W. S. Merwin: Even though the whole world is burning

[cbabe]

Last edited Tue Dec 27, 2022, 01:37 PM - Edit history (1)

W.S. Merwin Documentary Teaser | EVEN THOUGH THE WHOLE WORLD IS BURNING

https://m.

https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/8807092-place-on-the-last-day-of-the-world-i-would

Place"

On the last day of the world
I would want to plant a tree

what for
not the fruit

the tree that bears the fruit
is not the one that was planted

I want the tree that stands
in the earth for the first time

with the sun already
going down

and the water
touching its roots

in the earth full of the dead
and the clouds passing

one by one
over its leaves
W.S. Merwin, Rain in the Trees

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/poet-w-s-merwin-found-paradise-planting-palm-trees

How poet W.S. Merwin found paradise by planting palm trees

In the late 1970s, the renowned poet W.S. Merwin bought three acres of an old pineapple plantation in Hawaii -- a “paradise lost,” where little would grow due to deforestation and chemicals leftover in the soil. Little by little, he and his wife began planting trees, and the garden grew into a whole forest of palms from seeds collected around the world. Jeffrey Brown visits Merwin’s garden in Maui.

https://www.poetryfoundation.org › poets › w-s-merwin

W. S. Merwin | Poetry Foundation

Merwin is a former chancellor of the Academy of American Poets and two-time U.S. poet laureate (1999-2000, 2010-2011). Merwin was once asked what social role a poet plays—if any—in America. He commented: "I think there's a kind of desperate hope built into poetry now that one really wants, hopelessly, to save the world

(Look for the Obama poet laureate/Hawaii connection.)

(Apologies for outdated funding request in film teaser. Only/best link I could find.)

[Tanuki]

1. Thank you!

K&R

[imaginary girl]

2. Love his poems! Thanks for the heads-up! Nt