal, like you were never there 
Treat you like shit and take all your power
Wash your history away, like information in a shower 
Welcoming others to the party wasn’t so bright, or was it because they were all
 White?



 3.  Standstill (Earths current state) 
Trees breeze ever so beautiful 
People affect the earth ever so ugly 
Regardless it Stands


   4.  The Oven Bird (Threatened Animals) 
BY ROBERT FROST
There is a singer everyone has heard,
Loud, a mid-summer and a mid-wood bird,
Who makes the solid tree trunks sound again.
He says that leaves are old and that for flowers
Mid-summer is to spring as one to ten.
He says the early petal-fall is past
When pear and cherry bloom went down in showers
On sunny days a moment overcast;
And comes that other fall we name the fall.
He says the highway dust is over all.
The bird would cease and be as other birds
But that he knows in singing not to sing.
The question that he frames in all but words
Is what to make of a diminished thing.



5.  Once the World Was Perfect (After Humanity) 
BY JOY HARJO
Once the world was perfect, and we were happy in that world.
Then we took it for granted.
Discontent began a small rumble in the earthly mind.
Then Doubt pushed through with its spiked head.
And once Doubt ruptured the web,
All manner of demon thoughts
Jumped through--
We destroyed the world we had been given
For inspiration, for life--
Each stone of jealousy, each stone
Of fear, greed, envy, and hatred, put out the light.
No one was without a stone in his or her hand.
There we were,
Right back where we had started.
We were bumping into each other
In the dark.
And now we had no place to live, since we didn't know
How to live with each other.
Then one of the stumbling ones took pity on another
And shared a blanket.
A spark of kindness made a light.
The light made an opening in the darkness.
Everyone worked together to make a ladder.
A Wind Clan person climbed out first into the next world,
And then the other clans, the children of those clans, their children,
And their children, all the way through time--
To now, into this morning light to you.
 


 6.  STUCK (Earth's Current State) 
What can you do when there is nothing left to do? What can you say when there is nothing left to say? Where can you go when there is nowhere left to go? Who do you become when everything washes away? Why do these thoughts cross your mind when it’s too late? In a pit full of emptiness, questions arise. We are our own demise 



​7.   Visual poetry reading by: Rowie Shebala - https://youtu.be/UvvYRhU5hvk?si=p3ZTZLngC1uHJXUe







Cited sources: 
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/collections/146462/poetry-and-the-environment
https://youtu.be/UvvYRhU5hvk?si=p3ZTZLngC1uHJXUe