To Work On Behalf Of The Wild

As A Poet I Hold The Most Archaic Values On Earth . . . The Fertility Of The Soil, The Magic Of Animals, The Power-vision In Solitude, The Terrifying Initiation And Rebirth, The Love And Ecstasy Of The Dance, The Common Work Of The Tribe. I Try To Hold Both History And The Wilderness In Mind, That My Poems May Approach The True Measure Of Things And Stand Against The Unbalance And Ignorance Of Our Times.

Forests In The Tropics Are Cut To Make Pasture To Raise Beef For The American Market. Our Distance From The Source Of Our Food Enables Us To Be Superficially More Comfortable, And Distinctly More Ignorant.

For Several Centuries Western Civilization Has Had A Drive For Material Accumulation, Continual Extensions Of Economic Power, Termed 'progress'...the Longing For Growth Is Not Wrong. The Nub Of The Problem Is How To Flip Over, As In Jujitsu, The Magnificent Growth Energy Of Modern Civilization Into A Nonacquisitive Search For Deeper Knowledge Of Self And Nature.

O, Ah! The Awareness Of Emptiness Brings Forth A Heart Of Compassion!

Poetry A Riprap On The Slick Rock Of Metaphysics