Three Poems for Niantic River Headwaters Community Forest and New England Forestry Foundation
by Lori Landau
At the tail end of the pandemic, amidst enormous global and personal losses, I visited the New England Forestry Foundation as a poetry ambassador for a project called Writing the Land. I drew on my meditation practice, eastern philosophy, and eco-somatic work to explore my deep interest in a felt-sense relationship between human nature, and nature itself. I hoped my poems would be a visceral reminder of how our survival as a species is mutually dependent with that of the planet. I wanted to use poetry as a vehicle for activism, to create both beauty and awareness for forest conservation work and in doing so, be part of dreaming a sustainable future. These poems were written in response to my time among the area’s trees, grasses, birds, waters, diverse array of plants, animals, and wildlife. May they speak for the next generations who rely on us to care for this fragile land we call home.
Lori Landau
Jul, 2021
Space Between
Nothing more than wren singing,
nothing less.
in thicket of trees.
me
drinking the sound.
Some Things Cannot Be Stolen
Green cordgrass slows
the banks of
long-neck waters
at the edge of trails,
ancestral home
to the Nehantic.
One third of these Wetlands stolen.
Settlers swindled the sacred stone
tore peace from the pines
plundered quarries, splintered trees.
Oak resisted
dug roots.
Nourished itself
in the brackish tide.
I traveled here from a distance
to witness resilience
be still with my losses
learn from this old tree
how to plant in shattered soil
and begin again.
Ode to Robin
(State Bird of Connecticut)
teach me
how to have wings
to soar over moss and stone
see the river whole
fly forward into light
disturbing nothing but air.
Lori Landau (She/her, Ki/Kin) is an interdisciplinary artist whose process-driven engagement with lakes, birds, grasses, and seas sources her eco-ethics and results in art, poems and rituals of reciprocity and sacred repair on Lenape territory, where she lives. Her work is grounded in her contemplative practices and training in compassionate integrity. Her writing can be found in a variety of magazines, anthologies and blogs, and her art has been shown on both coasts. She holds an MFA in Interdisciplinary Arts from Goddard College with a concentration in Decolonial Arts Praxis.
Across the region, forests provide timber for construction, local jobs, wildlife habitat, clean air and water, and recreational opportunities. These benefits support a vibrant and thriving region, and New England Forestry Foundation (newenglandforestry.org) works to protect them for future generations. Founded in 1944, NEFF pursues innovative programs to advance conservation and forestry throughout New England. In partnership with land owners, NEFF has conserved more than 1.1 million acres of forest, including one out of every three acres of forestland protected in New England since 1999.