New Poem of the Week: Cottonwood Midlife

cottonwood midlife

cottonwoods, coming to leafless terms
with the lessoning light of the season

can now, so softly and safely reveal
the secreted nurseries of bird nests

…[More]

_____________________________________________________________________

If you like this poem, consider reading a few of my new poems on my blog and checking out my book Span (Rhizome Publishing 2011, 2012) which can be purchased as an eBook and read on most devices or as a beautiful paperback to be held in your hands and taken with you on your day.  The cover art by Mathias Valdez of Last Leaf Printing takes the book as object” concept to a lovely level.  Span also makes a great, inexpensive gift for the book or nature lover on your list.

__________________________________________________________________________________
To buy Span now with Paypal, Click on image below.

     

Span | A Collection of Poems by David A. Martin
Paperback, 144 pages.

$9.95 + tax and shipping.
__________________________________________________________________________________

A new early winter poem of the week

This morning’s meditation at the creek produced a nice little poem which speaks to the outer world as a mirror of the inner world and how there are times which we notice the difference between the way of the mind and The Way.

Stillness helps.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

cold mornings

the creek is telling white tales
it heard in the dark,

ice at the lips of its banks

. . . [More]

__________________________________________________________________________________________

This poem is from my recently begun, new notebook, having submitted worthy and well-worked poetry from the other filled and falling apart notebooks in manuscript form.

If you like this poem check out my other Selected New Poems on my blog or consider the eBook or paperback purchase of my book, span (Rhizome Publishing 2011, 2012) which is a collection of Human Ecology* poems from 2000-2010.

*Human ecology is the subdiscipline of ecology that focuses on the human niche. Broadly speaking, it is a study of the relationship between humans and their natural, social, and built environments

Human Ecology has a wide territory and manifesting in geography, sociology, psychology, anthropology, zoology, and natural ecology. It is my hope that my poetics can be seen to have contributed to this spectrum by adding literature, biography and ontology to this list.

New Poem of the Week is about saying yes to life and love

light in the darkness

Last night the White Firs
pointed up at the stars
in the deeps of space

i thought i knew
and said yes, in agreement

but they are hundreds of years older than i
and rooted so directly in the earth,
they receiving sustenance by interfacing with stars

[More]

___________________________________________________________________________________________

This poem is from my notebook The nameless way woven with crooked genius and will be considered for inclusion in my next book of poetry currently being set to manuscript, Deepening the Map.  If you like this poem, please check out other samples of my poetry here on my blog.  You might also be interested in the poetry in Span, my collection of poems published by Rhizome Publishing which has just gone to paper back.

Span, is now available in a beautiful paperback version
with cover art by Matthias Valdez (Mo) of Last Leaf Printing
and published by Rhizome Publishing.

Span | A Collection of Poems by David A. Martin
Paperback, 144 pages.
$9.95 + tax and shipping.

span is a selection of poems written by David A. Martin, reflecting a unique undercurrent in the reawakening of environmental consciousness in the American west. (Read detailed description and reviews of Span below)

__________________________________________________________________________________

About the book

David A. Martin, an environmental educator and naturalist, holds man’s separation from nature and man’s return to union with nature in both hands as he focuses on the beauty and elegance of Nature wherever he finds it.  These poems illuminate the simplicity and complexity of the inner and outer worlds of the poet.

Much of Martin’s earlier polemic works expressed the consequences of alienation from nature as being disastrous to the individual, humanity and the rest of the world. The poems in span exemplify the reunification, or possibly, ascension of the poet and the child within the man living in harmony with nature as a place of hope, healing, redemption and salvation of not only the individual, but also the human race and the rest of the world. 

His mature poetry celebrates the connection to and a reverence for the complex and intricate beauty of the natural world from the perspective of an embedded and informed Human consciousness. When asked about whether he considers himself a “Nature Poet” he replied “I have endeavored to live in, enjoy and explore Nature my entire life, so yes, it has a large place in my writing, but I would consider the genre of my work to be Human Ecology. I write a lot about the connections I find in the outer manifestations of Nature to my inner world and understanding of my place in it. My poetry is quite often born of ontological musings.” 

What others are saying…

“David Anthony Martin is a nature poet the way Frank O’Hara was a city poet. He has paid attention, assimilated the beauty and mystery of his surroundings, and let it color his poetry in delicate ways. He says, “everything will be alright just shut up and listen.” He draws from dreams and folktale and myth. He contemplates streams and trees and bears. And he does it in language that is beguiling, sly and as lovely as a September peach. These are poems to carry in your metaphorical pocket like small runic stones, with lines that you will want to contemplate again and again. Like this brief poem called “stream of consciousness:” “the moon is not in the quick silver stream, the moon is in the still, void-dark lake.” Span is delicious reading.”

~Corey Mesler, author of Before the Great Troubling and Notes toward the Story and Other Stories

“Thoreau, Cid Corman, Lorine Niedecker, Whalen & Snyder, Sam Hamill and now David Martin, a wilderness walker returning as the missing lynx in the lineage of nature based poetry heartbeating it’s way into our gorges & forests – it has the aroma of wild mushrooms & the flow of a raging springmelt. The poems span the distance between old friends. ‘Less like a voice / more like a knowing'”

~Mike Parker, author of Don’t Fall Off The Mountain and Wallflower Sutra

Find span on: Facebook

Find / Purchase Span as an eBook or Paperback on Amazon.com or Barnes & Noble:
Paperback: Amazon | Barnes & Noble
          eBook:  Amazon | Barnes & Noble